What is GIRLSCHOOL? It's a music collective for women by women that works to empower artists and overall creatives. Founder Anna Bulbrook came up with the idea in reaction to the lack of ladies in the music industry. Since its inception, the community has produced a ton of events—including panels, content partnerships, and music concerts — to raise money for all sorts of girl-positive organizations.
No question their biggest event so far has been their 100% female-led weekend-long festival at LA's Bootleg Theater. Last year's inaugural three-day fest offered its sold out crowd great music and a panel with business leaders about overcoming obstacles in a male-dominated world. The 2017 edition starts January 27 and includes live performances by Chelsea Wolfe, The Bird and the Bee, and Deap Vally. As if the slew of up-and-comers isn't convincing enough to snag a ticket, all proceeds with go to Rock n' Roll Camp For Girls LA.
We know you're ready to buy your ticket, but before you click away, let's get to know Anna a bit better. We sat down with the founder to talk about what inspired her to inspire others. Needless to say, her words are inspiring:
Describe what you do at GIRLSCHOOL.
Communicating is most of it. I spend most of the time talking to people, illustrating why I founded a music festival that celebrates and connects women. This part comes pretty easily, because I am totally in love with the growing community that has sprung up around our idea, and my excitement for our GIRLSCHOOL ethos, community, and festival is, well, completely obvious! The rest of the time I spend doing the nuts and bolts of planning with our amazing team. We are still a mostly-volunteer-run pirate festival, so you can find me doing everything from booking artists and speakers to making spreadsheets and buying printer ink—whatever needs to be done for GIRLSCHOOL, I am happy to do.
How did you ended up where you are? Were you always into female empowerment and music?
I have been a musician since I was four. As a classically-trained violin kid, I didn't notice the disparity between men and women in music so much. There were tons of girls around me who were kicking ass, and I had a few women "rockstars" to look up to: Anne-Sophie Mutter, Midori, Leila Josefowicz. But when was 23, I joined an alternative rock band called the Airborne Toxic Event. Airborne had an alternative radio hit in 2009 and were off to the races—touring, signing to Island/Def Jam, and doing the SXSW hustle. We had so much fun chasing the dream and it was so consuming that it took me a few years to notice that I was often the only woman musician around. Ten years into being the one (or one of three) women on-stage out of a six, ten, or twenty man lineup at every alternative radio festival, I couldn't ignore it. After going to label offices and having other artists ask me what I did "for the band," I couldn't ignore it. After being told by a label executive to wear a see-through skirt to go meet the head of our label because "he likes that kind of thing," I couldn't ignore it.
But I should say: I love men. On the road, I live and work with great men—but I really fucking missed women. Whenever I made friends with another woman in a working band, we'd connect fast and hard because we shared the same lonely experience. So after having a mind and heart opening experience at the girl-positive utopia that is Rock'n'Roll Camp for Girls LA, I decided to do the research project of finding the amazing women in music at home, at the local level, and trying to foster the talented, loose community that already existed here into a culture and platform that could launch artists past the local level. The goal is ultimately to see a bit more more diversity at the top.
What do you love most about GIRLSCHOOL?
This job has taught me so much—about myself, about the world, about responsibility. Learning and leading is such a privilege, and I get to do it within the framework of something I care 100% about. I feel lucky to get to make creative and business decisions alongside a fucking awesome team of terrifyingly smart and talented women. And I get to live with a purpose I feel good about. Also, GIRLSCHOOL is the perfect excuse to network with any woman I think is interesting, smart, powerful, creative, entrepreneurial. And of course, I get true joy from seeing people come together over the work of our artists and the festival that our team of bosses works so hard to create. I get emotional even just talking about that feeling.
What is the advice you would give to someone who looks up to your career achievements?
Man, I have so many lessons to share this year! Rigidity is the enemy of personal progress. You can't be inflexible. Also, learning isn't always comfortable, especially for perfectionist ex-classical-violinists, but it delivers its own kind of high. And when you see your dream take shape into something real, and it works? Now THAT is the single best feeling on the planet, next to holding a million kittens.
