So I wanted to, just see if you could tell me a little bit about the band and, what’s going on right now.
So, Winona Fighter is myself. I’m the lead vocalist, frontwoman, rhythm guitar, primary songwriter, all that jazz, head bitch in charge is what they’ve said.
I also recorded all the drums on our record and and co-produced it. And then we have Dan who is lead guitar, and then we have Austin who is our bassist and also had produced the record, and mixed it and engineered it. And, basically, Winona Fighter stems from my upbringing in the Boston punk scene. I was a drummer in the scene my whole growing up, and I moved to Nashville, where there wasn’t really any scene at all. And it just I I think the thing I love so much about the Boston punk scene is the community and the sense of, like, self and almost, like, relief you get with the music and and going to the shows.
But I also understood that that type of really harsh yelly punk music isn’t for everyone. And I love the scene so much. I was like, how do we make it for everyone? And so that’s what Winona Fighter stems from. It is the love of punk and punk rock, but wanting to… introduce this amazing scene to all music lovers and make it accessible to anyone who likes catchy good music.
So we’ve been playing together for a very long time and just released our debut LP, and it’s been pretty pretty freaking crazy. But but, you know, it’s, again, just years and years and years and years of hard work and, like, keeping our heads down and just working and grinding and not getting caught up in any sort of bullshit. You know, it’s we we feel very fortunate and very lucky and very grateful, but we’re also like, wow. Hard work does pay off.
I know also in some of your videos when you were going track by track discussing some of the song titles, they’re very, very hilarious. And so I wanted to know, is that something that that happens a lot where you’re just like, I heard this this phrase or someone said this thing and now I can’t get it out of my head and I have to write a song about it? Or is it you have songs and you’re like, I can’t think of a title. Oh, this would be perfect. You know, what how does that usually happen?
It’s a little bit of both. Here, I’ll show you real quick. Okay. I keep a notes app of random things I hear or little dumb things I think about that I’m like, wow. That could be, like, a really good song title. So I have this, like, whole list of just things. Usually, it’s it’s a pretty half and half situation. Sometimes I’ll hear something, and I’ll be like, that that would actually make a really great song if it resonates with me.
But then sometimes we’ll write a song and the vibe will match something I have in my notes app. “Swimmer’s Ear,” for example. You know, it’s about being my own worst enemy, and I had the word swimmer’s ear in my phone, and I was like, oh, that reminds me of when I was a kid and I gave myself swimmer’s ear, and it was the first time I was ever my own worst enemy. So it’s just like it’s either, you know, something really resonates with me and I write about it, or I write a song and the title really resonates with the song.
So I wanted to ask just based on the title of the album and the tour, are you a fan of the show The Bear?
Oh, I love The Bear. It has nothing to do with the album and the tour, but it’s so fun to it’s fun having that little correlation as well.
Do you ever, take any kind of inspiration from movies or television or something other than music?
Definitely. Our song “I Think You Should Leave” is inspired by I Think You Should Leave. I put little Easter eggs in there from different skits. I’ll pull from anything. And and the thing I love about TV, movies, books, things like that is it is such like a creative art like music is. It’s just in a different medium. So I think there is so much opportunity to pull from things like that.
So you’re on tour right now. And, so you are going through Austin on Tuesday. Are there any places that you want to make sure that you go while you’re here or, anything that you maybe have heard about but haven’t seen?
Austin and I are really into comedy. Like, we love comedy, and I heard Austin has some great comedy clubs. So it’d be cool if we had a little time to go to a comedy show.
We were literally there for a full week doing South by Southwest last year. And I feel like we would walk by a couple different places or a barbecue joint or something and be like, we should make a point to go there. We’re just so open to experiencing what cities have to offer, and and we want to see all of the the great things and and and because I know when people come to Nashville, I’m like, okay. Like, you can go to Broadway. But as a local, you should probably do this.
And so we’re we’re very much love to kinda integrate ourselves in whatever the local scene has to offer.
I know you just got announced as part of All Your Friends Fest. And you’ve played Bonnaroo. You’ve played all sorts of stuff. What is your favourite festival that you’ve played so far?
Oh, that’s a tough one. Oh, I don’t know. We’re just we’re very fortunate. I think it’s very, very hard as an alternative or pop punk or emo band to get mainstream opportunities. And we have gotten Bonnaroo, Shaky Knees, Ocean’s Calling, you know, these amazing mainstream festivals. And and it’s so hard to pick one because it just presents us with this amazing opportunity to be shown to such a broad audience.
I think Bonnaroo was my favourite, especially the first show we did. We did two shows at Bonnaroo, and one was in a barn, the first one. Oh, you know what? Riot Fest this past year.
That was, like, top for me. Especially now, we’re kinda getting more comfortable with how festivals work. It was nice to do that festival, be comfortable with our surroundings, and also, man, it was a sea of people out there. We were like, holy shit. That’s insane.
You’ve also you’ve played with, like, some crazy legendary people. I was wondering if any of them had any sage advice for you that you really took to heart.
No advice more so, they’ve really taught us how to – and not that we didn’t know how to treat people before – but it it really goes to show, if you are kind and appreciative of your support acts too. That’s a big thing for us. We’ll always watch our support acts’ sets at least for a little bit, and we’ll always thank them for their time and, because we’ve been in situations where we’ve just been direct support for people and totally ignored. So I think we’ve been able to, without being told directly, learn some very valuable lessons like that.
Can you tell me a little bit about the outfits that you have coming up for tour? Because I saw your sister made them.
My sister, she’s an amazing designer, seamstress. She doesn’t do it as her full time thing. She just kinda does it, which I think is insane. I would love if she just kinda took the leap, and she’s a great stylist. But, yes, she we worked together to design all of my outfits for the tour.
We went fabric shopping together. She has a bunch of sustainable fabrics that she reused for some of the outfits. We just wanted something because we’re a very street clothes band and especially myself. I like to be comfortable, and I’ll I need to be able to move around. But it being our first headlining tour and this huge opportunity, the album just came out, the question was, how do we kind of elevate this a little bit?
And, yeah, my sister hit it out of the park. Super comfortable. My favorite things I’ve ever worn. She fucking she killed it.
And it’s so nice because we are such a DIY band that to now have that aspect too of all of these clothes are homemade. I think it encapsulates us perfectly.