Cactus City Studio is a London-based organisation like no other in the UK. What sets this campaign apart is their commitment to creating safe spaces for women and gender minorities to write, record and produce music. Originally created in 2018, Cactus City has developed into a long-term project with aims to change the music industry for the better.
Among other goals, Cactus City is dedicated to more equality in the industry and working with other major institutions to adopt better safeguarding policies for artists. The “Cactus City Charter of Good Practice,” created in 2021, is a list of pledges that the project encourages studios to follow in order to create a safer and more welcoming environment for everyone involved. The charter includes guidelines such as greeting everyone in the room, allowing adequate physical space, limiting derogatory language, ensuring procedures to report inappropriate behaviors and monitoring late-night sessions.
According to The Musicians Union, over 60% of people surveyed have been assaulted in a studio. However, the true number could be much higher due to a possible lack of reports. Ensuring clear rules to protect the safety of creatives is incredibly necessary.
Founders Vanessa Threadgold and Salli Flaherty are the powerhouses behind this incredible project. Friends and business partners, Threadgold and Flaherty share a massive respect for each other, and a mutual love for music. Threadgold founded the first Cactus City studio, and since then the two have gone on to expand the idea into a flourishing organisation. Both women have an extensive history in the music industry and noticed how important it was to install feminist ideals into this, sadly all-too-commonly, male dominated area of profession.
When asked about the inspiration behind Cactus City, Threadgold told Keke, “It was a culmination of lots of experiences in the recording studio, and the music industry as a whole. It was reactionary if anything, a response to the culture of women being made to feel like they needed to flirt, date, or offer themselves as a commodity to get ahead. I hated seeing the process of artists starting to accept that as being something considered normal in the music industry. It’s not normal and has become far too common.”
Flaherty continued, “Over 50 women’s organisations [in the music industry] have been created in the last 10 years and with the very recent regression in women’s rights, we anticipate many more. Unfortunately, we cannot hope the world will improve, we have to unify and make real changes. Part of this change includes creating dedicated spaces where women and gender minorities can be safe from harm. Because music is one of the worst industries for exploiting and abusing power, it is actually critical that we start here.”
Unfortunately, both women have had their own negative experiences while working in the industry. However, they passionately believe that this first-hand experience gives their work a level of authenticity and makes them well equipped to advocate for other women and gender minorities pursuing music.
While the pair have big goals for the future of Cactus City, including the creation of nationwide studios and workspaces, they are already putting in the work to empower women within the industry.
Flaherty told Keke, “We aim to create real pathways to work for female and gender minority musicians. Did you know that women only make up 2% of all producers in the UK? We are helping to improve this by working with 2% Rising, a collective for female producers, to develop a database of female and gender minority producers, composers, and engineers. Producers can be found and booked easily via our site.”
“We host multiple events throughout the year, championing women in the industry and calling for change. This year we have teamed up with the women’s organisation I Am Arla, for a series of events called Story Slam, a safe stage without the competition. Held in exciting venues across London, Story Slam is a place for women who have experienced the issues at hand, to express themselves through their art, be it music or spoken word. So far, we have showcased some incredible artists and helped to influence change in several areas.”
When asked if there was any meaning behind the cactus and its imagery, Threadgold stated: “A cactus survives in a harsh environment and has a tough exterior, but it will still give you its flowers. I’ve historically been really bad with plants, so anything that I can keep alive is very resilient. We do not want people to have to change to have a tough exterior if that’s not who they want to be, or are, just to work in music. So, we are there to protect them.”
The Cactus City team have also launched their own podcast, cleverly titled “Not a Groupie,” that features many women high up in the music industry who have dealt with issues throughout their career. The podcast was created in the hopes that it may inspire and empower other women to get involved in the music industry, despite the challenges they may face.
Flaherty told Keke, “We really play on the old schtick that women are here just to be ‘groupies’. It doesn’t matter if you are a musician, a tour manager, a sound engineer, or record executive—others will find a way to belittle your expertise simply based on your gender. We wanted to dispel that completely.”
The initiative shown by Cactus City and the team behind it provide women and gender minorities with the hope that those with aspirations of working in the music industry will not face the treatment and disrespect that many have faced before. The project is a breath of fresh air, promising an influx of regulations to protect creatives’ safety and comfortable spaces to work, produce and record without fear.
