Tonight (January 30), We Are Moving The Needle will present the first annual Resonator Awards. The event was conceived by Grammy-winning engineer Emily Lazar, who founded We Are Moving The Needle to support female and non-binary producers, engineers and music industry professionals.
The invite-only dinner will be one of the premiere Grammy week events. Among those on hand to receive and present awards will be Alanis Morissette, Garbage’s Shirley Manson, boygenius, Jack Antonoff, Linda Perry, Caroline Polachek and Corinne Bailey Rae. In the spirit of the awards, influential producers and engineers Jennifer Decilveo, Catherine Marks and Laura Sisk will be recognized for their work in 2023 as well.
Sage Bava and I spoke with Lazar, Decilveo and Sisk about tonight’s awards, how this event will raise awareness and much more.
Steve Baltin: How has this event been different for you?
Emily Lazar: I make records. I don't put on award shows. But I have an amazing team and I have really amazing people who've come forward to jump in. I'm working with Kate Jackson from Grandstand, and obviously the team at SpinLab, which is amazing. Sister Midnight has come in to help with the production. My WAMTN team, Gaby Rodriguez and Skye Landgraf, have been phenomenal. We're lean, but absolutely mighty. I'm blown away with what we've pulled off. And I'm not blown away at the same time because I have these expectations that we, of course, should be able to do this. I'm happy that everybody's rallying and psyched and that the RSVPs and the interest has been so phenomenal. That's also very heartening. It makes me realize that we needed to do this. We should have done this a while ago.
Baltin: When you're making a record, you have an idea of what it's going to be and then it just explodes. So, was there that moment where it went from being this thing that you imagined to this massive event honoring people like Alanis and Linda Perry and boygenius?
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Lazar: It's interesting. I am lucky and blessed that I've been dropped into this alternate universe where those are normal people to me. It is still very small and intimate and invite only. It’s the people who care and who know that this needs to be visible and elevated. They're going to be in that room. That happens to be these amazing artists. I'm so lucky to even put myself in the same sentence with them and realize that a lot of them are actually friends. I think it's going to be a really warm room. The coolest thing I've found in doing this is I keep finding these through lines between all the people that are in the room, like people who've hired the same people. I've worked with Alanis for years. So, I know Alanis, just from personal experience, is a champion of hiring women. But when you start to thread the needle and look at what else she's done, and the reason that she's our luminary of the year, is that years ago, she made efforts to do that when it wasn't a popular thing to do. She hired a team of women to make Such Pretty Forks in the Road, which was the number one rock record when it came out. Catherine Marks produced that record and Catherine Marks is the producer for the boygenius record. As a behind the scenes person, there's, to me, a direct correlation between the fact that Alanis hired this team and you flash forward a few years, and now here's this woman making arguably one of the biggest records of the year. It makes perfect sense to me. Those kinds of magical moments were not planned. Then all of a sudden it was like, “Oh my God, Alanis actually had Catherine do Such Pretty Forks in the Road.” It all kind of crystallized after the fact. None of this was done in a purposeful way. In the bigger picture, it was done purposefully for each person that we were honoring. Michael Goldstone has hired Jennifer Decilveo a bunch of times to do all sorts of cool records on his label. For me, it's very interesting to see this intertextuality between everything that's happening. I've been very lucky to participate in a lot of these records, too. It's been neat to see this amazing community showing up scattered around, but connected in this way. It's interesting because these people don't usually get together as a community. So it's an interesting thing too, to create this actual ability for these people to commune and have like-minded people in their space. Usually, you feel like a weirdo.
Sage Bava: How does it feel now that it's 2024 and you have this vast perspective of this lifetime of memories with some of these people and now you get to give them awards? I'm sure it's an interesting place to be in your mind. And how does it feel to be where we are now?
