Virginia Fudge's first album in 15 years is a female-powered 'ship of awesomeness'
Have a First Listen to All These Little Games by the St. John's musician
Virginia Fudge released her first — and until now only — album, Weep to Shine, in 2006. While some of the recording process has changed in the 15 years since, the St. John's musician says, the heart and passion remains the same.
"It feels amazing. It has been a lot of work getting ready to send this little baby off into the world, and I'm feeling stoked," Fudge told CBC Radio's Weekend AM.
Her latest release, All These Little Games, also represents another change for Fudge, moving from a pop-radio sound to a dance-centric electropop. She credits the change in sound to producer and fellow musician Meg Warren, who brought out what Fudge calls a "female-powered" album.
"To me, she is sort of everything," said Fudge. "That's the way I feel because I finally worked with someone who really understood where I was coming from.
"When I got the opportunity to work with Meg Warren and we sat down beside each other with the songs, I realized that we were the only people that were really required to make this happen. It was a tight little ship of awesomeness, and I just decided to keep rolling with that."
While Fudge brings own her flavour with vocals and piano throughout the EP, Warren sprinkles sections of guitar, bass and synthesizers through songs like Chit Chatter. Fudge said the song was the first on the album she realized her ideas could be taken to a "bigger place."
"I think our inclinations are really similar. I think that we like a lot of the same music, so it was easy to just fall into her direction as a producer," she said.
LISTEN | Musician Virginia Fudge speaks with the CBC's Paula Gale about her new album, All These Little Games:
From studios to Smart boards
Outside the studio, Fudge is a full-time elementary school teacher. While the audience for her latest work might not be the same audience she works with every day, she said working as a teacher has helped her grow as a musician, especially in the days of online learning.
"There's a real dance that has to be played when you have to engage people, especially when they're not in the same room as you," she said.
"Being a performer has helped me in so many ways, and I've always felt that when I stand up in front of the kids it's a performance. The classroom is my own little stage. I've done some children's music in the past, and I get to run that by a literally captive audience on a Friday afternoon. So that's pretty cool too."
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Weekend AM