Feminism

I write this because despite never having promoted masculinity nor any kind of agendas against women, I've run into feminists a few times over the years who have taken shots at me. The first I distinctly remember was around 2005, during the 'One Way Ticket' period. Kate, who had designed websites for me since the early days of 'Head Above Water', updated the website to the most professional looking one to date, in alignment with us stepping up everything in quality during that period. It was the first time I'd worked with an outside producer, first time I'd had a run of CD's professionally pressed and first time Kate produced professional artwork for the album. We were feeling really good about everything during that period.

Out of the blue one day I received an email from a work colleague of Kate's. She introduced herself by congratulating me on the work we'd done but then felt the need to berate me for not featuring Kate on my website for all the hard work she'd done for me. This pissed me off at the time and also Kate. She explained to me this woman was a feminist. Kate was not involved musically at that time and we were promoting me as a solo artist so everything we were doing was normal. Name me any other solo artist who features their artwork/website designer other than a small credit tucked away somewhere. Kate never had a problem with it and it's something I've had to deal with several times, and yet, I've never once been given credit for giving Kate creative opportunities through this Music.

Around this time we'd also went out one evening to see KT Tunstall play at a local bar in Edinburgh with another work colleague of Kate's - a French temp who was there a few months. It was apparently KT Tunstall's send-off gig before she went on Jools Holland and hit the big-time. This woman somehow knew of her and invited us along. I usually avoided any contact with Kate's work colleagues for precisely the reason I'm going to mention. Not only Kate's work but just any situations where there were 'professional/system' type people around because I knew well enough by then they would judge me. People were always making digs at me in those days, never bothering to find out the reality of my situation. I knew they wouldn't listen or understand even if I tried to explain so I got used to just avoiding a lot of social events. I had enough of a struggle of my own, trying to stay true to what I was doing that I didn't need anyone else making me feel shit about myself.

Looking back, I see I took Liam Gallagher's advice to heart when he said in a 1997 documentary for the Oasis album "Be Here Now": "You just have to get into your own world and maybe one day they'll sit up and listen" in response to people knocking what you're trying to do.

Anyway, on this occasion I decided to go along to the gig and on the way back home, the three of us were walking, and this French woman made a comment about me not playing live, saying very sure of herself "You can't be a real musician if you're not playing live!".

Next up was Susie B, the Irish girl from the David Icke forum, who first befriended Kate online and then got to know me. She lashed out at Kate and I during those years several times and told everyone Kate was unhappy with me, "I know it!", she proclaimed.

During the SoulJahm years in Europe it was expressed to me that I should let Kate sing lead vocals. First of all, I never asked Kate to sing harmonies for me. Kate found her own way into that position in her own time. She had always sang harmonies along to my 'One Way Ticket' album when she played it on her mp3 player to and from work. Something I never knew at the time but which she told me later. It was as if she was practising privately in preparation for SoulJahm. I started using karaoke backing tracks during the SoulJahm years as a way to keep my voice in shape as we travelled around and I'd hear Kate quietly singing along sometimes so I encouraged her and then gradually she came to sing harmonies for SoulJahm. She always told me she liked singing harmony best and never seemed much interested in doing lead vocals, though it was something I'd have been open to further down the line. I was still trying to get my thing up-and-running and I'd worked incredibly hard for many years, writing and arranging my songs without any help. Before collaborating with others I needed to get my own house in order.

If someone had come to us with the same enthusiasm as Kate for THIS Music then I'd have been more than happy to involve them - whether an instrumentalist or a singer. But everyone I ever interacted with wanted to push in and take over, not compliment what I was already doing the way Kate did. I wasn't looking for other lead singers or songwriters, I was looking for musicians who'd be happy to support what I was doing, because I've always had a very strong vision for what this could be. That is still the case, and if nobody wants to be part of it, I'll do it myself.

In the years after SoulJahm, my encounters with feminists have been on more of a personal level. I'm not a traditional type of guy and I'm not a modern guy either. I don't fit in any of those categories. I'm all for women having freedom, just as I am for men, but I can't support feminism. Here's why:

Feminism was created BY men! The early feminist movements were funded by the Rockefellers. There is an interview with Aaron Russo, the American businessman/filmmaker, where he states this and there is plenty of evidence elsewhere. It makes sense if you look at the direction the world has gone in over the last 100 years. The plan seemed to be to use feminism to break up the traditional family unit by creating more financial independence in women. That would also serve the system as now you have two workers in each family pedalling the system along. That situation was inevitably going to create broken families and neglected children who would begin to look elsewhere for 'mummy' and 'daddy'. Step in the state, the government. Clearly, we can see this is the case because government now interferes in family matters way more than it ever has.

Secondly, look at what these so-called independent feminists do. They have careers provided by the system (daddy figure). In today's society many of them gravitate to social media as influencers and digital entrepreneurs of one kind or another. The very social media platforms, mostly built by male computer geeks from Silicon Valley. Inevitably, an easy way to make money for these women is to sexualise themselves in some way. Jackpot for the system! Get loads of women flaunting themselves on social media which in turn pulls in loads of guys. So who is really winning here? The women or the system?

Even if a woman does something more substantial, she still has to go through the university indoctrination system, and then get a job/career which is controlled and ultimately owned by the system. Is that really freedom? I'm not at all suggesting women should settle for being housewives but I don't really see much difference between your husband looking after you and supplying your money or the Big Daddy system doing it. Either way you're still not free.

This applies to men as much as women, of course, but I'm putting the focus on women because they seem to be more deluded that they have some sort of freedom and independence. All the #strongwomen #empoweredwomen hashtags. It's all bullshit. The only feminists I'd ever admire and take seriously are those who are bold and brave enough to walk away from the system.