CMAT thinks women in the music industry were “held down for such a long time”.
The 29-year-old singer – whose real name is Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson – is a “very big fan” of BRIT Award-winning girl band The Last Dinner Party and insisted that female-led acts “weren’t allowed to be visible” on the indie music scene for years up until now.
She told NME: “I’m very openly a big fan of The Last Dinner Party, they’re such a beacon for me.
“Back in the day, there was not a woman to be seen for miles. There were no women in indie music because they weren’t allowed to be visible.
“They weren’t put to the forefront at a time when guitar music was starting to die a death, and [the industry] didn’t think they should revitalise it by encouraging women to get involved… So to now see so many women, not just being here, but being the best at what they do to the point where they’re winning great awards, it makes my heart sing.
“I think it’s to do with women being held down for such a long time and having so many barriers to entry. The minute that is lifted a little bit, the floodgates open. Artists like me and The Last Dinner Party were sitting in our teenage bedrooms, looking for [inspiring] women. That was our motivation going forward, to try and get other girls out of their bedrooms.”
Meanwhile, the ‘I Don’t Really Care For You’ hitmaker teased that she has a host of new music on the horizon herself.
She said: “There is lots and lots of new music and it’s coming very soon. I spent all of September to December working on it in a hole in New York City. It’s done now. I lost my mind there for a bit, but it sounds great,” she said.
“I’m really focusing on songs that transfer well to live music, because my live band is such an important part of what I do. They’re the basis of me becoming a well-known person in the UK who is able to sell tickets to gigs. I wouldn’t be able to do it if it wasn’t for my band, so I wrote an album for both them and me to slay.”