The Ironing Maidens to bring some steamin' hot electro with ingenious, unique show.
Pic by Polly Snowden
Award-winning Australian electronic duo, The Ironing Maidens are pressing for progress with the release of their debut EP, Electro House Wife, out 1 June, putting domestic labour, technology and the history of women in electronic music centre stage.
Ingeniously adapting real irons and ironing boards into electronic instruments, Electro House Wife is a homage to house music and call to arms for women featuring 1950s advertising samples, fresh-pressed beats and tongue-in-cheek lyrics with a powerful message - now is the time to strike while the iron's hot.
"We must keep pressing for progress to have women's work acknowledged, be it in the studio, the laboratory, in politics or in the kitchen," said the duo's singer/ songwriter, Melania Jack.
"We know that women's work has long gone unacknowledged in electronic music history, it's why current courses don't teach the names of electronic music pioneers like Daphne Oram and no credit was given to Delia Derbyshire for making the Doctor Who soundtrack what it is!
"And when you listen to 1950s advertising pushing the concept of 'women's work' and look at our current census data, it is clear that not enough has changed when it comes to the division of domestic labour.
"We wanted to dissect these topics and discuss them in a way that is clear and direct, but at the same time humorous, musically credible and totally danceable."
From the progressive, Daphne Oram-inspired track, Composers of the Future to Strike While The Iron Is Hot, an ironic love song for the lusty Westinghouse, The Ironing Maidens' debut EP provides a powerful contribution to the ongoing conversation on equality, not to mention floor-happy house beats and kooky lead lines with driving 303 style bass patterns reminiscent of early Chicago house.
"We sampled irons, washing machines, sewing machines, anything domestic that had a cool sound and we used those sounds to build the tracks with the 1950s advertising samples to accentuate the messages of this music," said Patty Bom, who produced and recorded the EP.
"We listen to a lot of old House Music classics and being electronic music artists ourselves, researched the pioneering women in EMP, their stories, their careers and discovered their lack of acknowledgement. And then looking at our current social context, all the dots joined together to make a very clear picture of just how little has changed. We had to do our part for progress."
The Ironing Maidens is an experimental arts project that has seen the duo tour Europe, playing Germany's famous Fusion Festival, featured at Byron Bay's Falls Festival and awarded the 2017Best Electronic Music Production in their local Awards.
Set to tour throughout Queensland laundromats this June, The Ironing Maidens immerse audiences in an unexpectedly emotive, highly entertaining show that leaves them feeling empowered and ready to press for progress.
A homage to House Music and a call to arms for the housewife, The Ironing Maidens' fresh pressed debut EP, Electro House Wife is out 1 June with their second regional tour steaming up Queensland laundromats 15 - 30 June.
You can catch this very special and unique performance at The Cotton Tree Laundry (yes, the laundry) on June 19th. Click here for more info on the event.