Review Fix Exclusive: Shawna Virago Talks Creative Process And Gender Armageddon

Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Shawna Virago, who discusses her new album, Gender Armageddon, as well as her creative process and goals for the future.

Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?

Shawna Virago: Songwriting was something I was always interested in pursuing. I started playing guitar in my teens. Like others of my generation, I went through a musical explosion because of punk rock, especially the music of the Sex Pistols and the Clash. A short while later I saw X for the first time and they were also a musical revelation to me.  They mixed punk, writing and country seamlessly and they continue to be my gold standard of a great band.

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

Virago: I come from the time-honored troubadour tradition, and am a lyric based songwriter with punk attitude. My music is very sparse. I try to keep my guitar in tune, but it’s not always necessary.

Review Fix: What makes “Gender Armageddon” a special track?

Virago: “Gender Armageddon” was inspired by a friend who passed on a few years ago, and tries to capture the spirit of that friendship. The two of us walked around town like we were the transgender Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty.

Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?

Virago: I always appreciate when my songs connect with people, and when it happens I don’t take it lightly.  I like the way words interact with music, and hopefully, I can deliver that with conviction.

Review Fix: Why is this album a must buy?

Virago: I tried to make a true album, with songs that connect to tell a larger story. This album is about escaping from shitty circumstances and taking the risk of finding something better, whether you find it or not. If someone is looking for a folk-punk influenced album that does that, then I hope you will check it out.

Review Fix: What have you learned from all of the exposure you’ve gotten from PBS and NPR?

Virago: I’ve had it confirmed over and over those people who work outside the mainstream music or entertainment industries have larger vocabularies. People tend to lose some essential part of themselves the more time they spend in the mainstream trough. I appreciate that I’ve managed to carve out some alternative media space for myself.

Review Fix: What are your goals in music?

Virago: My music career is run like a steady state economy: Not much profit, but I hope I can keep earning enough to keep putting out albums and connect with like-minded leftist eccentrics in outsider music scenes. I also I hope I keep improving as a writer and a musician.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Virago: I’m writing new songs and am hoping to get back in the studio soon to begin the next album.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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