top of page

Musician & Songwriter

I sing and play guitar, drums and piano. Back in the day I fronted Toronto bands Sticky Rice and Fuck Ya'll, and now I sing with my husband's band, Richard Duguay & The Beautiful Decline.

 

Richard engineers and produces music at Into The Black Studio where he has recorded multiple artists as well as his own albums, Bad JuJu, Beautiful Decline - and EP, Second Prize. I direct video campaigns for his albums with Tom Hejda, who is a guitar and pedal maker and cinematographer.

I made a kids' album with Richard and actor/musician/filmmaker Tara Samuel called Be Who You Are - songs and spoken word teaching kids to think critically and question authority.

Music Videos I've directed or performed in...

Richard & I singing together in the Fame Whore review on stage at Loaded in Hollywood, Joe Bear on saxophone.

Me playing my red Rickenbacker in Fuck Y'all early 2000s - sorry you're not in this picture Tina!!! Tina Cooper on drums.

Sticky Rice video for Get Lost directed by Lisa Mann.

Sticky Rice promo - Cheyenne Bloomfield, Niva Chow & me.

Paula Tara wig moustache.jpg

Be Who You Are was born when my Dad sent me my old vinyl copy of the kids’ album Free To Be You & Me from the 1970s. Our daughter Violet was only about 5 years old so I thought she might get a kick out of hearing it. I thought, ‘This is going to be so outdated with all the themes of women’s rights and equality’ but what I found was that it was actually more relevant than ever. And it became the start of a conversation that needed to continue. How we inspire our children to live, create, and treat other is just as important as math and science. Our songs build self-esteem and introduce concepts like empathy and instinct - and they're rock-parent friendly.

Ron Reyes of Black Flag fame sings Question Everything, appropriately the most punk rock song on the album, which is about making the world a better place with your own ideas. Blues pro Dave Raven lends a Johnny Cash flavor to Your Toys Could Be Better, a rail-clacking number sung by 7-year-old Violet Duguay as a letter to a big movie company that she feels is missing the mark when it comes to merchandising. The saucy little song was written as a nod to Carol Channing’s narrated piece in the 1970’s kids’ album Free To Be You & Me where she informs kids that the women on TV commercials who love to mop and clean are actresses who get paid to look happy doing housework. You can get the album pretty much anywhere including our BandCamp page. We hosted a YouTube channel that had original content created by and for kids.

BWYA CD scan front.jpeg
BWYA CD scan center.jpeg
bottom of page