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.
-
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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