Lazar: I have watched a lot of these amazing women get ignored for a lot of years. I think they deserved awards. I consider myself incredibly lucky for busting through some of these crazy ceilings and that I have managed to get awards or nominations on my own. I find it boggling considering the percentages and the statistics. So, I'm really excited to be able to uplift and notice and recognize these people whose contributions are systematically unrewarded. I think it's vital to acknowledge, honor and celebrate them and promote conversations on equity in the recording studio. The impact of these awards I think will go well beyond the accolades. Just the fact that we're talking about this creates new opportunities, I think, that continue to unite not just our community, but the greater music community. I feel like these awards go beyond celebration. They mark a historic moment. We've never done this before. We can spotlight extraordinary creators, powerful producers, engineers, artists and songwriters that have left an indelible mark, all from behind the console. Some of them being artists who are on the other side of the console, too, but showing that they have some prowess behind the console. We're going to celebrate them because they are truly great and not just because they're women or gender expansive folks and they need to be uplifted, but because they're actually great. I'm excited. I think this is going to amplify all the things we need to amplify — visibility.
Bava: How long has this been in the works? You talk about shifting paradigms. I feel like doing something like this and putting it into three-dimensional reality is such a way to start a paradigm shift. But those seeds were planted many, many years ago.
Lazar: As a matter of fact, it's interesting. I have some friends that I grew up with and colleagues that I came up with who were women. I have this email to this day from before I got involved. I was involved in the Recording Academy as a governor or maybe I was just learning about it all. It was really early on, like 10, 15 years ago. I have an email that I sent to a woman who is also a great engineer and producer who will be at the event. I sent her this email and I said, “We need to have our own little moment. Maybe we should have an awards, a dinner and invite all the women that we can talk to and create something here. It's just a void.” So, it's been on my mind for a really long time. And I feel like it's been necessary for even longer. But specifically this year, and this is not to say that the men who are in the producer of the year category are not deserving. They certainly are, though all those nominees are deserving, but there's also no women in there. And there are a lot of women that have made some great records this year. So, I don't have a problem shouting out, “Look at these amazing records that were made, boygenius included, by these really amazing producers.”
Baltin: What is We Are Moving The Needle?
Lazar: We Are Moving The Needle was created as an organization for change. It is not a women's or gender expansive organization by its definition. It's an organization that everybody is supposed to be a part of, men, women, everybody. My feeling here is not that we're creating the other awards thing. We're not doing that at all. We're just celebrating some great work by some great engineers and producers. Men will be there. Men are presenters, one man is getting an award. We are not doing this to create an alternative award show and comment on what's not in the award shows that exists. It's not about that. It's just more about celebrating and showing up for some great stuff that didn't get noticed in a way. When we do our fix the mix report and we find out that we're at 50 percent or more of women and gender expansive folks in the credits of things, and we feel solidly like our job is done, We Are Moving The Needle is going to pivot and cure cancer or diabetes or something, do something else wonderful for the world, because that's what it's about. It's an organization for change and dealing. This is an issue that for years and years and years and years and years, nothing has changed. It keeps being terrible stats. Two percent, come on. There is a way to change this, we do know how to change it, and it's not that hard if we really want to change it. So, I think it's an important piece to note here. I didn't set out to create an award show. That's not what we're trying to do. We're doing this because it's a part of our mission. Our mission is to educate and equip and energize the community and engage women into these career paths, and then support them. Then after you do all that, you have to make sure they get hired. So there has to be an element of visibility, and this is a piece of that. This is showing that it's possible. You can break through, you can make great amazing records. You can get noticed and you can get an accolade for what you do, and people care about you. Boygenius is coming to present an award. They're not coming to win an award. They're presenting an award to Catherine. That's an impactful statement just in and of itself.
Bava: I really appreciate how now, and in other interviews, you're very much of the mind of creating high standards not just for yourself, but also the world. I think that's what innovation is. I would love to know how much that has become your reality.
Lazar: That's very sweet. While you're talking, I think, who's she talking about? But the truth is there's an element of, “I think therefore I am.” And then there’s the little Yoda piece of, “There is only do, there's no try.” I think those things are very true in my life. I'm very grateful this is happening in the social media world, this focus on mental health and awareness and manifesting things for yourself. When I grew up, we didn't talk about manifesting anything, truthfully. It's like a new idea. I think for people growing up now, that's a very normal thing that they see all over the internet. Or at least it populates my feed all the time. Maybe that's why I'm doing all these things, because I get a feed filled with, you can manifest whatever you want. But maybe it seems like it's more of a normal call to action. And I think it's super positive and super wonderful. And so maybe it's a little of that. I don't know. I don't know. And maybe I had parents who were crazy who told me I could do things.
