DIZZY: What was the first CD you ever bought?

SABRINA FUENTES: Avril Lavigne’s Let Go.

D: How present was music in your childhood? When did you start making music as opposed to just listening?

SF: I always loved music and I always wanted to be a musician. I didn’t start playing music until I was 11 when my parents got me a guitar, I started writing songs around then too. I started playing bass when I was 13.

D: I love the single art Will Sheldon made for you. Can you tell me about that process? How involved were you with the imagery?

SF: I first saw Will’s tattoos on my friend Bailey and they really stuck with me. About a year later I was trying to figure out what we should do for the Warm Hands cover art and I ended up at a show at White Columns that Will was showing at and thought it would be great if he did something for the cover. Then I asked my friend Ally to introduce us. He had just gotten a tattoo from Will. He asked if I had any ideas as to what he should draw and I said that I love the fairies and creatures he draws and it might be cool to have a pair of hands controlling a lil fairie girl. He responded with the cover art 4 days later. I couldn’t be happier with what he did, I really love his work and I feel lucky that he was open to doing it.

D: Favorite music video?

SF: This is too hard… but I Kiss your Lips by Tokyo Ghetto Pussy and Bjork’s I Miss You both have great videos.

D: When you’re writing a song, does it begin as a poem, or are you thinking about melodies / instrumentals from the very beginning?

SF: When I first started writing music when I was really little I wrote melodies and lyrics first and then instrumentals on guitar to accompany them. As I got better at guitar, I started writing instrumentals first then lyrics. I was able to say what I wanted non-verbally, so the words became kind of secondary. Then I started playing bass and started doing a mixture of both, sometimes starting with instrumentals sometimes starting with lyrics or a melody. Now I definitely start with lyrics more, and I want to get back to starting with instrumentals. I feel like I need to get better at playing bass or learn how to play more instruments in order to say everything that I want to without speaking too much.

D: Would your Catholic high school ever let you play a punk show in their auditorium?

SF: Probably not :-(

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