Marie DeVita Of WAAX Won't Let Industry Sexism Get In Her Way

Brisbane four-piece WAAX recently wowed audiences at BIGSOUND back in September and are now gearing up for a national tour in support of their surprise EP, Holy Sick. When we caught up with vocalist Marie DeVita, she had a lot to share with us about the ins and outs of the music industry. "I just finished my degree so I've just been catching up on lost time partying and things like that I suppose. I've kind of just been hanging out, taking it easy and working I guess — writing heaps of songs and stuff. It's just nice to dedicate all my time to music at this point." 

"You know, thinking that I can't measure up to all the 'big guns' in the rock world I suppose."

Being in one of the most talked about acts to perform at this year's BIGSOUND showcase, it only felt natural to ask DeVita if she had seen Jessica Hopper's moving keynote speech, and whether she herself had experienced everyday sexism in the music industry. "As a female in the industry, a little complex that I had when I first started in this band was that I kind of thought that because I was a girl that maybe my opinions weren't as valid or that I wasn't experienced enough in comparison to the other guys in my band. It's definitely something that I have had to overcome and be more confident in my own ideas and direction and my intuition and not constantly put myself down because I'm a female and you know, thinking that I can't measure up to all the 'big guns' in the rock world I suppose."

De Vita also points out that girls can be unsuspecting of this sad truth before even becoming a part of the music world. "It's definitely a thing," she begins, "I didn't think that it was when I first started, and then as I progressed in the industry I definitely noticed that as much as people would say 'It's got nothing to do with your gender' I still got the sense that there's definitely an imbalance there." While proving to be a great role model for women, DeVita also acknowledges the other side of the coin. "Guys don't have it as peachy as what it seems at all. They all go through stuff as well and working in a band with a bunch of guys you definitely see that there is a lot of pressure on them as well."

There are only four tracks on the EP, and De Vita explains why, "To be honest, the band was having its struggles and things were internally kind of falling apart a little bit and that's all that we were happy with at that point. Things are a bit different now where we've got a really solid line up and everyone's really happy."