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MANDY premiered her brand new track at the biggest indoor Hard Dance event of Belgium
At Antwerps Sportpaleis, where MANDY played the main stage on March 8th, she treated the visitors to a live performance of the track together with singer/songwriter Jelle van Dael.
Over 20.000 fans witnessed the show where MANDY dedicated the track not only to her fans, but also to ‘aspiring women who are fighting for what they are worth’.
‘We Are Warriors’
The track should foremost be an inspiration to women who are fighting for what they are worth in a predominantly male industry, says MANDY. With lines like: ‘you raised me up, cause that’s who we are - and, ‘I won’t give up fighting, I’m so done hiding’ both MANDY and Jelle, who features on the track, want to credit their loyal fans.
MANDY: ‘There are several reasons why we chose to get together for this track. First of all, the lyrics are autobiographical - both Jelle and myself have experienced some struggles to get where we are today and still experience negative comments focussed on our gender. Second, this track is for my fans who supported me no matter what, and we really hope to inspire other women to don’t give up the fight and chase their (musical) dreams’.
Jelle van Dael: ‘During the writing sessions we knew we wanted to make a power track. That meant, acknowledging that some women have to fight a little harder for what they want than men in this world. Like MANDY said, we both have experienced this and it is important to realise this and at least try to even the scale.’
Gender equality in the music industry
In the music industry, gender equality is far from what it should be. In 2018, Dutch research from Buma Stemra showed 34% of women working in the music industry as creators feel they are not taken serious, opposed to 19% of the men and also were not payed the same as men doing the same work. Dutch media outlets jumped on board and started looking into the gender representation of artist booked for big festivals. It showed that not even 10% of available slots in 2017 on the ten biggest festivals in The Netherlands was represented by female DJs or acts. More recent articles show a slight positive curve in female representation although there is a long way to go.
MANDY: ‘Yes, I do think we need to change this. I just don’t want to focus too much on me being a woman. I want a venue or organisation to book me, because they believe in my performance skills behind the decks and the audience I attract - not because they need a female on the line up. More
equal opportunities should be granted for female DJs and there is still a long way to go - but we won’t give up fighting!’