“I Don’t Want to Go To Heaven”: A (Living) Archival study of Scotland’s Girl Bands and Associated Do-It-Ourselves Cultures
HEI: University of Dundee, University of the West of Scotland
School: University of the West of Scotland and Duncan and Jordanstone College of Art and Design (Dundee University) in partnership with Scottish Music Centre
Supervisors: Dr Jo Collinson Scott, University of the West of Scotland; Dr Judit Bodor Duncan and Jordanstone College of Art and Design (Dundee University); Gill Maxwell (Executive Director) , Scottish Music Centre
Keywords: Living Archives, Girl Bands, DIY Cultures, Feminist Memory, Autoethnography, Cultural Heritage
About Carla’s Research:
My practice-based research will explore how living archives can reframe, and include, the histories of women in Scottish popular music, with particular focus on ‘girl bands’.
Building on my award-winning feature-length documentary Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands (BBC Scotland, 2024), my research draws from over sixty hours of newly recorded interviews and more than 1,500 uncovered artefacts from private collections (lost demo tapes, photographs, flyers, and personal memorabilia).
Working in partnership with the Scottish Music Centre, this project seeks to store, protect, and activate this previously hidden archive through participatory methods including archival workshops, collaborative songwriting, recording/releasing new musical work(s), and live performance. The aim is to develop a feminist, DIY-informed approach to archiving that bridges creative practice and heritage work, exploring the ways in which women’s contributions to music are documented and celebrated.
As a practising independent songwriter, musician, and former ‘girl band’ member, with twenty years industry experience as a woman making music, I approach this work through heuristic and autoethnographic methods, recognising that I am both within and alongside the histories I study. My project sits at the intersection of music, memory, and feminist cultural production, asking what it means to keep an archive alive when its subjects are still creating, performing, and shaping their own narratives.
