The past few years have seen a wonderful rise and well-overdue appreciation for female and non-binary producers, DJs, MCs and contributors to a scene that pre-lockdown felt tired and formulaic. Within this rise, pioneering collections of well-established and respected industry professionals such as EQ50 & Foundation.fm have provided and paved the way for a championed new wave of collectives.
One such collective built on true o.g homegrown roots, values and ideologies is Sisterhood. The brainchild of Cam Edge, the 25 strong group are a hugely talented and illustriously varied collective, I sat down with Cam earlier to chat the birth of the brand, what bought her to its fruition and what’s going on right now for the brand.
Alongside the wonderful conversation with Cam, it gave light to the opportunity to get the whole roster involved too with the interview and they were all asked to submit a track that made them think of Sisterhood in anyway. Following this, we have been lucky enough to have collective member LUCE to mix it together in a 47-minute adventure of the brand, right from the hearts of the ones going from strength to strength.
Birmingham has always been an audible melting pot for music. Period. But Sisterhood are proving that not only is it able to establish something truly original within that, that their limits know no bounds. With collectives like these in existence, the dance music scene can only up from here.
Hey Cam! How’s things going?
Yeah, really good at the moment. Really excited about how things are going. Everything seems to be progressing nicely and a lot quicker than I thought too.
Yeah, you recently booked DJ Storm & MC Chickaboo. What a way to start the year off and a really special apex to the success you’ve had over the last six months, how did that come about?
It was a real massive moment for me because it’s been Storm’s 30 year anniversary in the jungle and drum and bass scene, Chickaboo’s and 30 years in the scene myself. Chickaboo personally contacted me and said that she was so impressed with the work that Sisterhood had been doing right now and that she would love to come to Birmingham to support the brand, suggesting to bring DJ Storm with her.
That must have been so mad after you having followed both of their careers for that time, full circle moment!
Yeah it was all off the back of this message which blew my mind as yeah I’d been following them for such a long time, I can remember listening to them both from 16! To have someone who you look up to message you and say they want to get involved, it really was something special. I just knew I had exactly the right bunch of ladies around me to be able to curate the night I was looking to put on, it was kind of one of those is this really happening moments. I know it meant a lot to me and it definitely meant a lot to the girls who played on the night.
Yeah Chickaboo is a real special person in the scene! I can imagine you’ve taken some solid building blocks from what she’s doing over at EQ50?
Definitely! They way she speaks about certain things that go on in the scene and what that collective do, its really important to me and to the girls. I’ve just tried to take advice from her from afar for a long time now and its a lot of the reason why I’ve been able to keep this fire in my belly and keep going!
No doubt! So going back to the beginning, what did pre Sisterhood look like for you?
Well I suppose how far back you want to go really?! Music has always been present in my life, getting into the scene around 16, just wanting to be apart of it. You had to do what you had to do! Life for me has always been about music, either in the rave as a raver or working in events at Lab 11 and The Mill in Birmingham, its just been about remaining a part of it.
What sort of parties where you going to back then?
I have such a wide taste in music and always have. I love jungle and drum and bass but I will listen to all types of music if it’s the right vibe for me. My partying was much the same, I would go to a lot of UK Garage nights like Sidewinder and House nights too, I liked it varied. I guess that’s why I started to think about starting something myself, I felt like the scene became a bit saturated and formulaic.
So following on from pre Sisterhood, what made you hit go on the project?
I think I had been looking at events, even from a perspective of just looking or events to attend myself and nothing was really inspiring me to go out. It seemed to be the same old thing from the same old people. As I started to look around at all these events I started to realise, where are all the girls on these line ups? I knew so many sick female djs who work just as hard as the guys out there, driving up and down the country every weekend so why weren’t they getting on the flyers?
So I thought to do an all girl night, friends from Manchester came down to help support and a few locals from Birmingham too to play on the night and from the get go I knew I was on to something great as there was zero egos inside! It was just about the music and the vibes were electric, when these girls come together we were doing something fantastic. After the event we were all on such a high, the messages we had from the girls playing and the attendees who said they really enjoyed what we were trying to do.
So how do people get involved?
I think the most important part is to match the energy of all the people already in the collective. We’re a high vibrational group of people, we’re not about bad vibes, we try and move forward with love and care for the people around us as part of the team. Everyone is different and from a different walk of life, but we’re all coming together to push what we all love doing. All you’ve got to do is just send me a mix or a message and we’ll take it from there.
How does it feel to see yours and a whole new wave of artists dreams come to fruition?
It’s really, really great! The whole experience so far has been so much more than I ever imagined it could be. It’s been so fulfilling on a personal level. I’m the kind of person who I want to see the people around me doing well, you know? That gives me a real kick! It’s just a full circle of each of us bettering one another and it’s been beautiful to see.
What’s in store for sisterhood then?
There’s so many different things in store, I really want to expand and there’s already been some contact from other cities around the UK wanting to work with us. I also want to be able to bring 0121 Recordings our record label run with my partner Natty D into the mix too. I’m looking at getting a mentor for producing so they have a platform to release on too for those who want to learn to produce and aim for releases. Lot’s to come! Lot’s more music, lots more events and lots more happy smiling ravers for sure!
Alongside the wonderful conversation with Cam, it gave light to the opportunity to get the whole roster involved too with the interview and they were all asked to submit a track that made them think of Sisterhood in anyway. Following this, we have been lucky enough to have collective member LUCE to mix it together in a 47-minute adventure of the brand, right from the hearts of the ones going strength to strength.
Birmingham has always been an audible melting pot for music. Period. But Sisterhood are proving that not only is it able to establish something truly original within that, that their limits know no bounds. With collectives like these in existence, the dance music scene can only up from here.
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