What A Glorious Sound

This article was originally used for my Media coursework, but it's a real interview and she's a good friend of mine, so it's worth checking out her music...

Deborah Judge shrugs into the hallway after fighting her way through the wind and rain. The kettle goes on and, over a warm cup of tea, we discuss this homegrown talent: from her humble beginnings to the exciting piece that she is making with Bob Edwards and the EP that she is currently working on.

When did you first decide to become involved in leading worship?
Several years ago now. My mum plays the guitar and she was really wanting me to get involved with, not lead[ing] worship at first, but just to sing. First of all, I thought, "Nah, don't really wanna do that", cause it wasn't my scene at that age. But gradually as I got older and I found my voice, I really started to get into it and now leading worship every Sunday at St Mary's Church is one of the things in the week that I really look forward to.

Who would you say is your inspiration?
I would say, definitely from a family background, my mother because she really knew that I had a voice. Of course, I didn't know about my voice at first, but she really helped me to find it. The other people are Bob and Ruth Edwards who really encouraged me to start singing properly. I've recently done some recording with Bob Edwards and he's hopefully going to allow me to do something great. And the other person who came along a few months ago is Young Lee who is the new curate at our church and he's come along and also been a really great help.

You mentioned you've been doing some recording with Bob Edwards. How did that all come about?
He basically just came up to me one Sunday and said, "Deborah, would you mind doing some recording for me because I've got some songs that I want to be published?" And I said, "Yes, of course." So he lent me one of his CDs that he'd done a while ago. I listened to it and I liked the stuff, came back to him, and gave him a little bit of feedback. Then basically a couple of evenings, with a few weeks' gap in between, I've been going on to his house, and recording stuff with him. I've done two songs now and he's waiting for the publishers to come back to him; they haven't given him an answer yet.

Are you working towards an EP?
I'm not sure at the moment; we've only done two songs. If I do another song, that would be an EP. I think you have to have about 10 to 12 songs before you have an album, so at the moment, an album would be a long way off. But hopefully, if I do record another song, I should have an EP out very soon.

Do you have any names [for the EP]?
The last song that we did was called, 'What A Glorious Sound' and I really liked that title, so that would probably be what I'd call it.

What kind of people are you hoping to inspire with your music?
Up and coming worship leaders. Anyone who I hear who I think would have the talent to be able to lead worship would be the kind of audience I would hope to inspire.

What advice would you give to the worship leaders you're hoping to inspire?
Have the confidence to stand up there and just give your heart and soul to what you're doing. And praise the Lord with all your heart and all of your soul and all of your mind and all of your strength!

Deborah Judge's debut single, What A Glorious Sound is available on iTunes now.