IRONING MAIDENS

New Music Coming to a Laundromat Near You

This Summer

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Award-winning electronic duo, The Ironing Maidens are putting domestic labour, technology and the history of women in electronic music centre stage with their new single Electro Housewife and Strike While the Iron Is Hot Laundromat Tour, 17 Jan – 1 Feb.

Ingeniously adapting real irons and ironing boards into electronic instruments to create breakthrough music (and a new genre – electro housewife!), The Ironing Maidens have toured Europe, playing Germany’s famous Fusion Festival, featured at Byron Bay’s Falls Festival and taken out the 2017Best Electronic Music Production in their local Awards.

The Ironing Maidens, Patty Preece and Melania Jack, inspired this experimental electronic arts project five years ago when they discovered many electronic music pioneers, who happen to be women, were absent from their electronic music education.

“Looking into the themes prominent during the 1950s when women like Daphne Oram were developing their highly influential work, we noticed parallels between the dismissal of women’s work in the home and the lack of recognition for women in music technology development,” said Patty.

“So we developed a new show exploring ways of creating sound with the irons (an iconic symbol) and discussing attitudes around issues of recognition.

“And what better place to perform this new take on electro house music than the regional laundromat!”

The new single, Electro Housewife is the first from The Ironing Maidens upcoming debut EP dishing out a floor happy house style drum beat with a driving 303 style bass pattern reminiscent of early Chicago house…with a housewife twist.

“We’ve used samples from actual ads run in the 1950s, which were all aimed at enticing women into the role of housewife,” said Melania.

“In the 1950s this concept of ‘women’s work’ was advertised heavily and women were expected to take it on happily – meanwhile the never ending nature of housework, the lack of recognition for the work and the physical exhaustion took it’s toll on women’s physical and mental wellbeing. Not enough has changed since the 1950s.”

Via their own music technology school, Mesh – Music Electronic Sound House, each performance will be accompanied by a public workshop covering the topics of EMP, basic Ableton Live software skills, electronic instrument creation and the history of women in electronic music.

“Women are still largely underrepresented in the electronic music industry globally,” said Patty, “We want to be active agents of change and the best way we can do that is to share our knowledge and provide a fun and safe space for women, LGBTQI and people with disabilities to learn and explore EMP through creative performances and interactive community workshops.”

A homage to House Music and a call to arms for the housewife, The Ironing Maidens’ new single, Electro Housewife is available on all digital outlets 17 January to celebrate the ‘Strike While the Iron Is Hot Tour’ hitting regional laundromats this summer. Tickets on sale now at ironingmaidens.com.au.

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WATCH: Electro Housewife