Baltin: When this is done, what do you want people to take from it? What would be the greatest thing that you can hear from people leaving this event?
Lazar: There are going to be different people in that room. Some people are already acutely aware of this situation. Some people don't realize how pitifully low the number of women and gender expansive people in this field are. And those very same people have an ability to make a huge difference. So, if there are leaders of industry in that room that can make an effort to hire in a more equitable way, I think we'll see some results. And at the end of the day, this is really, for me, another way to celebrate some of the results that we've had. We've given out a lot of scholarship dollars. We've placed people in lots of programs and we've had some incredible results. We have a scholarship recipient who, after going to one of the programs, came home all charged up. And the next time we saw her was on the red carpet of the Grammys because she was nominated as an engineer on Beyonce's Renaissance. She was going to give up. She was like, “I'm not doing this anymore. This is too hard. I’m just going to apply for this We Are Moving The Needle Scholarship and see what happens.” So I know it works. I'm sure that there are a lot of people in that room that hold this hiring power that don't even realize that they're not looking outside of the 10 usual suspects that make all the records. And, by the way, there are a lot of other men out there that they should be looking at, too. There are a lot of people making really cool records and who are really talented who just have a really hard time busting through this very closed circle. You look at the top records of the year, it's a lot of the same people. And unfortunately, that's just part of this like, “Oh, I want to get the best guy. He did this, so he'll do that. I want him to do mine.” And there's this inability to stretch a little bit. So I think it's important, as a takeaway, for some of the people who are in those positions to realize that these other people exist like they may not really even realize that Catherine Marks produced that boygenius album. And so when they're thinking about something else and if they don't go to go look up the credits and find out that she did it, or that Jenn Decilveo did the Hozier track or the Miley Cyrus track or whatever, they don't think, “Oh, I want to work with the person who did that.” And it's actually a woman. They don't really think that. It's not as publicized. It's not as easy to access. So I guess upon leaving this event, I'd like them not just to think of those few people that we're celebrating, but also for the idea that there's a bunch more to hire. Clearly that's the problem. There's not enough, but if we keep kind of hiring them, there will be more. So I guess that's a big thing, is to make sure that people leave going like, “Oh, wow, that's cool. And I can make a difference.” And if it's another person from another piece of the industry, whether it be management or booking tours or signing talent, it's a big world out there. And that there's a lot of people to kind of think about engaging with. We could also talk about Caroline Polachek's album or Corinne Bailey-Rae's album. Corinne Bailey-Rae, making this incredible album that really is pushing social change. Really important to see those albums and see those people and hear those people. Caroline Polachek's album is incredible. And she is a force behind the console. I don't know if people know that. Maybe if they're real fans and they go and they see her Tiny Desk concert, they're like, “Oh wow, she's amazing.” But do they know that she's actually behind the console doing stuff? Ariana Grande's new album, new tracks are coming out. You check out her socials, you can see her comping her vocals together at the console. This is important that, you know, not only young women see this because they can then say, “Okay, I can do this.” But also that the men in the room see it too. So the takeaway is, let's celebrate awesomeness and greatness, and let's open our minds. The numbers are so drastically low, every single person that gets hired and is credited on a major label credit and potentially gets a Grammy nomination, actually changes the overall percentage a lot. You would be amazed by just adding 10 women to the overall numbers, if you check out the Fix the Mix report that we did, it's kind of unreal.
Baltin: How far back do you go with Emily?
Jennifer Decilveo: I met her at an event in Nashville. It was pre-pandemic, so I think it was 2019. We became fast friends and I loved her mom and she was very, Sage, no pun intended. We just became friends and have worked on some stuff together. She's kind of like an older sister to me and we're both from the east coast. She's the best.
