Meet Rachael Pazdan: Creator of ‘The Hum’ Feminist Music Residency in NYC
When listening to your favorite bands or solo artists, many of you have probably curated musical collaborations in your head; pairing singers whom you anticipate would create something powerful together. Well, it turns out there’s actually a venue in New York City which does that exact thing in real life! The Hum is a unique month-long residency for talented female artists from all genres to come together and inspire one another to experiment with new sounds, culminating in a series of intimate live shows.
Launched in 2015 by music lover Rachael Pazdan of Hypnocraft, this platform has given much-needed visibility to female musicians, and its line-ups have featured a host of internationally-renowned artists such as Dayna Kurtz, Emmy the Great, and Shannon Lee from Teen Body — just to name a few. Eager to learn more about this initiative, we caught up with Rachael.
SG: After studying at Purchase College, how did you go about launching your eclectic booking platform, Hypnocraft?
Post art school high, the shows I first started producing were very much feeding off my recent experiences of being submersed in an amazing community at Purchase. All I wanted to do was bring different kinds of artists together and get them to step outside of their discipline and talk to each other. My first projects included a three-day DIY performing arts festival in Bushwick (by the seat of my pants and a crowd funding campaign); a curatorial piece where I stuck a choreographer, filmmaker and musician in a hotel room for 24 hours and had them create an installation out of the room; commissioning live scores to local films, etc.
After I got into Manhattan Inn to produce the first Hum series in April 2015, I totally fell into booking mostly concerts and took over as Talent Buyer there. I still have the itch for interdisciplinary programming, though, and I hope to continue more of that in the future.
SG: How is The Hum working to make female musicians more visible?
Seeing a night of all women playing music is a rare experience, even more so in disciplines like jazz and electronic music. Most concerts in NYC may have a sprinkling of women throughout the night, but it’s all too common for most bills to be composed of only men. The only times you may see a night of all women playing is when you attend something like a Lilith Fair and it’s in your face that it’s about WOMEN. At The Hum, the vibe in the room is that you’re seeing only women play, but it’s not overt, and the musicianship stands alone, defying associations with gender.
SG: When curating collaborations for the residency, what key elements do you look for?
I start by reaching out to musicians that I am totally inspired by. Artists who sign on to The Hum always possess a certain level of openness and curiosity, which makes my curatorial process pretty easy. I try to see the through lines when connecting artists. For example, I knew someone with a soulful voice like Kendra Morris was probably going to get along with a fiery AfroBeat vocalist and flautist, like Domenica Fossati. And, oh yeah, elements of jazz would be pretty great in their set too, and they definitely need a drummer… Where is Allison Miller??
SG: What are some of your favorite collaborations that have taken place so far?
There have been SO many! I LOVED when Adrianne Lenker from Big Thief and Alena Spanger from Tiny Hazard got together. Their set was so beautiful, and then they decided to finish the set with a rousing rendition of Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn.” Julia Easterlin and Hannah Epperson did a duo performance singing funeral folk songs, I remember crying through that one. I loved in the first series when Kal Traver (of Rubblebucket), Sarah Pedinotti (of Lip Talk), Kayla Mullady (a beat boxing world champion), and Jordyn Blakely (on drums) made an epic set together.
One of the best collaborations to date was between Dani Markham of tUnE-yArDs, Maia Friedman of Uni Ika Ai and Marie Kim… I remember my jaw dropping. These sets are full of surprises sometimes.
SG: Who would be involved in your the ultimate collaboration of your wildest dreams?
How about Annie Clark + Kim Gordon + Fay Milton from Savages + Mitski (!!!!!)
SG: What kind of music do you listen to in your free time?
Some artists who are constantly on repeat for me include Nina Simone, Tom Waits, Billie Holiday, Stevie Wonder, Radiohead, Talking Heads, Wilco, D’Angelo and so many others. Huge fan of Lower Dens, Cass McCombs and Savages. I haven’t been able to put down Angel Olsen or Solange’s new records either.
If you’re interested in attending one of The Hum’s live shows, the full line-up for each night is here. Who are your favorite female artists? Reach out to us on Twitter, or leave a comment below.
Image credits: Emeri Fetzer/Coen Rees
