CHILDREN 0F THE REVOLUTI0N
“There are plenty of dames out there excited about and interested in music production,” says Wendy Melvoin, on the phone from Los Angeles. “But are they getting the good gigs? Are there any more opportunities for them?”
“It’s still really male-dominated,” adds Lisa Coleman, Wendy’s creative partner from their stint at the heart of Prince’s backing band The Revolution to award-winning TV and film composers.
After almost 40 years working and writing side by side in an ever-changing industry, it’s unsurprising that the pair can finish each other’s sentences. They have enjoyed astronomical successes, witnessed fashions explode, fade and bloom anew, and watched as the digital revolution reshaped how music is created and consumed. Amid these tectonic shifts, the fight for the volume of female voices to be turned up and listened to continues. “When I was younger, I’d visit a Guitar Centre and ask for flatwound strings for a long-neck instrument,” says Wendy. “The guys in the shop would look at me like I was nuts. I don’t think that kind of attitude has changed.”
Wendy and Lisa
