Interview Sarah Slater isn't afraid to say Titwrench

Sarah Slater knows that it's no easy task putting on a music festival, let alone a three-day event devoted to the women's experimental and noise scenes. Regardless, the local DJ, photographer, and band manager created Titwrench Fest, which goes until Sunday at Rhinoceropolis. Slater enlisted the help of a handful of local artists, musicians, writers, and performers with the mission of creating an event that pushes the boundaries of art and performance. The goal was to develop a place for women to feel comfortable making art, while offering the experience to an all-ages community. With no financial backing but from the community itself, Titwrench was born. 

Decider: What inspired Titwrench?

Sarah Slater:  I went to a lot of music festivals when I was like 18 or 19, and most of the bands had all-male lineups, and the audience was mostly male too—I remember getting really excited whenever there was a woman in a band. [Laughs.] In a way, Titwrench is the music festival I wished I could have seen years ago. Ladyfest was definitely a big inspiration for what we’re doing, but we decided to focus more on a certain kind of music, and we wanted a name to exemplify that.

D: You’ve been promoting Titwrench for a while. Who tends to be interested in this?

SS: People who like art a little outside of the mainstream—well not necessarily the mainstream, but outside of what's just a little different and experimental in some way. We’re experimental in a broad sense. I think that the festival will kind of showcase these artists, and hopefully inspire more women to create music. There’s been a lot of enthusiasm, not only in Denver, but from all over. We don’t have any sponsors or donors; we’re doing everything on a DIY, homemade kind of basis, so all of our funding is coming from the Denver community, which is kind of exciting.

D: But you rounded up bands and performers from all over North America.

SS: Yeah, we have bands coming from Ontario, and I’ve had people write to me from Europe really excited about the festival. There’s one band from Albuquerque called Milche De La Maquina that’s being assembled solely for Titwrench, which is five women from the noise scene coming together just to play the fest. Hell-Kite is coming from Tempe, Ariz., and she’s a pretty experimental folksinger who will be performing with a full band for the fest. Becca Mhalek is coming from Los Angeles and used to be in a band called Nightshark here in Denver. She's coming out to perform her solo act.

D: You mentioned empowerment through these performances. Is there an educational aspect you hope to bring across?

SS:  We are incorporating other media and art elements into the weekend with two different filmmakers who will be playing videos at the fest, as well as Bast, a woman from San Francisco who does performance art and dance. In the future, we hope to extend the festival with more educational components and a focus on technical aspects, like workshops on sound. Sound is another area women aren’t always active, but there are plenty of women who are interested working soundboards, even if they are the minority.