...because the Accolade, a rock band made up of four women, is looking for one. I know we're a little behind on this, but it's never too late to recognize some bad-ass women:
"In Saudi, yes, it's a challenge," said the group's lead singer, Lamia, who has piercings on her left eyebrow and beneath her bottom lip. (Like other band members, she gave only her first name.) "Maybe we're crazy. But we wanted to do something different."In a country where women are not allowed to drive and rarely appear in public without their faces covered, the band is very different. The prospect of female rockers clutching guitars and belting out angry lyrics about a failed relationship -- the theme of "Pinocchio" -- would once have been unimaginable here.
But this country's harsh code of public morals has slowly thawed, especially in Jidda, by far the kingdom's most cosmopolitan city.
The band's namesake is this painting, which guitarist Dina says she likes "because it shows a woman who is satisfied with a man." In some ways, all women-only music groups are transgressive. But the Accolade takes it to a new level.
Here's how the band describes itself:
Dina -the ( guitarist ) was so interested in music.. especialy rock & metal music. Her dream was to make a band!she started learning how to play the guitar at the age of 16.. Also, Dareen ( bassist) was a huge support for her and even shared the same dream, so they started to look for members to create the band.. they met Lamia (vocals ) & Amjad who happened to be intrested in the same thing. By 2008, they took things seriously and started to practice and create their own music!!! Their music is inspired from paintings that tell a story of certain situations in our lives...it's a blend of art & music..
Hear them on their MySpace page.
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Nice... I'm going to check this band out.
Very cool.
There definitely aren't enough women in rock these days. Back in the day, you had Janis Joplin, Hart, Joan Jett, and a few others. But these days it seems rock and metal are almost exclusively male, which is a shame.
Thanks for the recommendation! :)
I'll be keeping an eye out for their album.
They are not the first (or last) Saudi rock band, and they are not the
first Saudi all-girl band either. Chicks Behind Walls [ link: http://myspace.com/chicksbehindwalls ]
are Saudi's first all-girl rock band.
A fellow Saudi band who is also struggling is Sandstoned [ link: http://myspace.com/sandstoned1 ]; three of the
band members, including the vocalist, are Saudi nationals. Regardless
of gender, all rock artists in Saudi Arabia struggle to find live
venues; the laws in the Kingdom are gender-blind when it comes to such
matters of propriety.