"At its core DAREFest is about building up the skills and resilience required for music performance & feminist activism. Through this day of workshops we hope to educate and empower other women to enter the music industry and take it down from the inside."
DAREFest Edinburgh is a one day event organised by musicians Lou Mclean and Ashley Stein who met through their involvement in Girl's Rock School Edinburgh. After becoming empowered through music they embraced the principles of making noise and taking up space to become more confident, capable and bad-ass; a skill set that they are eager to pass on to other women.
Lou Mclean has a Bsc (hons) in Psychology & is dedicated to the empowerment of young women from all walks of life. She has developed several song-writing workshops for women using her personal experience & education to help people overcome anxieties around writing and performing. She also runs a monthly song-writing circle which focusses on community & the individual creative process.
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Mclean began her music career as a graduate of Girls’ Rock School Edinburgh in December 2015, and her highly-praised debut EP ‘September to December’ was released in May 2016. Her second E.P. ‘Good Morning Easter Road’ was released in June 2017 to a series of great reviews.
Her music has been described as "riot grrrl pop with razor sharp lyrics".
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Twitter: @LouMcleanMusic
A long time promoter and professional events organiser Ashley has been involved with the music industry for over 7 years.
Having worked with many bands including Lorraine and The Borderlands and Sandy Brechin, Ashley has experience in many areas including events, stage management, tour organisation and music business marketing.
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She is also the bassist and lead singer for local Riot Grrrl band Fistymuffs.
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Twitter: @SmellsLikeWhat
