Laura Marling launches podcast investigating lack of women in the recording studio

She wants to assess whether it makes any difference to the final outcome of recordings without bringing any pre-conceived notions

There’s been a lot of talk about the lack of women behind the camera in the film industry over the past couple of years, but little scrutiny when it comes to the recording studio.

Laura Marling is hoping to change this with a new project launching today called Reversal of the Muse, through which she aims to "establish why there is a real lack of female presence in the recording studio, and to discuss whether it makes any difference to the final outcome of the recordings."

Over the past few months, Marling has been travelling to speak with a number of musicians and engineers about their first-hand experience, ‘without wanting to carry any pre-conceived notions of why it might be’.

The project has a dedicated website and will centre on a series of podcasts discussing the topic with key players in the industry. The first two podcasts are live now and feature HAIM and US studio engineer Vanessa Parr.

“Reversal Of The Muse began as conversations between friends about female creativity," Marling told The FADER. “In reversing the muse, it became an experiment. As a small part of the global conversation about women in the arts, it became an obsession. It occurred to me that in 10 years of making records I had only come across two female engineers working in studios.”

You can listen to episode one above.