WENCH! Electronic Press Kit

Artist Bio: WENCH! Fueled by feminist rage, an raw, noisy and unfiltered sound bringing elements of screamo, noise rock and punk together.

Artist Description: Feminist riot grrrl band “WENCH!” have taken the underground punk scene by storm. This trio from Hull have played gigs such as Reading and Leeds festival, Rebellion Festival and Freedom festival, as well as local DIY venues such as Brudenell Social Club (Leeds), The New Adelphi Club (Hull), and the Hope and Anchor (Islington). After their first single release “Shreds”, followed by their EP, “Relaxing rain sounds for baby sleep”, they have been played on 6Music, BBC introducing yorks and have reached international stations in Europe. Their ethos is clear, to empower and inspire.

The Artists:

Hebe Gabel (Bass)

Seven Speck (Guitar and Vocals)

Kit Bligh (Drums and Vocals)

Press Shots:

WENCH! logo for promotional material

Tech Specs and Assests

TECH SPEC:

Audio Set up-

• Two Vocal mics (drum & guitar)
• One DI box for guitar
• Bass Pedal board
• Guitar Pedal (DI and Drive)

Backline Requirements-

• Drum Shells and Stands (if not possible, transport can be arranged)
• Drum stool (if not possible, same as above applies)
• Bass Amp / Cab (we can bring a bass head)

Stage positioning-

• Drums positioned Centre
• Guitar stage Right
• Bass stage left
• Drum mic to the left of the drum kit (traditional positioning)

Lighting Notes-

No strobe lights during our set. Colour changing/slow paced lights are fine. This is due to health requirements, any further lighting questions please email.

Soundcheck notes-

As both of our singers take turns singing songs, during our soundcheck we will require a run through of a song by each singer.

For Channel list, please contact us if necessary.

RIDER (if required):

• Pepsi Max (no diet options)
• Corona
• Fruit.
• Sugar based snacks

OTHER NOTES:

• Please write bands name as “WENCH!” (all caps and with exclamation mark) on posters and social media marketing
• Please contact us regarding payment and fees, our preferred payment method is bank transfer or cash.
• Abuse/ harassment/ and exploitation will never be tolerated,
• Do not refer to us as an all girl band, as some of our members are non-binary

CONTACT DETAILS: Please contact Hebe with any questions or communication either via Instagram @w3nchband or email wenchtheband@outlook.com. Emergency contact number on the day (Hebe) is 07720250842

Testimonials

“Hull 3-piece WENCH! are breathing fresh air into the postindustrial lungs of the city’s often overlooked, but never to be underestimated punk scene. Politically educated enough to make any far-right meathead shiver in their stone island jacket with a street urchin edge that can only come from the council estates and terrace house jungles of Hull.” – Northern Exposure Magazine, Tom Whittleton

“they play proper punk, and play loud and hard, and they’re as tight as they are fierce.” – Aural Aggravation, Christopher Nosnibor

“Inspired by artists like Patti Smith and Lambrini Girls, this trio fuses their diverse musical backgrounds—folk, blues, jazz, soul—into a sound that’s rebellious and unapologetic. WENCH! makes music for the mistreated, the misfits, and the powerful women who refuse to be held down by the patriarchy.” – Raw Femme

Stage Shots

Commentary:

When writing this EPK, which involved improving on my bands previous, year old EPK, there were three things to consider:

• Importance of use and functionality of an EPK
• Inspiration from my bands previous EPK
• Analysing bands marketing material

I will address each three points, whilst evidencing my own research into EPKs, the wider marketing and promotional sides of the music industry, as well as referring to discussions lead in seminar based settings, before finally discussing inspiration from punk bands working in the industry.

