Lady of the House, a ‘coffee table book’ brimming with interviews and images of 150+ women in dance music, reached its pledge on Kickstarter last week.
Created by Laila McKenzie and Ian ‘Snowy’ Snowball, this chronology of musical matriarchs details just how gender influenced the evolution of house music. It’s clear from the first look why this passion project was created to be shared.
Women have always played a pivotal role in dance music past and present and will undeniably shape the future of the genre over the coming decades. Their innovative soundscapes and commitment to a sonic sisterhood has mapped a journey so vast and so unique yet criminally underrepresented in the mainstream history of the genre.
Lady of the House will overspill with stunning stories from artists, promoters, DJs, management and producers who each laid a brick in the historical foundation of house as we know it today.
Womanhood is a craft unto itself, years spent chiselling our way through walls built up in male dominated industries and always relying on our united force to break glass ceilings wherever we go. The book aims to champion the influential prowess of women in music, shedding light on their overlooked potential to create a harmonious world in more ways than one.
Over the past year, the inequalities women face as creatives have been amplified by the pandemic more than ever. These pages are an ode to the women who broke through the crowds to open a path for our generation to step onto the stage, elevating their true and empowering stories about challenge, determination, passion and education in a genre built to endure.
With a foreword by the esteemed Carl Cox, Lady of the House is “an outlet of information that has never before been documented” and will immortalise decades of dance music and dancefloor memories.
Snowball is no stranger to the publishing world, penning over 30 books which have dived into everything from the influence of black music on Britain’s culture to Oasis. However, it is his union with McKenzie who carried through her extensive knowledge of electronica and social, gender and racial equality that makes this book a “gift back to the industry” that has shaped both of their careers.
They also “plan to give back” in more ways than one, with a pound from every sale being contributed to the diversity and inclusion initiative led by NTIA’s Savenightlife CIC.
Due to be published in November using the funds from 263 generous pledgers, Lady of the House is a “blueprint for future generations of women” and could be on your coffee table before the sleigh bells ring.