“Everyone deserves to feel safe whether you’re on the streets or at a festival” - Aine Deane. As part of L’Oreal Paris’ Stand Up Against Street Harassment campaign, NME spoke to the London-based act about why it’s important for more education on tackling unwanted attention. #WeStandUp.
To find out more about the Stand Up Against Street Harassment Training you can take the introductory ten minute online here:
https://www.standup-international.com/gb/en/training/landing
Or register for a more detailed hour long in person session with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust here:
https://www.suzylamplugh.org/Pages/Events/Category/events
To find out more about the Stand Up Against Street Harassment Training you can take the introductory ten minute online here:
https://www.standup-international.com/gb/en/training/landing
Or register for a more detailed hour long in person session with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust here:
https://www.suzylamplugh.org/Pages/Events/Category/events
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MusicTranscript
00:00 Hi, I'm Onya Dean and I'm here with NME at Luno Presents All Points East with L'Oréal Paris who are fighting against street harassment.
00:08 I think that everyone deserves to feel safe whether you're on the streets or in a festival or at home.
00:23 I don't think that anyone should ever be in a space where they feel unsafe.
00:27 So I think it's so important to advocate for that and to raise awareness for it because I don't think everyone understands what's going on right now.
00:34 So I think it's really important and I'm really glad that L'Oréal are standing up against it at such a big festival as well. It's really nice to see.
00:40 I think in festivals specifically a lot of people can feel quite unsafe.
00:48 I think there's a lot of people in general, there's a lot of movement around and it's a very large area.
00:53 So I think that it's so important just to raise awareness, especially at events like this and other live music events.
00:59 There's a lot of space for a lot of things to happen but there's also a lot of people that can hold everybody accountable so it kind of works both ways.
01:05 I think every girl can say that they've been catcalled on the street no matter what they're wearing, what time of day it is, where they are.
01:15 You could be in the middle of a city or in a village, it really doesn't matter. Everyone's experienced it.
01:20 Which is really sad and shouldn't be the case at all.
01:23 I think it's all just about knowledge. I think a lot of people are unaware that it's happening if it hasn't happened to them.
01:30 So it's just letting people know that it is happening to lots of people.
01:34 You need to be watching out, you need to be taking action and if you see something that isn't right, you are allowed to stand up for it and you should.
01:41 And I think it's giving people that power and that knowledge.
01:44 I think it's really important for artists to be watching the crowd as much as they can.
01:47 I understand it's quite difficult when you're up on stage and you're full of your whole performance and all the things that are going on there.
01:54 But artists to be keeping an eye out on the crowd and for all of us to be looking out for each other and making sure that people behind you or beside you or in front of you,
02:01 even if they're strangers, that they're also feeling safe and nobody's acting untowards to other people.
02:06 But I think it's everyone's job to look out for each other. So if you see something wrong, just to call it out immediately.
02:14 My top tips for staying safe at a festival would be to always stay with your friends, stay with who you came with, make sure your location is on so if you lose each other you'll be able to find each other.
02:24 And with that, bring a portable charger because we've all been in an event where we've lost a charger on our phone.
02:29 But other than that, just be super aware of everybody around you.
02:32 If you've had a few drinks, don't go wandering off on your own, don't go bumping into other people, etc.
02:37 It's kind of just, use your brain, have your common sense and keep an eye out for everybody around you.
02:43 It's been the most fun thing ever. Performing live is my favourite thing to do.
02:47 And when I'm writing songs in the studio, I'm thinking about performing them live.
02:51 So when you actually get to come up and sing them and see people singing the words back at you and see people enjoying themselves and having fun, it's such a great feeling.
02:58 Because going to gigs and going to festivals is one of my favourite things to do.
03:02 So I guess to be able to bring that to other people at a festival is really cool.
03:06 And I never thought anyone would show up to any of my gigs. I'm constantly on the road.
03:10 I'm constantly petrified that I'm going to play festivals and it's just going to be my mum and my dad.
03:14 I love it. It's always really, really fun. And they're always just really fun days.
03:17 You get to do your set, but you also get to see so many other artists and pull inspiration from them.
03:21 And I often leave festivals and gigs feeling so inspired to write new music because of how much fun I've had.
03:28 And you have to keep writing it to keep performing it.
03:30 I don't think there's a feeling that's better than someone singing your words back at you.
03:33 And you can sometimes have eye contact with certain fans in the audience who are singing the words back at me.
03:39 And it's such a special thing that we're sharing.
03:42 And it's really weird and cool to see people singing words back to me that I've written in my bedroom
03:47 about a boy I dated when I was younger.
03:49 And that suddenly be something that's connecting me, but it's also connecting lots of other people.
03:53 There's lots of fans who have become friends on Twitter through liking my music or liking other people's music.
04:00 And then they all meet at the shows and they hang out.
04:02 And I feel like Cupid for friendships. It's really, really cute.
04:05 So yeah, there's so many different relationships that are forming whilst the music is being played
04:11 and whilst people are singing it back.
04:13 And it's just really cool. I want to do it forever.
04:16 I think it's very scary to put out songs that you've written so personally and about such specific experiences.
04:28 But it's the most liberating thing ever because you've been working on this music for years.
04:34 My latest EP I was working on for a very long time.
04:36 And by the time it's ready to release, you haven't been working on it for a couple of months.
04:40 So then for it to all come out, it's like you're being reintroduced to it in a new light, which is so, so, so nice.
04:45 I've had people come up to me at gigs and say, you know, this song has really helped me through a breakup
04:50 or I really related to this song.
04:52 And I think that's really special and a really cool thing that I get to do
04:55 because I have songs that helped me through breakups or helped me through certain parts of my life.
04:59 So to have other people be able to experience that through my own songs is amazing.
05:04 And it sort of makes it feel like the breakup was worth it, you know.
05:06 But it's definitely slightly terrifying.
05:08 Head to L'Oréal Paris' website for more information on how to take the 5D training.
05:14 [music]
05:19 and we.
05:19 [BLANK_AUDIO]