Tennis, the Denver-based husband and wife (Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley) duo recently signed to Communion Records (the label co-run by Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons) and is set to release a new EP titled, Small Sound on November 5. "Mean Streets" is the first released track from Small Sound which was produced by Richard Swift (The Shins) and Jim Eno (Spoon, and my favorite Polica). They released their first album, Cape Dory in 2011 and their sophomore album, Young & Old in 2012- both via Fat Possum.
What are your thoughts on women in music right now.
"I feel like women are being taken very seriously as artists, and not just vocalists, but songwriters and producers and instrumentalists, and I think it’s really, really amazing. On the other hand, one very weird thing I’ve been noticing in my very limited experience in the music industry is that women are a lot more critical of each other than men are. Because it’s a very competitive industry, women expect a lot out of each other. I feel like women have the feeling that there is only a finite amount of success to be had as a woman in the music industry, and there’s only so much room in the media for women to have a meaningful say, and they don’t want just anyone who’s undeserving to have that. To the point where women aren’t nearly as supportive and encouraging of each other as they should be, and I have experienced that a lot as I’ve met female musicians on the road. And also with female critics and writers, it might just be a complete fluke, but I have noticed a trend where some of our harshest reviews come from women — and it’s usually directed at me specifically."
So in an ideal world, what would the response to this be?
"In an ideal world, this would just be irrelevant. No one would ever say there’s too many Grizzly Bears, there’s too many Fleet Foxes, but people say all the time that there’s one too many Dum Dum Girls, or Vivian Girls, or Warpaint, or whatever. And the weird thing is, men don’t really have that perspective anymore. I feel like it’s just women imposing it on themselves. Not to say that some men don’t contribute to this, but unfortunately, women hold themselves back more than anything."- Vulture.
What are your thoughts on women in music right now.
"I feel like women are being taken very seriously as artists, and not just vocalists, but songwriters and producers and instrumentalists, and I think it’s really, really amazing. On the other hand, one very weird thing I’ve been noticing in my very limited experience in the music industry is that women are a lot more critical of each other than men are. Because it’s a very competitive industry, women expect a lot out of each other. I feel like women have the feeling that there is only a finite amount of success to be had as a woman in the music industry, and there’s only so much room in the media for women to have a meaningful say, and they don’t want just anyone who’s undeserving to have that. To the point where women aren’t nearly as supportive and encouraging of each other as they should be, and I have experienced that a lot as I’ve met female musicians on the road. And also with female critics and writers, it might just be a complete fluke, but I have noticed a trend where some of our harshest reviews come from women — and it’s usually directed at me specifically."
So in an ideal world, what would the response to this be?
"In an ideal world, this would just be irrelevant. No one would ever say there’s too many Grizzly Bears, there’s too many Fleet Foxes, but people say all the time that there’s one too many Dum Dum Girls, or Vivian Girls, or Warpaint, or whatever. And the weird thing is, men don’t really have that perspective anymore. I feel like it’s just women imposing it on themselves. Not to say that some men don’t contribute to this, but unfortunately, women hold themselves back more than anything."- Vulture.