The Helen McCookerybook Interview

“Singer-songwriter Helen McCookerybook musical ventures first came to light as the bass player and co-singer with The Chefs in the late 1970s and early 80s. She then formed Helen and the Horns. John Peel admired both bands and between them recorded six BBC Radio 1 sessions. Then came the long break filled with the stuff of life. In 2005 Helen started again as a solo artist and up until the pandemic was regularly playing live gigs, and releasing recordings. Thankfully ( at least in the UK and for the time being) we seem to be emerging from that crisis. So a good time to chat with Helen about the past ,present and future .. Enjoy.” continue reading

Deviation Street Online Zine (Sound), 7 June 2021: deviationstreetmagazine.com

Helen Reddington: She’s at the Controls: Sound Engineering, Production and Gender Ventriloquism in the 21st Century

“The book’s title is a question: Why are there so few women producers?

It’s not a new conversation at LW HQ. When writing for the weekly music paper Melody Maker I had my own feminist agenda in this area: reference by name any women sound engineers in the live review.

To the music production students I teach, it seems less important; the popular discussions being whether the big studios will survive the next decade, which leads to how the marginalisation of digital technology and media has given women musicians, artists, producers, the freedom from everyday sexism, and worse.

Hey there! She’s at the Controls brings hard evidence of gender discrimination in the less visible world of music production, and is a valuable tool for multi-disciplinary DIY feminist punks as much as the juicy quotes will be for music undergraduates’ future research projects. …” continue reading here

Ngaire Ruth on the Loud Women website (Book Reviews), 3 June 2021: www.loudwomen.org

Daisychain, Bandcamp

A mini-release today, collaborations with two very special musicians Kenji Kenji and Michel Wallace: helenmccookerybook.bandcamp.com/album/daisychain

She’s at the Controls: Sound Engineering, Production and Gender Ventriloquism in the 21st Century
Helen Reddington

“This book explores what it feels like to be a woman working professionally in sound, in all its various manifestations. Helen Reddington cuts up her many interviews with sound engineering industry professionals into interspersed excepts that jump from one account to another in a refreshing upbeat prose.” (First paragraph)

“Women engineers and producers may be the rare exception, but they are there persistently at the top of the profession. We just need more of them, and this book goes a long way to inspiring newcomers. The experiences listed here are rooted in the rock and pop world, and I found myself wondering about all the amazing women at the controls in the challenging areas of film, theatre, broadcasting, sound art, classical and electroacoustic music and contemporary live coding. Looking forward to the second volume.” (Last paragraph)

Jo Hutton, in the The Wire magazine (Print Run) Issue 448: www.thewire.co.uk