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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (May 23, 2014)
street roots May 23, 2014 condensed into a three-day weekend. T hey write an original song in three days. I’m a musician and think that is terrifying. I’m amazed that people have so much enthusiasm for it. It’s really inspiring to experience. It’s also wonderful because it creates an opportunity for community building and networking for women who might volunteer for the girls’ camp as well. And tuition from Ladies Rock Camp can go toward financial aid for the girls’ camp. 3JL.:How many campers come from outside of Portland? B.W.: Earlier on, there was a greater number of giris coming from out of town. But now that there are so many Rock Camps everywhere, we get fewer out-of-towners. S.Z.: I imagine, here in Portland, you have musician in Bahrain. We started e-mailing. ’ 'return "camperswho help create tKai She told me she Was doing asludentstt excitement... exchange program and was going to be in Seattle. I was able to meet her and we were B.W.: Exactly. It was different too in that able to hash it out. What would this look like? My concerns, her concerns. I really didn’t (in Bahrain) we had four guitars and two want to just fly out there and do a camp as it basses and one drum set and 45 girls. looks in Portland. I wanted it tp be a Whereas here, we have 30 guitars and 15 conversation with female musicians in girls taking guitar classes. We talked a lot Bahrain. about collaboration mid sharing. The girls in We were there 10 days. It was very Bahrain were so excited to have the program differentthan the Portland Rock Camp. We that if seemed that sharing wasn’t an issue. didn’t have as many instruments, it was way I was teaching the guitar class, and I would more improvisational. But 45 girls showed up. show them an E chord. And then three girls It was a blast. would play it and then teach it to the three There were two music stores in Bahrain. other girls. It was a great opportunity for They were so kind to us.They closed their peer mentoring. shops and let us use their practice rooms. It was really exciting. S.Z.: Will you go back? S.Z.: Toll me about the invitation to take the Rock ‘n ’Roll Camp to Bahrain. S.Z.: What is the importance of bringing the camp to Bahrain? B.W.: That came kind of out of the blue. The public affairs officer from the U.S. Embassy of Bahrain, Brad Niemann sent us an email. He is married to Haifaa A1 Mansour, the first female Saudi filmmaker. Her film “Wadja” (2012) was the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia. They contactedus and said that they do kids programs in the Middle East and would we be interested in doing a Girl’s Rock Camp. - < It took some thinking ... and pondering. “Is this real?” It took a little homework. I thought, “Well, if there are women in Bahrain who are interested in doing this with us, then yes. I want to do i t ” ' I started emailing people that I knew who had been to the Middle East or knew something about Bahrain. I was able to get in touch with a woman named Wadeeah ® Meshkhas) who is 22 years old and a B.W.: You’d have to ask the girls what they thought of the experience. For me, it was meeting the girls. Getting to know what their life is like. It was so similar. It was different in th a t... you know how you asked me the “Why girls only?” question? Over there it’s for the most part gender-segregated education. So why girls? - there was no questioning th a t It was just understood - it’s the music camp for girls. The songs were strikingly thematically Similar. It was a lot of “I hate school, I love music, school sucks, I put in my headphones, everything is OK.” . 3.2.: Are the issues of adolescent girls universal? B.W.: Yes. “You can’t tell me what to think. You can’t tell me what to say.” B.W,: Yes! In August, with the idea that Wadeeah will hold the leadership role now. S.Z.: What is it about girls and women playing music together that is so fantastic? B.W.: I think some of it has to do with the fact that we aren’t necessarily socialized to ■ take up a lot of space; and music often requires amplification. Rock music has an anti-authoritative aesthetic to it. So that can be really compelling. It’s just a release. This song that you write this week doesn’t have to define you. But you can kind of let something out of you or try on an emotion and see how it feels and try to connect with other I ’ people. < Learn more about the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls at WWW. girlsrockcamp.org
