Fimone Talks About Her Empowering New Song ‘Woman’
“The thing about this song is, I actually wrote it maybe five years ago, and what pisses me off about this song is, I thought it was relevant then, and it’s even more relevant today,” Fimone says about her new female empowerment protest anthem, “Woman.” Continuing, she adds, “I’m tired of living in a world that’s made by one person’s perspective, being a straight, white, cis man, which we’ve been living under for a millennia.” With a splendid fusion of Americana, blues, and rock lyrics that call out issues like gender inequality and systematic discrimination, “Woman” is a must-listen. In this interview, Fimone chats about “Woman” and other upcoming news.
“Woman” is an incredibly important song to Fimone. “It is me defining myself and not allowing someone else to define me,” she comments. “It is me standing up and saying, ‘I am worthy,’ and it is me saying, ‘I am sick and fucking tired of living in a world that has been defined for me.’ I hope it ignites the fire in those who are women, those who identify as women, and those who support women. I hope to give them a place for their anger because I know if I’m feeling this, I know I’m not the only one. And I honestly just want it to be a battle cry for those of us who refuse to take what is coming and what has been going on for centuries.”
With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, anti-trans legislation happening in the United States, gender inequality, and women’s bodily autonomy being under attack, among countless other things, Fimone thinks it is very essential for stories like “Woman” to be told. “That’s why I think it’s relevant more than ever,” she exclaims. “I think it’s needed more than ever. Quite honestly, I oftentimes feel powerless, especially right now and with everything that’s happening, I have to stop myself and say, ‘OK. What do I have control over? What can I offer up as an act of service right now in this time in history?’ And I’m an artist. I’m a musician. I just hope to use what I can do really well for the greater good. I just needed to do something to feel useful. I also needed a place for my anger to go, and I hope it inspires other women, people who identify as women, and anyone who supports women, to stand up and say, ‘Enough is enough.’”
“Woman” features just Fimone and an electric guitar. There were a few reasons why this was the case. “I’m an independent artist, and recording take time and money,” she says. “I knew I wanted to release it, and I knew it was relevant, so I just did me and the guitar out of necessity.” Another reason is that Fimone loves the minimalistic approach of just having someone sing a song with a guitar. “I think a lot of people have reacted the same way where they say just you and a guitar are so powerful, and especially a song about being a woman, and you’re the only woman in the video, and you’re playing the guitar; it gives it that extra punch.” She also has some ideas in the future for the song. “I would love to record it with an all-woman band or people who identify as women. That’s the next step. I’m looking for funders to help me do that and really hoping for that to happen.”
In the verses of “Woman,” there is a rockin’ guitar riff full of swagger and style. “I was writing it in on my bed, and I am just always trying to get better at lead guitar, and so I was just playing around with some riffs,” Fimone reflects about the riff. Eventually, she built the rest of the song around this guitar riff. “When I was practicing those riffs, I was in a bit of a Black Keys rabbit hole. I wanted that kind of grungy, heavy guitar sound—That came out of me just studying like guitar riffs and wanting to give it that heavy sound when it comes to the chorus. It’s just those low bar chords.”
No Doubt, particularly lead singer Gwen Stefani, greatly influenced Fimone and shaped her love and passion for music. “I fell in love with Gwen Stefani and No Doubt because I was a 16-year-old girl when ‘Just A Girl’ came out, and that song changed my life,” she smiles. “That song is the reason why ‘Woman,’ exists because I heard that song, and I realized what you could do with music. Also, as a young girl becoming a young woman, I felt validated in all those things that Gwen Stefani was saying (that) I felt and connected so deeply with. She showed me that a woman isn’t just one thing. When No Doubt entered my world, I saw this strong, beautiful woman doing push-ups with blue hair in a sports bra, singing ska pop punk, and I just thought it was so empowering. ‘Just A Girl’ was everything that I was feeling. So, without ‘Just A Girl,’ there may not have been the ‘Woman’ song.”
Fimone loves writing social justice and protest anthems as much as she loves writing from personal experience. “I wouldn’t say I write one way or the other,” she exclaims. “I write what comes through. Sometimes that’s a song about burning down the patriarchy; sometimes that’s a love song about my wife, and sometimes it’s a story song that I completely made up.”
“I’m extremely active in doing what I can for social activism and helping those who don’t have a voice or helping those who feel who don’t feel like they have a voice. That activism part of my music does come through in a lot of my songs because I’m a gay woman, and you can’t escape those things. So, it’s like you sing about what you know and what’s affecting you.”
On October 26, 2024, Fimone played at Pride Night at a Nashville Predators home game, which she absolutely loved. “First of all, it was my biggest gig I ever played,” she says. “Playing for Pride Night was amazing in a city like Nashville. Then, the most beautiful part about that is that I sang ‘Gemini June,’ which is a love song I wrote for my wife, and I got to sing that original song that I wrote for my wife. Playing that song on Pride Night definitely has been a career-high.”
Fimone has more music to come later this year, too. “I feel like my career is just moving full steam ahead, and I am here for it, and I love it,” she comments. “I got lots of music ready to go. We are figuring out those release plans and the best path forward.”
Fimone is also part of an upcoming documentary. The documentary is about Madam Norma Wallace who owned a brothel in the French quarter of New Orleans. After reading a book about Wallace, The Last Madam: A Life In The New Orleans Underworld by Christine Wiltz, Fimone went to New Orleans for the first time. “Norma died in 1974, but before she died, she recorded her life story on audio cassette tapes, and because of my relationship with the current owner of that house, which is no longer a brothel but it is seven apartments in an old French quarter house I got to meet the author of the book, and through that relationship, I was able to hear Norma’s original audio tapes.”
“I have been creating music using her voice tapings. If you listen to my Fascination EP, which I released back in October, there’s two tracks (“Walls” and “Will”) where you can actually hear Norma. She introed those tracks. I recorded those songs in her house in New Orleans. The documentary is all about that process and how Norma affected my life, kind of the story of how I came and actually recorded music in this house that used to be a brothel. The music I’m gonna be putting out is related to that and some soundtrack music.”
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Photo Credit: Ryan Vecella
