Threesome: Women in techno(logy)
March 24, 2009
In honor of Ada Lovelace Day, which celebrates women in technology, today’s posting is focusing on women in techno. DJ’ing as a whole is incredibly male-dominated, and I thought it would be great to highlight some females who are getting the crowd moving from behind the decks.
Classically-trained pianist Kate Simko came of age in Chicago at the height of the Midwest rave scene. On the one hand, she has formal training in music technology and composition; conversely, she was a key player in the Chicago electronica scene, including hosting the well-known Chicago night, Wake Up! Her own tracks reflect her roots in both Chicago house and Detroit techno.
Techno DJ and producer Ellen Allien (pictured) is based in Berlin. She organized the BPitch parties there and eventually started her own label, BPitch Control. She’s released several solo albums as well as a collaboration with Apparat, and her own compositions are experimentally-oriented techno/electro hybrids.
Finally, Seattle’s own Chloe Harris is best known for her DJing (including touring with John Digweed), for her show on Proton Radio, and for mixing up her genres to make her unique sound. She’s just started creating her own tracks, and here’s one of them.
MP3 link: Kate Simko – Soltera
zed equals zee 
Wonderful. I had no idea about Ada Lovelace Day and was all inspired to write a similar post. But I got nothin.
Well, in case you missed it the first time, you can check out this post about electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire. Also, if you Google ‘Ada Lovelace Day,’ you should be able to check out all the blogs that did a posting about women and technology today – that should get you up to speed real fast.
I would like to double up this threesome with the further inclusion of other fine Chicago ladies; Punisher and Sassmouth. Rounding out the 6th (or 3rd, if you want two lists) spot is Boston’s very own DJ Volvox who, like me, escaped the industrial decay of Western New York to come and carve out a little techno niche in the Boston/NYC area. The difference being that she actually plays out, and is a woman.
Excellent additions, Erich!