Atta Girl turns 1 this weekend

Atta Girl, Birmingham’s own all-female vocalist club night, turns one year old this weekend.

To celebrate, we shine the spotlight on the cartoon-loving team behind the night.

So, how did Atta Girl come about?

ATTA girl started not only because of not hearing the kind of post punk/ indie rock/ indie pop etc etc genres of music we wanted to hear but because of the lack of songs by women being played out and about. It became an on-going joke about how you were lucky if you heard a Blondie track if you went to an indie club! Blondie is great but there are several decades of female artists since then and we’ve proved that by filling a whole night with them.

Have you ever played Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cindi Lauper?

Yes! As well as playing politically right-on tracks by bands like Le Tigre, Sleater-Kinney and Riot Grrrl, shout fests which are lots of fun, we also throw in gems that people aren’t expecting because watching a whole room suddenly dance dramatically and sing along is heart warming. We started off steering clear away from anything that didn’t smack of empowerment but we lightened up as we realised people loved the concept and weren’t at all threatened by the night. We also play things like Club Action (the remix) by Yo Majesty, Fine As Fuck by Scream Club and Peaches. Lyrics that push our British politeness! But there’s nothing wrong with a bit of Kim Wilde.

What else could we expect from one of your nights?

We play many genres and aren’t afraid to mix it up so long as it makes you dance, laugh or shout along we like it. There’s no such thing as being too old or too young (well, alas the venue is over 18) at the beginning of the night we play 60s girl groups, and slower indiepop but by 10pm we’re well into building the room up with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Dresden Dolls, Kenickie, The Knife, M.I.A. The list is too diverse to fit in a paragraph. We like Scout Niblett, The Supremes, Bikini Kill and we’ve even been known to play Kylie!

A little bird tells me it’s your birthday, how old are you and how are you celebrating?

We’re one whole year old! ATTA girl party! 12th June upstairs at our home, Island Bar. We’ll have a birthday cake and lots of presents for everyone to say thanks for supporting us. If you arrive before 9.30pm there’s spirits + mixer for £2, but if you’re feeling extra naughty there’s a bespoke birthday cocktail for the night.

What are your plans for the future?

We’ve been asked to DJ at Indietracks Festival in July! We’re taking over the marquee after the bands until the close of the festival. We’d love to get a Lady Fest Birmingham going in the future, but we’d need a lot more people. Thanks to the support we’ve had, a Lady Fest is definitely on the cards. We’re also getting involved in setting up Birmingham’s first Zine Festival, keep an eye out in September. For this there’s also a facebook group. But for now we’re trying our hands at a few gig collaborations outside of our clubnight. The next one is on July 16 with The Autumn Store at The Victoria. The Lovely Eggs, Fever Fever and Hotpants Romance are playing.

Who else should we look out for to keep us entertained this summer?

Bands we’re listening to at the moment are Trash Kit (Steph from Atta girl was in their video “Cadets”!), they played ATP and totally owned the crowd, also their bassist is Ros Murray from Electrelane one of my all time favourite bands. TEETH are wonderful, they’ve played Birmingham a couple of times and tweeted about our zines aw! Internet Forever are a lo-fi Indiepop band that played here last year. Outside of London (Norwich!) definitely keep an eye out for Fever Fever managed by Birmingham’s Arthur Tapp they’ve had Radio 1 plays from Steve Lamacq and Huw Stephens and they’re playing with us July 16 supporting The Lovely Eggs who are another favourite of ours, more in the twee-indiepop realm with songs such as Have You Ever Heard a Digital Accordion which we often play at the end of the nights as everyone knows the words (they’re easy to pick up!).

What are your predictions for the World Cup?

We predict quiet streets around 7:30-10pmish followed by very noisy streets. There will be a lot of flags and people feeling merry and some people feeling quite bored.

Atta Girl, The Female Vocalist Clubnight, celebrates its first birthday on Saturday, upstairs at Island Bar from 8.30pm. Entry is £1.