Tish Ciravolo/Daisy Rock
By Alex Teitz
Guitars and basses made for girls and designed by a woman should not be a radical idea in the Twenty-First Century. It is. Tish Ciravolo is the radical who has designed these instruments to help teach the next generation that music can be fun, and look great at the same time. Ciravolo is outspoken about the idea, and the product, as she should be. For more information on Daisy Rock visit www.daisyrock.com
FEMMUSIC: The Daisy Rock line is greatly expanded.
TISH: Greatly expanding!(?) Heck, I’ve just begun! No really, we’ve taken out the JR. MISS guitar line until the intonation will be produced better from the factory.
FEMMUSIC: Why make both guitars and basses instead of focusing on just one type?
TISH: Well, I played acoustic guitar and then I played Bass guitar. I think budding guitar players always make the decision first, Guitar or Bass. I wanted to give every girl guitar/bass player the chance to pick a Daisy or a Heartbreaker.
FEMMUSIC: As a woman in the music industry have you been discriminated against?
TISH: It depends on how you’re defining discrimination. I think women in any male dominated oriented industry have been discriminated against. I am the ONLY female guitar company in the universe and I am the only guitar designer (BTW – I think I’m the only FEMALE guitar designer in the world) the sole guitar designer who made a guitar for a girl. Period. Think of that – how long have guitars been in existence? And when you think of guitar players, don’t you automatically think of some of the greats – Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, etc…? I’m not saying that a woman couldn’t have picked up the same guitar Jimi Hendrix picked up and did the very same thing he did. What I am saying is the IDEA for that girl was not planted in her head either by her parents or her surroundings or her society. Every female artist today is fighting that same battle. But, my way was to create Daisy Rock. I want society to change. I want every parent of every young girl to consider buying their daughters an electric or acoustic guitar just as she might buy her daughter an easy bake oven or a surfboard. And as the mother of two little girls, I know why pinks and purples work to get their attention. I also think in the industry that I’m in, they don’t know what to make of me.
FEMMUSIC: Why is there a need for a “woman’s” or “girl’s” guitar?
TISH: Let me explain why there is a need – because it hadn’t been done before. And I wanted my daughter to have it easier than I did in building her “calluses”. And I wanted her to love it: the way it looks on her, the way it makes her feel like a rockstar – I want to keep it in her interest.
FEMMUSIC: In your opinion, has the music industry improved in relation to women rockstars in the past 20 years? What else needs to be changed?
TISH: Well of course the music industry’s improved – look at the Indiegirl movement and the Go Girls Music Fests and Rockrgrl Music Conferences. Come on! Did any of this stuff happen in the ’70’s? I think all we got then was the queen herself Suzi Quatro playing on “Happy Days”!
FEMMUSIC: What damage is done to a women musician who learns on a “male” instrument?
TISH: I think that question is obsolete since most women musicians today started on male instruments, including myself.
FEMMUSIC: What one thing would you like to change about the music industry?
TISH: More women in power, i.e…. Madonna and Courtney Love. We need more women like them who are willing to stand up and shout about injustices dealt in the business.
FEMMUSIC: What are products is Daisy Rock planning for the future?
TISH: Well, future designs.. SSSHHH! I also am in alliance with www.justenough.net who produce learning kits to help girls learn their instruments. And more merchandise fun stuff!