Q&A: Melissa Etheridge On Fighting For Equality in The Music Industry

Whether anecdotal or statistically, Melissa Etheridge is far too aware of the inequality of the music industry. When told of a talented producer/songwriter/artist who wanted studio experience but was constantly harassed by the men of the studios, Etheridge sadly agrees, “Yes, I’ve seen it for 40 years.”

Or when discussing the pitiful, but not surprising, way men outnumber women in technical roles like production and engineering — which was highlighted with crystal clarity in a report earlier this year We Are Moving The Needle’s Fix The Mix — Etheridge is again all too familiar with these statistics.

While Etheridge, like so many women, including Grammy winning engineer Emily Lazar and songwriting icon Lucinda Williams, says she anxiously looks forward to the day all artists are judged solely on merit and talent, and gender is not part of the equation, Etheridge is very aware that until the music industry makes great strides in giving women equal opportunity to learn and get the experience necessary to be on the same footing as men, it is up to artists like her to provide women the training they need.

So she is very happy to team with the organization Gritty In Pink to help provide women the training and jobs they need in all aspects of the music industry, from photography to production. I spoke with Etheridge about Gritty In Pink, how to improve the music industry, her upcoming projects and more.

Steve Baltin: Tell me about Gritty In Pink and how you got involved and what you’re doing with them and what you can do to help fix the really f**ked up music industry.

Melissa Etheridge: (Laughter) Yeah. Well my manager, Deb Klein of Primary Wave is so forward thinking and she herself as a female manager knows everything like that. And I’ve always told her since we started working together about 10 years ago, “Hey, whenever there’s an opportunity, we go to women of color, women and then we go down, but the first choice is always that.”Anytime a space opens up on my crew or anything, I try to find a woman first. And it’s not easy because we need someone with experience and it’s hard for women to get experience ’cause they don’t have experience, it’s like credit. So organizations like Gritty In Pink are putting the database together of these women that you can go in there for anything, not just the guitar players, but behind the scenes. We did the photography contest, going there to find the person who takes the pictures, engineers, production, everything. The people in charge, people like me, and my management have to make it a priority. The last video I did with, my album One Way Out, we did a video for “As Cool As You Try.” And I said, “I want it as close to an all female crew as I can have.” And I think there was only one guy in props or something. But everyone else was a woman. And I have to tell you, it was the best run, tightest ship, it got done, under budget on time, that sort of thing, because these women are working extra hard because we have so much more to prove that we can do this.

Baltin: I have spoken to so many women, from Lucinda Williams to Emily Lazar, who have said they can’t wait for the day they don’t have to be singled out by gender. They are just thought of for their accomplishments, not as the first woman to do something.

Etheridge: Wow, yeah, that’s it. To prove oneself outside of your gender, to just be, “Look, I’m the best at this. I’m the first at this. I created this, not just the first woman.” When I’m the first lesbian to ever do something, it’s like, “Okay, great, but don’t you just like my music?” [laughter]. So you want to be proactive, you want to be forward thinking. And so it is a circular thing. You don’t want to separate it and make a big deal of it. You want to make it equal, but to make it equal or even just equal in opportunity. Cause I do think, ultimately, we should all be judged on our character and, how well we can do the job. But until that field feels more equal, not, “Well, she’s a girl. She doesn’t know rock and roll, she doesn’t know this or that.” That’s the change in the hearts and minds. And so the more women that can do it, the more opportunities they have. And that’s where we are at right now. And hopefully soon, it’ll be we’re all just people.

Baltin: Do you think Gritty In Pink and these organizations are able to help move that forward?

Etheridge: Yes. Like I said, I think we’re in that place where now it’s about giving opportunity so that the ones with the unique talent and the ones that are going to go far can have that opportunity to jump out and go far.

Baltin: What’s been the most gratifying thing that you’ve seen during your time working with Gritty In Pink or helping with them?

Etheridge: Well, the all female video, production crew was pretty amazing. That was really, really fun. And, gosh, the talent, the woman [Chelsea Lauren]who won the photography. I just picked which one I liked the best [laughter]. [She] was fantastic. And so it’s just so exciting to have such choice and know, “Okay, I’m helping with this and she’s helping me, and I’m getting quality product.”

Baltin: Do you find as well that when you’re doing this it invigorates you? Because what you’re seeing is also all these people who are still so hungry.

Etheridge: Yeah, it’s great to be around that energy. It’s just wonderful. So that feeds into the creativity and the, inspiration. After 40 years, I get a little, not complacent, but like, “Oh yeah, I’m doing, this is my work, this is what I do, and I’m not the crazy hungry Midwestern kid trying to make it.” So it’s nice to be around that energy.

Baltin: Alice Cooper once said to me, “Fame is the brand that allows you to do good.” And for you, talk about now being in this place where like you say, you’re not the same Midwestern kid who was hungry, you played with [Bruce] Springsteen, you’ve performed on the Grammys. Talk about now being in that place where it does allow you to give back and how, like you say, that feeds into the creativity and it rewards you in a very different way.

Etheridge: Yeah, it’s so great to be able to actually mentor some musicians. And I just love to say, “Look, stay hungry, but stay yourself.” And because it is such a minefield of the industry and you always think that other people have all the control and they know everything but they don’t. What really rules is the talent that moves people. And to keep that magic in it, to understand that there’s a certain understanding you can do it, you can be successful, but there’s still the magic of a song that reaches someone and moves them. And you don’t really know why. You just do your best to try to make that happen. I really love to keep the magic in it to mentor other artists and folks in the industry and just say, “Look, do what you love. That’s what this is about. That’s what rises to the top.”

Baltin: What would you tell your 20 year old self about how to navigate the music industry?

Etheridge: I would say to just don’t get lost in blaming other people. Don’t get lost in the unfairness of it. Stand in your desire to create, stand in your desire to move ahead and imagine what it can be and move toward that. Expect kindness, expect better now. And when you do need someone, please, look into these places like Gritty In Pink that have the women who are very professional and ready to go.

Baltin: What’s coming up for you?

Etheridge: I’m getting ready to go out on tour. I’ve got a documentary coming out. I’ve got a book coming. I’ve got so much coming out.