Interview: Winona Fighter Talks New Music and Their SXSW Experience

Amid a packed SXSW schedule, Nashville-based punk band Winona Fighter sat down with Afterglow for a quick chat about their new single, touring, and highlights of their SXSW experience.

Written by Lauren Stephens

Photo courtesy of Winona Fighter

Winona Fighter is a three-piece punk band consisting of frontwoman Coco Kinnon, guitarist Dan Fuson, and bassist Austin Luther. Hailing from Nashville, TN, the trio has shared stages with the likes of Incubus and Motion City Soundtrack, and graced the lineups of Bonnaroo, Is For Lovers, and Shiprocked. There’s no doubt that the band’s future is bright, as they are about to embark on a tour with punk rock band Bayside this April, and are set to play Atlanta’s iconic rock festival Shaky Knees this summer. During SXSW 2024, the band sat down with Photo Co-Director Lauren Stephens to discuss new music, creative influences, and an exciting touring schedule.

Afterglow: Is this your first SXSW?

Coco Kinnon: Yeah, playing as a band. This is my second. I was playing drums for a band back in 2016. [SXSW has] definitely grown a lot since then.

And you’re playing a lot of shows.

Dan Fuson: Ten!

That’s crazy! What’s been your favorite part of it so far?

Austin Luther: Just the madhouse. The whole environment is electric. 

Dan: Yeah, everywhere you go, it’s inescapable in a good way. Like, we just ducked into a cocktail bar last night, and there’s an afro-beat band playing. I was like, “This is awesome!”’

Coco: And I feel like every crowd has been pretty different from the next, you know? It never feels like we're playing in front of the same people.

Austin: But all super hyped and just like live music.

For sure. Is it scary playing a festival not knowing what the crowd is going to be like, instead of playing your own show, or is it more exciting?

Coco: It is a challenge, I would say.

Austin: I feel like we’re a little used to it, though. We’ve done a lot of opening shows recently, so we’re used to warming the crowd up a little bit.

Coco: Yeah, like knowing it’s not our crowd, so we gotta reel them in.

Dan: Yeah, kiss a little ass, play a couple tunes, a few jokes. [Laughs] 

Your latest single “I'M IN THE MARKET TO PLEASE NO ONE” came out about a week ago. What inspired that song?

Coco: I wrote that song after going through some things, and I found a letter I had written to an ex-partner, who was not a very great partner. I had never written about that situation before, and I just feel like as the band is growing, I can use my voice, personally, to spread awareness about those types of things and create conversations about those types of things. So, I finally wrote a song about it. 

But, I was a little anxious about it at first. Like, every time we talked about it we’d be like, “Oh, but it’s not a single, oh but we’re not gonna release it as a single,” and then that’s exactly what we did. [Laughs]

Just a little bit vulnerable?

Coco: Yeah, the song is very upbeat to make talking about it easier, but the lyrics if you actually listen to them, it's a very personal song.

How's it been performing it live?

Coco: Awesome.

Dan: Yeah, it’s been feeling really good so far. Very upbeat, a nice little boost, and kind of a [sic] refresh for all of us on stage.

I was also wondering who some of y'all's biggest creative inspirations are.

Austin: I would say there's a guy named Eric Valentine who produced different bands — The Stone Age, Taking Back Sunday, Good Charlotte, Third Eye Blind. But he's definitely more like a producer/writer/engineer person.

Coco: Mine is definitely Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters.

Dan: Mine is probably Dave Navarro on guitar from Jane’s Addiction. He’s probably my number one guy.

Coco: Love me some Jane’s Addiction.

Do you guys have anything in particular coming up in the next few months that you're excited for?

Coco: We’re about to go on tour with Bayside for all of April. So that's personally, for me, Coco, frontwoman of Winona Fighter — I’m a huge fan of theirs and I’m very excited to be on the road with them.

Austin: Then, we’re hitting Shaky Knees in Atlanta right after, so that'll be cool. 

Dan: Yeah, at the end of this month, the 30th, we have a headlining show at the Knitting Factory in New York to kick it all off. Then, the next day in Boston a couple of headlining shows there to get in the groove, and those are going to be really fun, too.

You can follow Winona Fighter on Instagram and TikTok and stream their new single, “I'M IN THE MARKET TO PLEASE NO ONE,” on Spotify and Apple Music.

This interview has been minimally edited for clarity and length.