Following a successful launch this year, Brighton bass futurists Overview Music have announced a brand new Womxns Mentorship scheme for 2023.
Dedicated to recalibrating the gender imbalance in bass music and encouraging more female and female-identifying artists to get in the studio, next year’s mentorship looks set to be even bigger: The label have promised that the course will offer a wider range of masterclasses and industry topics, they’ll be taking on four mentees rather than three and the genre remit is anything bass music related and not exclusively drum & bass.
“We want to create genuine change,” explains Overview founder Peter Piper Maxted AKA Energy. “There’s a real imbalance and we want to do what we can to help. We’ve got the platform and connections and it’s something I feel strongly about. This is our way of being able to do something and we’ll be offering a free full year’s scholarship to help the successful applicants develop in various aspects of the industry.”
To help the mentorship provide a more holistic approach to coaching, Overview have partnered with Dynamics, a Bristol-based female and non-binary artist database / talent platform founded by dubstep artist Enada. As part of the collaboration, Dynamics and Overview will deliver a range of classes on business and development and mental health to complement the mentorship’s training in other more traditional areas like production and music theory.
“There a lot of topics around mental health, especially for creatives and female identifying people,” says Enada. “We’ve had a very different experience in the industry. It can be very overwhelming and a lot of people suffer imposter syndrome. We want to give that support to the artists. I think it’s all well and good being able to produce but if you can’t deal with high pressure and competition then you won’t last very long. So we want to equip people with those skills and tools.”
Following the recent roll-out of EQ50’s latest mentorship application process – which was so successful the organisation reported record applications and taken on more labels and mentors – Overview Music and Dynamics’ Womxns Mentorship 2023 is another exciting opportunity for aspiring female and female-identifying artists.
Building on the success of their 2022 mentorship which saw three artists graduate with flying colours – Austrian artist Sequent who’s released music on labels such as Fraktal Sound and Blu Saphir, Manchester DJ/producer Liohness who’s released music on the likes of Sofa Sound and [IVY] who’s appeared on this site previously chatting about her career in both music and fashion – the Overview and Dynamics mentorship is open to female and female-identifying artists of any age from any territory.
“It’s open to artists worldwide, all we ask is that you have an internet connection, and a good understanding of music and production,” explains Peter Overview. “It’s also not exclusive to drum & bass. If you’re a dubstep or garage producer then please apply!”
Applications can be made here and need to be submitted by December 21. For more information visit the Overview Music website Good luck!