“We’ve been fortunate to have so many hurdles… it allows us to have a shield”: How Winona Fighter channel their struggles into raucous punk rock

“It’s like I’m apologising to my parents,” says vocalist Coco Kinnon of Winona Fighter’s debut album, My Apologies To The Chef. Having spent nearly a decade in the restaurant industry, the slightly distorted phrase has long been a part of her vocabulary, but there's a deeper sentiment behind it.

“My parents worked so hard to build a life for their children from nothing, so I can imagine when I was like, ‘I want to be a professional punk rock artist!’ that it was a big shock,” Coco tells Kerrang!, smiling as the morning sun bounces off the tuning pegs on a rack full of guitars behind her.

Released this week on Valentine’s Day, what could possibly serve as better proof that supporting the rock star dream was all worthwhile than a boisterous, 14-track album, alive with headrush-inducing guitars and vocals driven right from the gut? This band are no idiot sandwich.

Completed by guitarist Dan Fuson and bassist/producer Austin Luther, Winona Fighter experiment with all the exuberant colours of punk on this project. Marking their first full-length release through Rise Records, they’ve also stayed true to the genre’s DIY roots by pulling the whole thing together themselves.

“We didn’t put anything on the record that we can’t achieve live,” Coco says. “We’re lucky to have been able to keep it so in-house. It was just me, Austin and Dan – we were the only ones with our hands on it until it was ready to master.”

And it’s not just the music that encapsulates their DIY ethos – the Nashville trio took marketing into their own hands, handing out flyers to promote their single Johnny’s Dead outside of a festival they weren’t even playing. Coco looks back on it with a laugh.

“We’ve been fortunate to have so many hurdles and disappointments thrown in our face that now that we’re gaining success, it allows us to have this shield,” she says. “I’ve been doing this a long time. I tried to start my first band when I was 11 and my dad put a Craigslist ad up for me. There was this other dad who was like, ‘I have two sons who play guitar and are looking for a drummer.’ I jammed with them once then the dad called us and was like, ‘They don’t want to play with a girl.’”

Despite such shitty experiences when finding their feet as artists, Winona Fighter is where their graft comes to a head. It’s an outlet for both its members and fans to unleash all the things they’re furious about. A prominent example is track I’M IN THE MARKET TO PLEASE NO ONE, written about Coco’s experience with domestic violence.

“To put my trust into these two guys after experiencing the worst guy, it was very hard,” she shares. “But [Austin and Dan are] the greatest. They’ve helped me heal by just being the most fun people I’ve ever met. They encourage and empower me.”

She continues, “Mental health has become a very socially acceptable topic, but only in regards to depression and anxiety, I feel. [For] people who maybe have an anger problem, that’s not okay – especially as a woman! Are you kidding me? Do you see everything that’s going on?”

Although it explores a lot of personal themes, Winona Fighter’s music remains open to interpretation and be fully owned by the listener, and felt in whichever way they need. Is getting in your feels punk rock? Yes, chef!

My Apologies To The Chef is released February 14 via Rise Records.

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