Dan Rock Žena (Women's Rock Day) is the festival which supports all-female bands composing their original music in Europe and further. Sisters Sasha and Sonja Zagorc, the founders of the first all-female metal group in Slovenia (Europe) HELLCATS, had an idea back in 2015 to invite female artists and make a festival in their home town Ljubljana unlike all the others in the region. Next year the festival will be celebrating its 10th anniversary but the celebration will start this year because they managed to get the amazing female thrash metal band NERVOSA to headline the festival!
Usually metal scene in Slovenia is male-dominated so Hellcats, as the first all-female metal group in Slovenia and ex-Yugoslavia, had to deal with a lot of unaugmented criticism and lived through harder times than their male colleagues back in the 2003 when they started. If it wasn't for their fans and friends from Norway, UK, America and Germany, who were supporting them from the beginning, they would give up for sure. They were the DIY band since the beginning. Writing songs, making the graphic design, PR, management, driving to the gigs and drag their own equipment to the stage and down after the show and much more. This kept their head on the right place when their career grew and when the tours and big gigs came after recording critically acclaimed album - as the first all-female full length album to be recorded in Slovenia.
If you want to succeed in the male world you need, beside the good songs, to be strong, stubborn and have a strong will, so you can keep a smiling face when you hear common nonsense like »you got the gig because you are beautiful«. These are all the reasons why the two sisters have decided to help other young female musicians and all-female bands and giving them the chance to be heard. Having achieved that, they are pioneers in fighting for the rights of women in rock music in this part of Europe.
Dan Rock Žena is a music festival which has an all-female line-up where all the bands present their original music. That means that on this day only female artists are there to hit the stage and play their own stuff. The festival supports female musicians by giving them place in music they deserve and encourages them into making songs and helps them to present their work.
It takes place in Slovenia's capital Ljubljana on the 8th of March the International Women's Day, which is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and is a focal point in the movement for women's rights.
This year the festival will host Nervosa from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Hellcats from Ljubljana, Slovenia and Rouigenoire from Milano, Italy.
USEFUL LINKS:
Dan Rock Žena: https://www.facebook.com/danrockzena
NERVOSA: https://www.facebook.com/nervosa
HELLCATS: https://www.facebook.com/hellcats.si/
ROUGENOIRE:https://www.facebook.com/rougenoire
Photo and text: Dan Rock Žena