In true lazy student needing research form, I at first simply googled my question. Why are female bass players so popular. The results were unsurprisingly disappointing, a host of sexist, "hilarious" comments- a few of which I will share with you now.
From the "Drowned In Sound" community message boards:
Why are there so many female bassists?
Is it because bass is really easy to play?
Yep.
And it gets worse. I'll leave the link here so you can explore for yourselves. http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/music/3738084
Sensing that Google would not be of any help to me, I decided to focus on what made the prominent female bass players in music so great. Amazing women like Gracie Vee (Laced), Melissa Auf der Maur (formerly of Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins), Vicki Blue (formerly of The Runaways), Gail Ann Dorsey (session bassist for David Bowie and many other artists), Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth), Katy Goodman (Vivian Girls, La Sera), Este Haim (Haim), Zia McCabe (The Dandy Warhols)... the list could go on forever.
Of course a few of these stand out amongst the rest for their lifetime services to bass. Let's start with the obvious example- Kim Gordon. Kim is an obvious choice for all the right reasons, an icon in the world of music and one of the more prominent female bass players. Gordon was born in Rochester, New York but was raised in California. After graduating from art school, Gordon moved to New York and became fascinated by music.
"When I came to New York, I’d go and see bands downtown playing no-wave music. It was expressionistic and it was also nihilistic. Punk rock was tongue-in-cheek, saying, ‘Yeah, we’re destroying rock.’ No-wave music is more like, ‘NO, we’re really destroying rock.’ It was very dissonant. I just felt like, Wow, this is really free. I could do that."
Life can be hard when you're defined by your bass-face. However when the aforementioned bass face is as brilliant as Este Haim's, it's fame comes as no surprise.
What I love about Este and the bass face is that it shows how much she loves what she's doing. It shows that she's in her own world and is focusing entirely on the music. The eldest of the three Haim sisters, Este commands the stage via both her presence on stage and her skill.
Fantastic musical ability aside, one thing really seems to stand out for me about these women- the power they have on stage. Female bass players dominate the stage. They hold such a power over the audience that doesn't stem, as it is commonly said, from their appearance. Female bass players are not merely an object within a band to make said band look hot. The fact they have a vagina and breasts doesn't stop them being as talented as the rest of the band and this is something that should be said more often. "It shows that women can be a big part of the music a band makes, rather than just being backing singers or faces on album covers" fellow Fiblar writer Paige Henderson says. Music journalist and proud feminist Molly McGrath also adds "The recent rise in female bassists gives me hope that in the future, all-girl bands such as Haim will no longer be such a phenomenon simply due to their gender" And what do the other FIBLAR girls think?
Rohanie: If the drummer is the heartbeat of the band, and the vocalist is the brain, the bass is the blood flowing through the band's veins. There's no doubting that the sound of a good bass line is the sexiest sound in music, and somehow has a more beautiful impact when executed by a woman. There are the obvious choices (the 2 kims for example) but it's odd to think that there aren't that many, considering how many women there are in music. Este Haim relaunched the power of the female bassist into the popularest of popular cultures, with bassface being everywhere you turn. It's the combination of the soft humming of their instrument, and the fact that people find any female in band to be automatically beautiful that has seemed to make female bassists the pinnacle of musical goddesses. This helped by the general rise of the girl band, Savages, Warpaint, Deap Vally, Haim, The Staves, Stealing Sheep - and the dominating role that women have played in music increasing with every new demo appearing on the internet. I think the female bassist is the diamond of the band, From the superwoman that is Tish Ciravolo to slightly newer musicians like Ayse Hassan of savages, and I hope the female domination of the bass lasts forever.
Amy: I'd like to see the day that female bass players become uncool and lame and people will be saying stuff like 'Urgh a female bass player! Wow she's a bit late.....'. I hope that this doesn't happen because the female bass players of the music industry all seem to be very interesting. Take Jenny lee Lindberg, bass player of Warpaint, she was hugely appreciated even before Swim Deep put her in a song. Jenny isn't just a great bass player, she's also an EXTREMELY cool person. And not just a cool person like 'Oh yeah nice socks they're really cool' but a GENUINELY really cool person. She looks good doing everything. Also, Gail Ann Dorsey who has played bass for Bowie and Tears for Fears, Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth, Debbie Googe from My Bloody Valentine, Kim Deal, Melissa Auf Der Maur, D'arcy Wretzky, Este Haim, Joan Jett *breathe* the list is SO LONG, and hopefully one day endless. As this post has gone on I realise that I have not answered my initial question at all. My research has become little more than a tribute to my favourite bass players and a page of writing about how awesome the rise of the female bass player is. As someone who is (slowly) learning bass themselves, I find this all girl domination nothing short of inspiring and I hope it continues. I hope that girls everywhere continue to pick up bass guitars, drum sticks, guitars... anything to continue showing this "pussy power" that is so evident and so beautiful and so amazing right now. So, in short? Female bass players: I salute you.
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