\u201cWe are running off of pure love of doing what we do, and I want it to be an escape for people. I want them to have 30 minutes to an hour out of their day where they can just be a little freak and run around and punch and whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coco Kinnon, frontwoman of rising Nashville-based pop-punk band Winona Fighter, started early in music: drumming on stage at the age of 12, playing underground shows in the New England punk scene.<\/p>\n
Kinnon, whose father raised her on rock and grunge, always found herself drawn to punk. But after joining her first band (a punk band, of course), she started to fall in love with more than just the music, but also the punk scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe music is very scary and harsh, and the mosh pits can be a little much for people,\u201d Kinnon tells Orlando Weekly, \u201cbut it\u2019s also a community where everyone has each other\u2019s back and everyone\u2019s welcome, and it\u2019s open to all new faces and to those who are young and old.\u201d<\/p>\n
Years later, Kinnon met bassist and producer Austin Luther, who was into late-\u201990s and early-aughts alternative, and lead guitarist Dan Fuson, who loved \u201980s metal. The three shared a mutual drive to play in a rock band.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo for me, it was like that feeling of taking what I grew up in and bringing it into something new and fresh, because Nashville doesn\u2019t really have a punk scene,\u201d says Kinnon. \u201cAnd for the boys, it was like this cool introduction to a totally new community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before the release of their first EP, Father Figure, in 2022, the band was just going by Kinnon\u2019s nickname, \u201cCoco.\u201d Then one night, after mulling over potential band names, Luther \u2014 a pop-culture obsessive \u2014 came up with \u201cWinona Fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kinnon felt the name was \u201cthe perfect balance of masculine and feminine, like pretty, but harsh.\u201d Thus Winona Fighter was born, and they are now part of the lineup of the 2025 Vans Warped Tour on the heels of their latest album, My Apologies to the Chef.<\/p>\n
Kinnon describes the whole thing as surreal, with the band gearing up to head to Orlando not just to play the main fest, but also Will\u2019s Pub for an official afterparty \u2014 all on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up going to Warped Tour, and I looked up to these bands, and I looked up to bands that were as big\/little as we are. I thought they were like the shit,\u201d says Kinnon. \u201cIt\u2019s so funny now to be in that position of, you know, we\u2019re still grinding so much, and we\u2019re still doing van tours. We\u2019re still little fish in such a big pond. But to know that we are having that weird impact on people that I had with the bands I saw at Warped Tour and Warped afterparties, it\u2019s such a really cool, exciting thing for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luther recorded their entire album in his home studio, which also doubles as a garage. Kinnon, who helped produce the record, says the band loves to do as much as possible by themselves, staying true to their DIY roots.<\/p>\n
As a pop-punk band, they created this new album to make punk accessible to all music lovers. Kinnon says the goal was to make a record of really catchy punk music that would appeal to people unfamiliar with the genre, even to those who weren\u2019t into \u201csuper thrashable, yelly, loud punk music.\u201d<\/p>\n
The record\u2019s lyrics center on the human experience and universal struggles of daily life, with tracks like \u201cYou Look Like a Drunk Phoebe Bridgers\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m in the Market to Please No One.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone can listen to the record and find one song where they relate to it, because it\u2019s like we all go through these things,\u201d says Kinnon. \u201cEveryone feels like it\u2019s a lonely, unique experience, but in reality, there\u2019s always someone who can relate to what you are going through.\u201d For Kinnon, every day with the band feels like an impactful moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery moment, even if it\u2019s like, we show up and the green room has our little snacks that we like, or we show up and there\u2019s even 50 people in a room, it\u2019s so cool to us, like, \u2018Oh, we are reaching people, and we are having an impact,\u2019\u201d says Kinnon. \u201cOr we write a song that we think no one\u2019s gonna understand. But then people are on Reddit and they\u2019re just like, \u2018Wow, this song hit me hard.\u2019 Every day we have something that happens that is just very surreal for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s that same passion for what they\u2019re doing that helps the band whip up high energy onstage and in the crowd. Kinnon says it\u2019s a mix between a true love of performing and a desire to give fans an outlet.<\/p>\n
For aspiring Warpers out there, Kinnon says that chasing viral moments won\u2019t help you grow as artists. Instead, it\u2019s the tough shows or embarrassing moments that help artists find themselves and their community much quicker.<\/p>\n
\u201cPick up a guitar, get out, play shows. Be kind, be willing to learn and it\u2019ll come. What you\u2019re looking for will come if you just put your head down and keep grinding, keep learning, keep being kind. That\u2019s all you can really do. And make music you\u2019re excited to make.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
(WINONA FIGHTER, EMO SOCIAL: 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, Will\u2019s Pub, 1042 N. Mills Ave., willspub.org<\/a>, $28.43)<\/p>\n Orlando\u2019s daily dose of what matters. Subscribe to The Daily Weekly.<\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tBJ Barham opened the night\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tMarking 30 years of this touring juggernaut\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/screenshot_2025-09-26_at_9.04.01___am.png\")
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