Is the rock scene still a boys' club?

"When we archetypal started successful the euphony industry, it was beauteous overmuch a boys' club," says Hannah Richardson, Cherym's pb vocalist and guitarist.

"We were like, wherefore can't girls bash it? There's nary crushed wherefore we can't."

Hannah makes up the Londonderry punk trio with Allanagh Doherty and Emer McLaughlin and says the manufacture - peculiarly the alternate euphony country - is inactive not wherever it needs to beryllium erstwhile it comes to equality and diversity.

That was thrown into absorption erstwhile earlier this week, Slam Dunk festival revealed portion of its 2025 line-up, featuring lone 2 acts that included women.

"I'm truthful sick of seeing of seeing line-ups that are predominantly cis, straight, achromatic men each the time," Hannah tells BBC Newsbeat.

"Because it's not conscionable women that are overlooked. It's achromatic people, it's trans people, it's marginalised radical successful general."

The band's drummer and vocalist Allanagh adds that women are truthful overlooked successful the industry, they're often mistaken for different bands' girlfriends erstwhile they amusement up to gigs.

"We person to perpetually beryllium ourselves and beryllium that we're worthy of what we're doing," she says.

Slam Dunk revealed its archetypal line-up announcement connected Wednesday for its festivals successful Leeds and Hatfield, featuring bands including The Used, A Day To Remember and Neck Deep.

Of the 20 featured acts, lone 2 - Delilah Bon and Dream State - included pistillate musicians, sparking a disappointed absorption from fans.

"It's giving, 'for a dollar, sanction a woman'," Allanagh says.

Slam Dunk is 1 of the UK's biggest autarkic stone festivals and its spokesperson declined to accidental thing astir the line-up announcement erstwhile approached by Newsbeat.

They said it wouldn't beryllium due oregon proportionate to remark erstwhile astir fractional of its acts were yet to beryllium confirmed.

But Allanagh thinks the backlash against the line-up poster is "justified".

"It's similar putting retired a trailer for a film," she says.

"It's the archetypal look and the look is 99% male."

Research by the BBC successful 2017 recovered that 80% of festival headliners were antheral and dozens of festivals went connected to pledge to execute a 50/50 sex divided by 2022.

But by the clip 2022 arrived, Newsbeat discovered that only 1 successful 10 headliners astatine the UK's apical euphony festivals were women that summer.

In 2018, run radical Keychange presented a manifesto to the European Parliament calling for much to beryllium done to amended practice successful the industry.

This year, it released a second manifesto renewing that call, on with different measures to marque the euphony manufacture much equitable.

Slam Dunk's 2024 line-up poster featured 5 acts that included women retired of the 27 that were advertised - astir 20% - portion successful 2023, it was 5 retired of 22, oregon 23%.

Meanwhile Download, which is simply a bigger stone festival dispersed crossed 3 days, filled 32 of its 111 slots - conscionable nether 30% - with acts featuring women and non-binary artists this summer.

Seeing the deficiency of practice is "literally wherefore we started," says Megan Fretwell from Panic Shack, an alternate miss radical from Cardiff who blew up connected TikTok for their viral way The Ick.

"Women aren't adjacent encouraged to try," she says. "We've had to physique our assurance implicit time.

"[Festivals] mightiness reason that there's not arsenic galore girls oregon women connected the scene.

"But look a small harder."

Megan says fans mightiness besides deliberation determination aren't capable "headline worthy" pistillate acts but says she'd impulse them to "question wherefore that mightiness be".

"Women request to beryllium fixed these opportunities to boost our profiles," she says.

"Where tin we commencement to physique up that ladder to headliner status? It's hard, and we've been grafting astatine this for years now."

She says the band's inspired by different pistillate acts including Spice Girls and Girls Aloud but they're "few and acold between" successful the alternate country - thing they privation to change.

"If a teenage miss watches america and feels successful immoderate mode inspired to prime up a guitar past our occupation is done," says Megan.

Hanni Pidduck and Clara Townsend marque up 2 halves of Brighton duo ARXX and picture their dependable arsenic "like Taylor Swift if she lone ever listened to Nirvana".

Hanni tells Newsbeat erstwhile they saw the Slam Dunk line-up they weren't amazed - "sadly".

"You tin beryllium outraged but it's inactive not surprising. It's truly upsetting that we're inactive astatine that point."

The vocalist and guitarist, who identifies arsenic non-binary, says practice is simply "not there".

"The feeling and the wide acquisition close present is that opportunities are afforded overmuch much for a definite demographic," they say.

"And due to the fact that of that, they're past taken distant from women and different marginalised communities."

For that to change, Hanni says diverseness needs to beryllium seen arsenic an accidental and not "a problem".

"You request idiosyncratic to actively say, 'This year's going to beryllium different'," they say.

"And portion of the occupation is nary one's deciding that."

Slam Dunk would person been "naive" not to expect immoderate backlash to the line-up announcement, Hanni says, and adjacent though much acts are yet to beryllium revealed, they hold with Allanagh that it doesn't acceptable the champion code for what to expect.

"If you're embracing the thought that practice is simply a affirmative thing, past I deliberation you would recognize that that needs to travel from time one," they say.

Cherym, Panic Shack and ARXX each hold the alternate country tin beryllium a "boys' club".

In different genres though, 2024 has been punctuated by women breaking records, from Taylor Swift's Eras tour, to Sabrina Carpenter's illustration domination and Glastonbury having 2 pistillate headliners for the archetypal time.

Megan says extracurricular of those genres, there's an constituent of "gatekeeping" from women and Hannah says determination tin beryllium an anticipation of the kinds of euphony they should make.

"There was an presumption that we made a peculiar benignant of euphony due to the fact that we're women," she says of erstwhile Cherym archetypal started performing.

"It's astir breaking down those stigmas and taking radical for what they are."

Hanni says they had a akin experience, starting successful euphony by playing "folksy, state music".

"I don't deliberation that's the euphony I was wanting to make," they say.

"I deliberation it's the euphony I thought I had to make."

And they accidental it's lone done amended practice that aspiring artists person the accidental to "embrace each the different possibilities".

"It can't beryllium stressed however important practice is," they say.

"You larn what's imaginable from what you see."