In Conversation with Tori and Alicia of She’s With The Band
Interview by Hannah Kozak
She’s With The Band is an official KNOTFEST podcast hosted by Tori Kravitz and Alicia Atout focused on highlighting and supporting women in the music industry. With both hosts having extensive backgrounds in the music industry before stepping up to She’s With The Band, we talked with Tori and Alicia about working in the industry as women, how their podcast started, and more.
Q: Can you give us a short summary of what She’s With The Band is?
Alicia: She’s With the Band is our insanely awesome podcast which airs weekly on Slipknot’s brand KNOTFEST! We speak with people in the music industry who have a love of highlighting and supporting women, whether that be the talent on stage or backstage.
Tori: Alicia summed it up wonderfully! We’ve recently expanded to occasionally invite men on the podcast to show examples of how everyone can help create a more equitable, inclusive scene. We are also welcoming nonbinary artists with open arms! Anyone who resonates with the message and supports the mission is fair game. Our hope is to discuss the challenges that we, as femme people, have experienced in the industry and to spotlight the incredible contributions, stories, and feats that we have achieved in hopes of learning and growing together.
Q: How did the two of you get your start in the industry?
Tori: Alicia and I have very similar stories, which is part of the reason we clicked immediately and ended up doing this podcast together! I started with a DIY music blog in high school called Rock Forever Magazine. It was purely a hobby that eventually expanded to a YouTube channel. I worked my butt off for five years and posted weekly interviews with bands, big and small. I eventually landed interviews with some pretty amazing people including Ariana Grande, Imagine Dragons, Big Time Rush, Zendaya, and more. From there, I applied from my dream job to be the Warped Tour Pit Reporter in 2015. It was a fan-voted position and I got it! I ended up touring on Warped for four summers and it changed my life forever. Now I host She’s with the Band on KNOTFEST and I am a Senior Publicity Manager at Whoa That’s Fresh PR.
Alicia: I started interviewing bands on YouTube for fun about a decade back in my hometown of Toronto! Almost four or five times a week, I’d head downtown and film tons of in-person conversations with my favourite artists, ranging from Metallica to Dua Lipa. From there, the videos — to my absolute shock — starting blowing up so I continued to follow this path as a host and not before long, it turned into my full time career. Since then I’ve had the delight of hosting for some of the biggest promotions in wrestling, influenced for clothing brands I love, and am now a presenter for KNOTFEST.
Q: When did you know you wanted to start a podcast, and how did the whole thing come together?
T: I became connected with KNOTFEST through my PR work and it turns out the editors knew me from my work with Warped Tour (the industry is so big, yet so small)! I missed journalism greatly and had been searching for a publication that had integrity, passion, and quality content; safe to say KNOTFEST was a no-brainer so I went out on a limb and asked if they were looking for hosts. One thing led to another and I ended up pitching this podcast concept to them! It took 8 months to get it off the ground and during that time, I became acquainted with Alicia. We had been following each other's work for years, thanks to the internet, and immediately became incredible friends so I asked if she wanted to join in on this podcast with me!
After touring and wearing so many different hats in the music industry, I knew the importance of discussing the challenges that femme professionals face and wanted to approach the topic in an empowering, productive way. I am grateful that KNOTFEST believes in the mission too!
A: Well, this is an interesting story as Tori and myself have literally watched one another’s interviews since we were teenagers! The moment we found ourselves both working at KNOTFEST, we knew that we had to finally join forces and create something magical. And from that, She’s With the Band was born. I’ve always wanted a podcast because to put it simply, I love to talk, but I never thought I’d be a part of something so special that empowers women and empowers me. The fact that we’re speaking with legends, inspirations, and artists we admire every week… what a trip.
Q: Who is one person (not currently planned to be on) that you would love to have on the podcast one day, and why?
T: To be fair, my dream guest already happened: Kat Von D. For 13 years I dreamt of interviewing her so that was a very surreal conversation. My next goal is either Taylor Momsen or Chelsea Wolfe. Those are two of my all-time favorite artists and I think both of them would contribute really unique perspectives on feminism in music.
A: I’d absolutely love to have Yoko Ono on the show. I interviewed her years ago for my website and she’s such a fascinating soul. She’s literally been in the room with my favourite band of all time (The Beatles) to experience some of music’s greatest creations. She also stands for so many ideologies I believe in. And she’s been “with the band” in multiple facets throughout her career. I’d love to dive deeper into conversation with her one day.
Q: What is one thing you wish you knew as a young woman entering the music industry? What is one piece of advice you would give women in the music industry?
T: Every no brings you closer to a yes. No matter who you are, you will face rejection. If you let one “no” stop you from achieving your goals, you will have a very short career. Resilience and persistence are crucial. Alicia and I have requested interviews with artists that seemed too good to be true (like we said, we’ve interviewed Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande, etc) and we had to risk being turned down in order to put ourselves out there for those opportunities. It requires courage and vulnerability to go after big dreams. For every interview request we got approved, we faced triple the amount of rejections that no one knows about.
A: Take zero bullshit. You will be judged for your age, gender, the way you look, everything. Unfortunately, that’s life and sometimes this will be really tough on you. Take it from a girl who hopped into YouTube as a teenager – the internet is a scary place. Don’t let it get to you. The main opinion that matters is the one you have of yourself and you’re golden, baby. Embrace who you are, have fun being in this bizarrely wonderful industry, and don’t let anybody give you shit!
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
T: Thank you for taking the time to talk to us! I took two years away from music journalism and now that I’m back, I don’t take a single moment for granted. Every interview we do is full of priceless nuggets of wisdom that I am thrilled to share with our listeners. We’ve only been doing this podcast for 5 months and have already built an incredible, supportive network of humans that we cherish. If you haven’t listened yet, please follow us @ToriAndAlicia on Twitter and Instagram and send us a message! Our inbox is open to any womxn who have questions or just want to say hello!
A: I’d like to say thank you to all of our listeners. This podcast literally brought us together after years and years of admiring each other’s work, so it’s been a wonderful and exciting journey being able to chat with dope bands and host with my friend every week.
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