When Betty Mauritz isn’t commanding crowds all over the country as the vocalist of Milwaukee pop-punk outfit Gold Steps, she’s working a 9-to-5 at a brewery. Being a woman in those two male-dominated industries, she’s unfortunately had to endure a great deal of mansplaining and blatant sexism from those around her in both of her careers. Following a particularly aggravating experience in which a male peer dismissed her, Mauritz decided to channel her feelings of frustration into a song. Gold Steps released “Narcissist” and an accompanying music video for the single this week.
“I wrote Narcissist as a message to the many, many men who have gaslit, patronized, and put women in their place—some on purpose and some out of sheer ignorance,” Mauritz says in a press release. “My goal is for anyone who hears this song to feel seen and feel empowered to stand up for themselves when someone tries to undermine them.”
Despite its undeniable hooks, powerful lyrics, and oodles of upbeat energy (it is a Gold Steps track, after all!), the song manages to emphatically reference unfair treatment women routinely face on behalf of narrow-minded men. The video, which was shot by Milwaukee videographer Samer Ghani at FD Studios in Chicago, builds on that theme with Mauritz squaring off with a narcissistic adversary who threatens to take her down. With wardrobe and set design the band describes as “The Matrix meets the mob,” the feud intensifies before she puts a sudden end to things by calling in reinforcements.
“My bandmates, forever my allies, are there to show their physical support when it’s needed—not because I can’t fight my own battles, but because sometimes the boss just doesn’t do the dirty work,” Mauritz says. “I have my empire to run, after all.”
Check out the music video for “The Narcissist” and stream the single anywhere you listen to music.
