I don’t know what the excuse of the music industry is, but not signing and not supporting female artists is their biggest, well let’s be frank, crime. The industry has always been male dominated, a boys club built to help them in their careers at the advantage of women. The last decade, however, is probably the worst in terms of equality, eligibility and access to its resources for women. The numbers of female executives in the industry may be rising, female artists may be at the top of the charts, but this is all very misleading, when you look at the big picture. Gatekeeping, racism, sexual abuse, violence directed at women at all levels are only increasing and number of female artists active on the scene is dropping year by year. This is why we need to build a national front, supporting women from the earliest points in their careers and giving them a platform to push them up. This month, Vanadian Avenue is shining a light on female artists that have the potential to be global stars. One of them is TASH.
“Blackhole” single cover
We have written about TASH a couple of times in the past, she was our discovery of 2023 and is our star to watch out for this year. She has been active on the independent circuit for about 4 years now and I truly can’t understand how she is not yet signed to a record label. She has everything that a great artist should possess: good voice, great stage presence, ideas that work, solid fan support, very radio friendly songs and numbers of streams/social media that all A&R’s love so much. So why her and other female artists that have spent years forging their artistic personalities in the grass root venues are constantly overlooked? There are multiple theories: they are not pop, the market has changed, the record labels are looking for something different etc.
Well, that all is true, rock music is harder to market than silly pop, but there are many major labels that pride themselves on being rock labels that have signed many heavy acts like L7, Hole, Metallica or Linkin Park. If TASH was starting her career in the 90’s, she would have been snatched by Interscope or Sub Pop or any other local UK branch after her first two self-released singles. That is how it always worked: a new talent emerged, made a name for themselves, A&R saw them, booked them and signed them. Now with Spotify and streaming services being the new golden goose, nobody is going to gigs to find new artists. Labels are scrolling through TikTok to find who is currently going viral, counting their likes and engagements. There is also another thing that makes it almost impossible for women to get signed – labels are afraid to sign women, who are often seen as too risky to manage. That doesn’t mean that they do sign female artists, they do, but only women approved by the labels make the cut. Once approved those artists are grouped together into brands with guitars and artificially hyped with insane amounts of money. In my opinion, this is a very shortsighted strategy, completely ruining the natural ecosystem of how our scene works. Have they looked at artists like TASH, they would have better results and an artist that is made for a long career. Think of Dolly Parton, Debbie Harry, Lita Ford, Joan Jett, Belinda Carlisle, Bonnie Raitt – all amazing females from different genres that have one thing in common – they were very good at what they did, received support from their labels and blossomed into household names. I don’t think this review will open any eyes or ears at the executive level in London, but I damn wished it would. Because for ignoring female artists we have, there really should be a prison sentence. A very long one.
“Blockhole” lyrics video
TASH’s new single, released at the beginning of the month, is probably her best so far. It’s called “Blackhole” and it should already be at the desks of managing directors at many labels in the capitol. TASH is London based so they wouldn’t have to look far. The song contains everything I absolutely adore about TASH’s music: crazy EDM beat wrapped in heavy layers of pounding bass, sharp guitars and strong rhythmic drumming. It’s slower than her previous singles but still very radio friendly – a perfect kind of alternative earworm. TASH voice is monotonous, melodic, semi spoken in verses and emotional and clear in choruses. Her range is truly really impressive – from soft spoken to maniac scream (1 minute 35 second mark).
“Blackhole” was written about, as TASH eloquently puts it, a “life-long sabotage” aka feeling inadequate and not believing in your own strengths and skills. Impostor syndrome is very real and many artists are suffering from it. It really feels like falling into some sort of a blackhole – a never ending pit of darkness with a huge amount of pressure and guilt completely squeezing the life out of you. I know this feeling very well too and I’m especially critical of my own writing. Once you are sucked into this bottomless abyss of self-torture, it’s not easy to crawl out of it and keep on going. Yet, this is what we need to do. And I’m glad that TASH has turned her demons into a song. It truly helps to know there are others out there struggling like we do.
To me, “Blackhole” sounds like a track that summarizes what TASH does the best – it’s radio friendly, genre-mixing, nu alternative rock composition that applies to listeners of all ages, mostly young kids but also to Gen X-ers that still enjoy loud sounds. We desperately need to push artists like her to the spotlight that is sadly being taken away from organic, truly talented kids and given to those with all the money and very little to show for.
TASH live by Sam Harbridge
I know I sound like an old, scratched vinyl record – but please support your local young bands, women and artists of colour/from minority backgrounds. They have always been our best hope and created genres and sounds that defined decades of British culture. I do not want to call for major labels boycott but soon there will be no grass venues to play, no money for young kids to tour and the only music available will be made by rich kids on big labels and backed by Spotify.
This is my vision of hell. TASH and other independent artists deserve every chance at success, but chances and opportunities are measured with money. Money they simply don’t have while they try to survive during the biggest crisis in the last 30 years. If we don’t help them now, we will lose them. They will be forced to find a different career and leave creative industries.
But creative industries (movies, art, dance, artwork, design, fashion, theatre and music) bring billions in revenues each year. There is money in art, but it’s siphoned away. So please, vote with your wallets. Instead buying cheaper records by industry plants, spend that £2 more at independent artists’ merch tables and buy their own issued CD, or a vinyl. Buy a ticket to a local gig instead of paying Ticketmaster’s inflated fees. Stream TASH music instead of what Spotify curators tell you to. Email BBC DJ’s if TASH is played on their show, thank them for your favourite song – those things help independent artists to survive.
I truly don’t wish to see our very talented indie scenes becoming extinct. But becoming idle and doing nothing is helping the privileged ones. There should be a place in music for all, not just the rich, lucky ones.
Please support TASH online:
https://www.facebook.com/thisistashh
https://twitter.com/thisis_tash
https://www.tiktok.com/@thisis_tash
www.instagram.com/thisis_tash/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo9JoYHYcEjUyP1Ue2jB-RQ
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4RUXc1qaB7CPx8z3cRLD3O?si=fNMWaxSpR0WIWQPcgbPzEA&nd=1
https://soundcloud.com/ttaasshh
“Blackhole” was released independently on March 1st 2024.
Rita Dabrowicz
Indieterria 
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