Female DJ hopes to get more women performing in Jersey

Lara Lewis, known as Croft, was one of four female DJs who performed at the event

A Jersey DJ put on a female-led drum and bass event to "create a foundation for females in the music scene".

Laetitia Green, 21, known by her DJ name of Ana Crusis, hosted Awaken the Empress to provide a platform for female talent in the island.

A BBC study found that only one in 10 headliner's at the UK's top music festivals this summer will be women.

Miss Green said she hosted her event as she believed Jersey was "far behind" when it came to female representation.

'Inspire other girls'

"I feel like Jersey is so far behind compared to the UK in terms of gender balance, but I also think that even if Jersey promoters were to book female DJs, there aren't that many females to be booked anyway and if they are they aren't known," she said.

She said she wanted to give the females a platform they were not usually offered.

Jersey DJs Freya Dry, Isabel Medina and Lisa Titch performed for the first time at an event.

"It was more to give them an opportunity to play out in Jersey, hopefully get them out there a bit more in the Jersey local scene.

"The whole idea for my event was to create a foundation for females in the music scene... to have an opportunity to get out there and play and most importantly to inspire other girls to give it a try."

Lara Lewis has performed across the UK and many clubs in the French Alps

Less than one per cent of dance music played on UK radio is made by a female solo artist or all-female band, a new study by the Jaguar Foundation suggested.

It found songs with women as the "featured" vocalist made up 44% of dance music on the radio and 37% of chart hits.

• Female dance acts largely ignored by radio, study says

• Only 13% of UK headliners in 2022 are female

• The women in dance music making a difference to the industry

Miss Green said although she believed things were progressing, she would not want to be booked just to balance the gender ratios.

She said: "I do think we'll get there one day because I believe that the music scene in terms of becoming more gender balanced is constantly evolving.

"If I was ever going to be booked as a headliner, I would want to have been booked because of the music I'm making or the style that I mix, not just because 'oh she's a female', I would never ever want to be booked for that reason."

Lara Lewis, who performed at the event, started DJing in 2018 and has performed in Jersey, the UK and in clubs in the French Alps.

The 22-year-old said she and other female performers did not see themselves represented enough in the industry.

She said: "I think DJing as a woman has become a lot more accepted now but it's still a very rare thing to come across, and I feel like the confidence within young women to start DJing isn't quite there yet.

"Events like the one put on has been so good for raising that awareness and I think that's really what we need in Jersey to kind of encourage younger girls to get into and follow their passions."

For Freya Dry, 22, the event was her first public performance

Miss Lewis said of the event: "It honestly was so good for younger women in Jersey and it gave people a bit more of a stage to perform on and display their talents and I think that's really what it was all about.

"I personally would like to see more females on Jersey line-ups, I feel like its really male heavy and I think that the Jersey music scene would benefit a lot from having more females in the line-ups, it's just providing a space for that really."

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