Research Hour with The F-List: Julianne Oc

The F-List Gender in Music Research Hub will continue to run a series of online research talks, with the aim of raising awareness on the importance of academic research, and with it, raising the profile of said research behind the advocacy of The F-List for Music in helping women and gender-diverse people sustain their music careers. The F-List for Music aims to increase knowledge by conducting research into gender inequality in music.

Who is presenting? In 2024, we continue the second series with researchers from The F-List Gender in Music Research Hub. The talks will take place in regular intervals, with the aim of growing this academic network of feminist researchers across several disciplines, all with the shared vision of The F-List for Music advocacy. All speakers must have an F-List Music Researcher Listing. If you are conducting relevant research and are interested in sharing it with The F-List Community, email m.potocnik@wlv.ac.uk or contact us via The F-List (https://thef-listmusic.uk/contact-us/).

Who is it for? All talks are open to the public, interested in advocacy and actions by The F-List for Music.

What is the format? The sessions are 60 minutes long. There is a 5-minute introduction, followed by a 5-minute networking opportunity (via breakout rooms). Thereafter, the speaker will have 30 minutes for their presentation, leaving 20 minutes for audience questions.

How to join? Sessions are delivered online, via MS Teams. Registration is free and can be completed via Eventbrite. Once registered, the participants will be sent the joining instructions one day before the session. Please note that the MS Teams joining instructions are always sent a day before the event, and to the email you have used to register on Eventbrite.

Any questions about the event, email m.potocnik@wlv.ac.uk.

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In our next session, on Wednesday, 8 May 2024, at 1pm, we welcome Julianne Oc, who will present her research on Selling Songs in Dark Times: Midlife Songwriting in Contemporary Popular Music.

Our speaker's Bio:

Julianne Oc is a professional songwriter, musician and practice-researcher based in Warwickshire.

After working as a grass roots musician for many years performing solo, with bands and leading her own band Singlemum, Julianne signed to a subsidiary of Universal Production Music in 2021. Her first album White Camellia was released in 2021 into UPM industry and on all major streaming platforms. Her second album Black Sheep is due to be released in 2024. Her music placements include global film and TV networks and BBC and ITV in the UK.

Julianne’s professional songwriting and performance practice form the framework for her research degree. The study, contextualised by sexist and ageist paradigms within the music industry, puts into practice the concept of femphonosophy: feminist thought and wisdom that may be derived from sound and music (Ferrett 2021: 3).

Incorporating her practice of song creation, Julianne adopts autoethnographic methods to examine the internalised impacts sexism and ageism have on artistic expression and performance. A process of metamorphosis is then embarked upon via praxis, which aims to vocally unearth ‘dark sounds’ of subjugation. The commercial placement of these unearthed dark sounds within contemporary popular music and media, sonically navigates resistance to patriarchal music-industry paradigms; lyrically, compositionally, through tone and expression, and by thematically embedding contexts of female midlife and motherhood within mainstream contemporary popular music.

Julianne holds the roles of Associate Lecturer and MA Mentor at BIMM University Birmingham, where she graduated her first-class degree in Songwriting.

The new album Black Sheep, written on this research journey, is due to be released in 2024.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1eRatDij9DnuSXaWPrbucI?si=IjCO95c2T1Ka73XYQuPz_A

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Look forward to meeting you there!