amanda ang female collective

If there were to be a riot grrrl revival in Singapore, we’d vote pixie-cute 30-year-old Amanda Keisha Ang as its face. So she’s not hardcore like the feminist movement’s most famous proponents (think Kathleen Hanna), yet she’s still getting the same message across through the same mediums: art and music.

As a final-year graphic communications student, she got into illustration and – influenced by Art Nouveau artists like Aubrey Beardsley and Alphonse Mucha – found herself developing a feminine pop art style and penchant for drawing women. Brands from Zouk to Lacoste have since commissioned works; these, along with her personal projects, can be viewed on her Tumblr site An Everyday Muse.

Two years ago, she teamed up with Serene-Rene Ong and Syaheedah Iskandar, pals she met at all-girl DJ boot camp FFF, to start their own collective. Dubbed Attagirl, it hosts parties, including its own monthly night at Zouk’s Wine Bar, which spotlights female talents in the male-dominated industry. “People think of female DJs as playing electronic dance music and popping champagne,” she says. “We want to move away from this stereotype.”

The highs this year indicate that they’ll only get bigger. This interview had to take place over e-mail because the trio were travelling to New York to spin at the W Hotel for Discwoman, a Brooklyn-based outfit with a similar pro-female stance. Before that, they opened for one of Hanna’s close collaborators at its local gig: electroclash superstars Chicks on Speed.

 

An adapted version first appeared in Female‘s September issue, out on newsstands now. 

 

Like this? Check out fellow F-Collective member MTV VJ Hanli Hoefer.