Baltin: As Emily said, this didn't start out to be an award for women, or a women's event, but just to raise awareness.
Decilveo: Yeah, I think it's important. I don't ever think about my gender in the studio or in my daily life, I guess. But yeah, there's not a lot of women producers behind the boards, engineers. We're a rarity. I think it's important to show that it's possible. These people are crushing it and they're doing really great work with really great artists. I think we need to give people more of an opportunity to dip their toe into it if they're interested in it. Entertainment is a really hard business to get into. I didn't believe that it was possible, like watching the Grammys as a kid, in high school thinking, "Oh, I'm going to go to the Grammys." I was like, "Oh, I love music." And somehow, coming from the suburbs of New Jersey where no one does anything in entertainment, it worked out. And it's crazy, if I didn't come from where I came from, I wouldn't have the relationship I have to music that I have because I'm a pretty normal person who just loves music, but my feet are on the ground with my East Coast values. Yes, there's a shortage of women producers, engineers, mixers, people who are behind the boards doing the technical stuff. There aren't a lot of them. And I 100 percent think we need to support women. I'm just excited. And I'm happy to be at this event. I'm happy to raise awareness and support women. I'm happy to move the needle literally.
Bava: For you, what were those original seeds, of where you are now?
Decilveo: My love for music started as a kid, watching the Grammys and singing my own harmonies to songs that were on the radio and just having a knack for it and not really understanding why. And then of course, when I started to play piano, at 14, I was enamored with it and obsessed with it. That's what started everything, my love for music. Now, the relentless determined human being that I am comes probably from my upbringing as a sports player, because I was pretty competitive with soccer. And there's, I think, an element to the athletic mindset, which is no pain, no gain. I feel no pain. [laughter] Playing Division One soccer in college, getting up at 5:30 AM and bench pressing and doing all these things I would never do now. But it did instill the mindset of a warrior. And I feel like that's an element how I approach my career, which is, yeah, I got told no or nobody responded to me. Still, I'll hit them up again. I I'm a bit more intentional now as opposed to, “I'm going to do this.” But, I have this very strong determination that has been with me since I was a child, which helps. That's from my family, which I could, my parents. Also, to touch back on the raising awareness thing, what I find really interesting, I worked with Demi Lovato yesterday with Julia Michaels and Delacey, and those are all three powerhouse women. We were at my studio, and we were just talking about stuff that, I don't think there's community for, I've never been in a room with such strong women. For instance, everyone is their own individual and has similar concerns about their career or the music business. We're all just people trying to figure it out.
Baltin: Talk about this event and what it means to you.
Laura Sisk: I just think it's really cool. When I was coming up, there were women working in this industry and on the tech side of things but there wasn't as much press about it. So it was a little harder to see your idols. I think an event like this is really cool and the whole We Are Moving the Needle organization is so cool because it's spotlighting an aspect of diversity that is sometimes not at the forefront or overlooked. And I think one of the coolest things about music is that so many people from different backgrounds with different influences make it and then we have so much to listen to. That is such an incredible variety. It's cool to go to an event and be honored. An event where they're highlighting a different corner of the music industry than is sometimes highlighted, I guess is how I would say it.
Baltin: Who are you looking forward to seeing Tuesday?
Sisk: I'm like, “Oh, this is going to be so cool to see people who I met when we were both young and coming up and they've been killing it and it's like really cool to see.” And then also there's people in the industry. Emily, I've met I think just once at the producer engineering event when the Grammys were in New York. But we're just never in the same room. That's going to be one of the special things. She mixed a St. Vincent song that I'd worked on. So, I've been in contact with her, but we've never actually been in the same room before. I think there's a lot of that. It's also really cool how many people are coming out to support.
Baltin: Who's presenting your award?
Sisk: Jack Antonoff. It’s really cool that Jack's going to present it. I'm very honored that he's coming. We've worked together for a really long time, over 10 years now. I met him on the first Bleachers record. He called me maybe six, eight months later and was like, "I'm starting to produce now. Can you come help me in New York?" I was like, "Sure." We've basically just been working together ever since.