Firstly, the role of an EPK in the 21st century music climate is act as a middle space between promotion and functionality. Bobby Owsinski quotes ” it contains all the information a journalist or blogger might need when writing a story about you” (Owsinski. B (2020) “Social Media Promotion for Musicians” Burbank, BOMG publishing) which sums up perfectly the role of an EPK. It has to appeal to the “higher up” with both functionality and critical appeal. Promotors must be able to clearly see who you are as a band, why they should book you, as well as a practical aspect of what the band needs. When speaking to my peers in group led seminar discussions, they agreed that a mistake they have made in previous attempts at promotion is was not directing their press kits towards a specific goal or target. Meaning when writing my EPK, and thus my peers writing their own, we focused on the element of seeing the epk not as a wide and obscure means of reaching out to promotors, but rather as spelling out to time-strained promotors exactly who we were and why we were important.

The challenge of writing an EPK can be summed up by R. Welterlen “it is challenging to write about yourself in the
third person, especially when trying to sell something.” (Welterlen, Raine, “Honey Tree: A Neo-Soul Album, Artist & Musical Development Through the Electronic Press Kit” (2022). University Honors Theses. Paper 1246.), to which i can only agree. Writing in the third person, focusing on selling yourself is inherently a challenge. This is a topic i brought up to my peers and seminar leader, in which we discussed the wider, non music elements of promoting yourself, such as in CVs or job interviews. It becomes difficult when promoting art, as it holds a much more reverent and personal place within an induvial.

When looking at my bands previous EPK, and adapting and rewriting elements with fresh, year-older eyes, I knew exactly what needed fixing. I already knew and understood the significance of well-rounded press shots, live shots and testimonials. however after working in the industry for another year, the importance of tech assets, requirements and clear defined on-the-day gig information became much clearer. In my EPK i have made it especially clear what tech we require, such as DI outputs for guitars, and bass cabs. As well as including further information on lighting requirements, and riders. Being a young band in a DIY punk scene, the opportunities for promotors and venue organisers to take advantage, lie to, or purely demonstrate their inorganization is more than apparent. therefore when addressing the changes I needed to make to our EPK, laying out clear bounders on strobe lights, sugary foods for our diabetic drummer, and soundcheck requirements was a priority.

When writing this EPK I engaged in discussion with my band, with a 500 word limit what our priorities were to include, and our achievements in radio 6, BBC introducing, reading and Leeds and rebellion festival all made the cut. however with further evaluation I would target more at our future goals with where we want to play, as opposed to “showing off” where we have. That being said, our testimonials is, in my opinion one of the stronger elements of the EPK. As throughout our career we have received an abundance of highly sung praises in websites, magazines and radio shows, each displaying the strong effect of word of mouth promotion turning into media press. these testimonials have become a huge resource for WENCH as well as acting a clear and defined references to use in promotion and marketing.

As i discussed in group lead seminars, you can only start to evaluate your own EPK, highlight its strengths and weaknesses after looking further at inspirational artists form of marketing. For improving my own EPK, I looked at L7s website. In which the drop down menu titled “L7s Story” stuck out to me as not only an inspiring element to their press kit, but also, from a marketing perspective, how brilliantly it was written. Introducing their members, their origin story, and how their music and attitude has changed on their career since the 80s. The inspiration i took from this story was to ensure the bands story, history and background were explored in my description.

Another artist who’s marketing and promotional material acted as inspiration to mine was Bikini Kills website. Although not releasing new music, there website acts as a simple reminder to the legendary punk bands who impact will echo down. A section of their artist description that really stuck out to me was “Bikini Kill believed that if all girls started bands the world would change. They actively encouraged women and girls to start bands as a means of cultural resistance. Bikini Kill was inspired by seeing Babes in Toyland play live and attempted to incite female participation and build feminist community via the punk scene. They used touring as a way to create an underground network between girls who played music, put on shows and made fanzines. This independent media making and informal network created a forum for multiple female voices to be heard” (Bikini Kill: About, available at https://www.bikinikill.com/about/ , Accessed 08/05/2026) The reason this stuck out to be is that their ethos encapsulates WENCHs goals, regarding making a safe space in which women feel supported in music.

In conclusion, when improving on my bands old and outdated EPK, lessons from my group seminars, inspirations from punk bands such as L7 and Bikini Kill, and reflections and research on the purpose and functionality on an EPK all were crucial factors. Therefore, creating a well-rounded and functioning EPK that serves as a promotional and techniqual expression.