Track: Solidarity Not Silence – This Is Sisterhood ft. Kathleen Hanna, The Tuts, Petrol Girls

Solidarity not Silence is a campaign raising money for the legal costs of a group of women who are fighting a defamation claim made against them, after each of them spoke up about their accuser’s alleged abuse of women. A number of his former partners, as well as feminist musicians who spoke out in support, including Nadia Javed of The Tuts and Ren Aldridge of Petrol Girls, are facing a libel claim. Their case is immensely relevant in the aftermath of #MeToo and could affect legal precedent on how similar cases are treated by the law.

The group of women has been fighting this case for over four years, and is desperately trying to fundraise enough money to maintain their legal representation. Since launching their crowdfunder – and again since identities were made public – they have received an extraordinary amount of support. It seems that their case resonates with many people who have had similar experiences of being silenced by someone with more power, fame or financial backing.

However, they have now reached a crucial point in the case, where costs are escalating rapidly. Therefore, in an attempt to reach out beyond their usual networks they wrote and recorded this powerful single, which tells the compelling story of their legal battle, in 2019 and are now releasing it into the world. Their strategy in releasing the track is twofold: firstly they hope to raise money directly through digital downloads and merch sales, but ultimately the goal is to tell their story and get as much attention, and therefore donations, to their crowdfunder as possible.

“At the end of the day, we’re musicians not lawyers. We can’t fight this case without the help of our lawyers, but what we can do, is use our skills and resources as musicians to tell our story, and build the momentum that we need to expand our fundraising campaign and keep covering our legal costs.” – Solidarity Not Silence collective.

Following up on an offer for studio use made by a woman who came forward with her own terrible experiences of the claimant, the group then drew on the talents and resources of friends within the feminist music community to produce this defiant expression of solidarity.

The core track ‘This Is Sisterhood’ was put together by defendant Nadia Javed on lead vocals and guitar, Harriet Doveton on Bass, and Jodi M Burn on drums. Extra guitar (a rocking solo) was added by Katie Gatt of Personal Best, and defendant Ren Aldridge added spoken word on the breakdown. It was engineered by Simon Small, produced by Patrick James Pearson and is being released through Alcopop! Records.

This track is all about the lyrics, and powerful lyrics they are sung with as much venom as Javed can sling. A fizzing, vibrant track that builds with an intended menace into a glorious choral rendition of the slogan, “We Stand In Solidarity. This Is Sisterhood”.