Loud LDN

Loud LDN is a British collective of female and gender-expansive artists based in London. Formed in May 2022 by Coupdekat and Maisi as a WhatsApp group chat called Ladies Making Noise in London, the chat expanded into its own Instagram page and eventually into its own events before moving to Discord. Piri, Caity Baser, Venbee, Issey Cross, FranQi, Charlotte Plank, Willow Kayne, Bshp, Charlotte Haining, A Little Sound, Parthenope, Ellie Dixon, Georgia Twinn, Nonô, Molly Burman, Matilda Cole, Lucy Tun, Nieve Ella, Hannah Grae, Spider, Nxdia, and DellaXOZ have all spent time in the collective, and its members regularly enter the UK Singles Chart; one chart featured five entries from Loud LDN members.

History

Loud LDN is a women-run collective of women and gender-expansive artists based in London, and was founded in May 2022 by musicians Coupdekat and Maisi; Maisi came across one of coupdekat's songs on TikTok and invited her for brunch, where they discussed the loneliness of being a woman in the music industry and how they were often pitted against each other. This prompted them to set up a group chat on WhatsApp called Ladies Making Noise in London for the women and non-binary musicians they knew at that time.

Initially, the group chat started with ten musicians including Piri and Matilda Cole; the adding of other members caused the member list to grow to forty people, prompting them to set up an Instagram page. Coupdekat told an interview with La Face B in January 2023 that she had been inspired by Nine8, a group composed of Lava La Rue, Mac Wetha, Bone Slim, Biig Piig, Nayana Iz, Nige and LorenzoRSV, and Maisi told a Spotify interview in April 2023 that they picked the name Loud LDN on the grounds that "[they] want to be loud in the industry, [they] want to like, make [their] mark, [they] want everyone to hear [them]".

In November 2022, Venbee mentioned that she was in the group chat in an NME article; this caused interest in the group chat to rise to the extent that the collective had to institute eligibility requirements and an application process. Later that month, they held an event at The Bunker in Deptford Broadway; Charlotte Plank, who helped organise the event, used a December 2022 NME article to note that it had been "create[d as] a safe space where women can go and relax [without] hav[ing] to worry about getting groped or touched up". The same article described the collective as a "community of [...] drum 'n' bass, pop, and R&B artists at all stages in their careers".

In December 2022, the collective were featured on a BBC Introducing playlist. In February 2023, they performed at Dalston Den. In March 2023, they performed at Abbie McCarthy's Good Karma Club at Colours in Hoxton. In April 2023, they performed at Spotify's Our Generation pop-up event. In June 2023, they performed at Dalston Den, and later that month members performed at Reign Down at Southbank Centre, as part of Meltdown Festival. Coupdekat used a June 2023 interview to note that the chat had "120 members", and that it had moved to Discord. In July 2023, members performed at Climate Live's set at Wireless Festival.

Selected members

Selected discography

Singles by Piri (as half of Piri & Tommy), Caity Baser, Venbee, Issey Cross, Charlotte Plank, and Bshp have entered the UK Singles Chart; the chart ending 4 May 2023 contained five entries from members: Venbee's "Messy in Heaven", Cross' and Bshp's "Oh Baby", Baser's "Pretty Boys" and "Feels This Good", and Plank's "Dancing Is Healing".

References

1. Willow Kayne
2. Coupdekat
3. Charlotte Plank
4. Caity Baser
5. Nxdia
6. Matilda Cole
7. Maisi
8. Georgia Twinn
9. Issey Cross
10. Venbee
11. Nieve Ella
12. RLY
13. Hannah Grae
14. Spider (musician)
15. Piri
16. Ellie Dixon
17. Nonô (musician)
18. DellaXOZ
19. A Little Sound
20. Charlotte Haining