The women shaping and championing electronic music in Bristol

Women and trans people are having success in the electronic music scene, despite the challenges they face in a male-dominated field.

The charity Saffron in Bristol trains and mentors women and trans people who want to become DJs or work in music technology.

It is marking its 10th anniversary this month – and we’ve been speaking to three women from Bristol who have helped shape the scene over the past decade.

Marla Mbemba is a bass player for Little Simz and produces her own dance music.

She started playing bass when she was 12 “after a Guitar Hero 5 obsession”.

Saffron helped her start her career when she joined their Artist Development programme in 2021.

“Despite efforts to improve equality, gender minorities are still underrepresented on lineups – particularly in the electronic music world – and I feel condescension from crew at venues I’m performing live at is still quite a common occurrence,” Ms Mbemba said.

Since graduating from the Saffron porgramme, Marla has won the 2024 Youth Music Producer Award, and recently released her debut EP, with remixes by women and non-binary producers she connected with through Saffron.

Faith Morton, 51, said: “The first time I actually got behind the deck was two years ago. I learned a whole new skill and it’s brought a lot of joy to my life and a whole new avenue.”

Ms Morton has two children and said she had to wait for them to be “a bit older” until she could pursue her career in music.

“When they were younger it wouldn’t have worked. Playing in the evening and other commitments, I didn’t have the time and space to master it,” she said.

She has now played at Glastonbury Festival and Boomtown and has a regular radio slot.

“There’s no way I would be doing what I’m doing [without Saffron]. They’re very inspiring,” Ms Morton said.

“When I was going out in my 20s, I’d go to clubs and it was mainly men behind the decks. There’s still work to do, in the whole industry it’s still very male heavy.

“But it’s changed so much in the last few years and I think Saffron, certainly in Bristol, have made the space for women and non-binary people to take up space.”

Marley Small is a radio broadcast tutor at Saffron and has been a music producer since she was 18.

“For me, it’s how I express myself and friends would say I’m not the best at expressing negative emotions or telling people I’m not okay, but with music I can do that,” Ms Small said.

In 2021, she did a 10-week course with Saffron.

“It gave me a lot of confidence and put me in touch with a mentor. I don’t know what I would have done without them,” she said.

“I’m not really someone who likes to focus on what the barriers could be. If someone says no to me, I just think that’s probably because they’re wrong.

“Maybe you’re in an industry setting, men might think you’re someone’s girlfriend. And there should be more women in leading roles.

“Before Saffron, I was in a bubble around men a lot, I wasn’t even aware that there were so many talented women and non-binary people, just knowing there’s a group of people who are like me, that I can talk to, is priceless.”