Let's get the girls behind the decks please!

There’s a pandemic of straight, cis, white male DJs flooding club and festival line-ups. 

In 2019, research from the University of Portsmouth estimated that in the UK, only ten percent of DJs were female. Even within the music industry itself, only 18% of women stated that they worked in dance music, according to the 2023 music census. Logically, it makes sense; as a woman it’s of course difficult to break into a male dominated field, but how do we invigorate more women into trying DJing?

Katerina Bramley originally came from a background of singing, songwriting and event hosting. Naturally, she progressed into the DJ scene after hosting nightlife events. Katerina notes the stark difference in the treatment she received whilst being in the songwriting industry compared to being a solo female DJ. Working in songwriting, “you’re a piece in the greater jigsaw puzzle, you’re there to create a song for someone”. Comparatively, in the DJ sector, Katerina notes that “it’s hard to gain respect as a woman, you have to be double everything, even better than the boys skill-wise and we have to prove ourselves times two”. 

In order for the DJ community to become a safer space for women, Katerina firmly believes that there needs to be more women in authoritative positions. Sadly, when women “stop playing for massive venues because the male booker is a creep, it can hold back their career”. 

On top of the gender disparity in the industry, the art of DJing can seem all too intimidating, particularly for women initially embarking on their journey in electronic music. Luckily, there are women already in the industry actively engaging in helping more women engage with DJing.

 Minty Ottilie, DJ and content creator, launched a 14-part series on TikTok teaching girls how to DJ gained traction last summer. The goal of this series was to create an inviting digital environment for girls to learn a new skill in an accessible format. Minty, who started her journey as a DJ eight years ago, conveniently moved into a house with neighbours who were also DJs. Every Monday, they would take turns hosting a ‘Mix Monday’ where they would DJ together. This led to the formation of an all-girl DJ group. Through Tiktok, Minty has been able to take strands of her experience of her early DJ days and replicate it in the digital sphere. 

Post-TikTok success, Minty decided to take her teachings into the physical realm, hosting a number of workshops at Pirate Studios in London, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester across March and April. Minty describes the atmosphere as a “safe, non-judgmental environment”. Each of these masterclasses sold out promptly, and have already had stellar responses, with attendees from the Birmingham class deciding to start up their own group to practise together. Minty also plans to establish a community-based website featuring more in-depth video tutorials and a variety of resources including gig listings and an in-house agent. 

Similarly, to Katerina, Minty can’t help but notice the gender imbalance on the line-ups of events she plays. At the beginning of Minty’s career, she was playing grime- a genre that Minty notes is very “male dominated”- and as a result she felt “a lot smaller” within the industry. Thankfully, Minty notes that within some genres, such as drum and bass, the number of women DJing is increasing. 

In conjunction with each other Minty’s workshops and Katerina’s  journey into DJing both serve as indicators of the vast potential for women to grow within the DJ industry.  

You can find Katerina at @katerinaxmusic on Instagram and Minty at @mintyottilie on Tiktok and @mintybelle on Instagram.

Edited by Cormac Nugent