Satnam Galsian for Women’s History Month: "My Journey Through Music as a South Asian Woman"

Hello, my name is Satnam, I am a British-Punjabi, progressive folk singer-songwriter exploring transcultural musical aesthetics.

I perform as a solo artist, with my band Kinaara, and I deliver music and mental health workshops in community venues and schools.

A lot of my musical projects have been focused on women’s voices

Recently, a lot of my musical projects have been focused on women’s voices.

The catalyst for this was being awarded the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) Alan James Creative Bursary 2023 in collaboration with fellow Leeds artist Maddie Morris.

We researched and explored gender-based violence in Punjabi and English folk songs. We realised that the issues such as infidelity, sexual assault, rigidity to gender roles, abuse from in-laws, sexual harassment, physical and psychological domestic violence and more, were often embedded in humour.

I knew that most Punjabi folk songs were written from a patriarchal viewpoint and I often felt conflicted about performing them, as I didn’t agree with the messages that they portrayed, but also wanted to perform them as they are part of my Punjabi culture. This project made me think on a deeper level about the messages portrayed in these songs.

Challenging preconceived notions about women’s roles

Following the research project, I began work on my debut solo folk EP, Fragmented Truth, three of the tracks on this EP are responses to themes of patriarchy in traditional Punjabi bridal songs where women are portrayed as subservient, obedient and submissive. I wrote new words, empowering messages for women, to the existing folk melodies.

In 2024 I was a recipient of the Opera North Resonance Residency, my project was a feminist reimagining of the story of Mirza-Sahiban, a tragic love story from the Indian subcontinent. I collaborated with a wonderful team to bring my vision for Sahiban to life.

Through this work I hoped to challenge preconceived notions about women’s roles in Punjabi folklore and within South Asian culture. Sahiban was self-released last year as was Fragmented Truth.

My Music, My Voice, My Truth

In 2024 I began to deliver ‘My Music, My Voice, My Truth’ to audiences, a talk interspersed with music about my journey through music as a South Asian woman.

I speak about; sexist and misogynistic attitudes to women in music, not being able to continue with my music career whilst being in a controlling and coercive marriage, challenges facing mature female artists and being a single parent in music.

Through sharing my story, I hope to be able to inspire other people who may have experienced, or be experiencing similar issues.

Music is not seen as a viable career choice within South Asian communities

As well as being a freelance artist, I am the Youth Progression Coordinator for Music Local/Launchpad. My role includes delivering talks about careers in the music industry for young people and creating performance opportunities for under 25’s.

Since starting this role, I have spoken with many people working in music education and something which comes up time and time again is that there is a lack of people of colour on music courses. This leads to there being a lack of tutors of colour and can also lead to a lack of professional artists of colour in the region as well.

I’m often asked why I think that might be - as a South Asian woman I can say without a doubt that music is not seen as a viable career choice within South Asian communities.

There can also be cultural or religious barriers to studying/performing music. I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a singer. I attended music classes outside of school and was lucky to have tutors who encouraged me to go onto study music for further education.

At the age of 16 I went to Leeds College of Music (now Leeds Conservatoire) and studied North Indian Classical music under the tutelage of Dharambir Singh. I was then encouraged to go on to Birmingham Conservatoire to complete a degree in North Indian classical music.

The importance of representation in music

Representation is so important, if you can see someone who looks like you working in music, that is something that you can also aspire to.

When I was younger I didn’t see many South Asian women working within music or performing in the mainstream. I was lucky to have learnt Kirtan (Sikh religious singing) from a female teacher, Gunwant Kaur, who had a masters degree in music and taught Indian music in schools and community spaces.

A lot of people think that being part of the music industry means being a performer. I’m glad that in my Youth Progression role I can speak to young people about a variety of jobs in the music industry where many of them don’t require you to be front and centre stage.

I am also happy that I can speak to them from an artist point of view, and as an example that it is possible to have a career in music as a person of colour. Because representation is so important, I would love to see more artists of colour on the line-ups of major festivals.

Access to information and advice whenever I need it

When I joined the MU, my membership to another organisation had ended and I knew that I should join somewhere that offered legal advice (when singing Punjabi covers you will definitely need advice at some point - my Kinaara bandmate, who was a member long before I joined, has done this a couple of times).

Because of my community music sessions and performances I also needed public liability insurance.

I have used the website to check for performance and workshop rates which was very useful. Knowing that I have access to information and advice whenever I need it gives me great peace of mind.