I have been hearing from all directions how badass it would be to interview a band called Blackwater Holylight since even before Issue 1 came out. Clearly, it was meant to be as I met the frontwoman, Sunny Faris, one night at a show. We finally sat down for a cup of coffee and had some laughs about how small of a world it is.
So, our photographer, Matt, was all, “You should interview this band, Blackwater Holylight.” I was like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Then someone else who used to work for us said, “Interview Blackwater Holylight.” Again, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Then, when I was with Nolan (Miskell), hanging out before the Deathchant show, and you mentioned you were in Blackwater Holylight, then it was, “OK, this is crazy”.
The universe just does that to you. That all happened before we met? That’s hilarious.
What the fuck? So random, a sign.
LA is kind of crazy. When we were in Portland and were going to move to LA, literally everyone said, “Oh yeah, have fun. We’ll see when you move back in three months.” Like you’re going to basically tank. I thought, “Wow, everybody. Fuck you, first of all.” But no, same thing. When we moved here, we got our house randomly through some kid on Instagram, then we got our practice space with Deathchant. They said, “Yeah, share this with us.” It was just everything that we needed. Then all the friends and all the webs of people… it’s just how LA is, if you’re supposed to be here, it’s just like here you go. I know it’s hard for a lot of people, but then there’s this kind of thing where it’s just like what?
It is wild. Even meeting the Deathchant guys through Nolan. I’m friends with one of their previous members since he skates. Speaking of intertwined webs, I just got a tattoo from Tati and told her that I was interviewing you. She said, “Oh my god, I’m going to do some artwork for Sunny soon!” I wanted to ask you about that if you can talk openly about it.
We can talk about it. No secrets here, girlfriend. Tried that, doesn’t work. It’s way better to just let it all out before people find out. It’s Gina Ross and Tati Compton. Gina hit us up a few months ago and suggested, “We should all do a collab together and make stuff.” Gina owns an apothecary, Tati’s obviously Tati, and then I have the music side. I said, “Yeah, let’s do something for the merch table.” I think it was Gina’s idea, let’s do incense for merch. We’ve been cooking up the recipe that we’re going to use, figure out the box and how many pieces everyone gets. Tati’s doing all the artwork for the box. It’ll be cool. I don’t know when we’re going to finish the project. Hopefully soon.
Have you figured out the scent?
Well, Gina went through multiple recipes. First, we were thinking sticks, and then the sticks weren’t really holding up. Then we pivoted to cones, and she made a couple different kinds. Then the last one that she had made was, I can’t remember the base, maybe it was cedarwood. Now we’re doing this sandalwood, palo santo, vanilla, kind of orange infusement.
I love it, it sounds perfect.
I love smells, I’m all about body oils, and I’m always spraying shit in my house and stuff. But it’s all to say that I love smells. I’ve always wanted to do body oil or incense. So, it’s crazy when she hit me up because I was like, “Fuck yeah.” I’ve been thinking about this for years. I don’t know how the fuck my mind never went there before she suggested it. And I said, “Yeah, duh. What? What are we doing? We absolutely have to do this project.” So yeah, it’ll be cool.
I think Tati’s artwork is the most beautiful artwork ever. I love all the tattoos.
She should be president of the world. I love her. She did my fingers; she did my face.
Oh, she just told me she did the face. It looks so cute.
Yeah, I went in there and said, “Think on a face tat.” She’s like, “Oh, okay,” all excited. It’s cute and dainty.
When I started going to her regularly, one of the people I skate for was suggesting getting me a pro wheel. I was like, “So Tati, if I had a pro wheel, would you do the artwork for it?” She was down. I don’t know if that would happen, but if it did, I’d want Tati to do the artwork. Funny that Tati said she was doing artwork for you, too, same idea.
Yeah, that would be rad. She would kill it. Wow. I’ve never thought about that as a thing. That makes sense, though. I know nothing about roller skating at all. But I do go to Venice Beach and you can watch people skate around. Dude, it’s so fun. Just everyone is so happy and dancing and holding hands and shit. I’m like, man, if I’m sad, I’m just going to come sit here and watch these people have fun because it made me happy. Nothing, but respect. I can’t afford any more injuries in my life though.
Are you guys from Portland or you’re from Fort Collins and moved to Portland?
I grew up in Colorado, moved to Portland in 2008. We all met in Portland. We started the band in 2016, but we had known each other from being around just the music scene. Portland’s small and everyone in music knows each other. It’s kind of like LA.
That’s how the music industry is with production people. I fucking know everybody.
We all met there, worked together, and we were in other bands together and shit. Sarah [Mckenna], who plays keys, is still in Portland. She is a mom and is in school, so she’s locked into Portland. We moved here three years ago, almost to the day. I think we got here on September 11 actually. Been here for a minute. I mean, for me, the decision to move to LA for me wasn’t even about industry shit or music opportunities. It’s just that the winters in Portland are so gnarly. It fucking rains for six, seven, eight, nine months in a row.
Really?
Yeah, it’s just dreary. It rains every day, it’s cloudy. Some people like that climate. I did it for a while, but it just started to fuck with my mental health in a really crazy way. I can’t be here for another winter. Don’t know if I can survive another winter here. I was like, I’m going to LA where the sun is out. Then, of course, getting here has been incredible for music and meeting people. I’m glad that we made the move, obviously. It’s funny because everyone always does assume that the root of wanting to be here was for music and it wasn’t. I just need the sun. Technically, we are from Portland, but what do bands do when they move? I’m like, “So do we say we’re from LA now?” Or do we say we’re from Portland?
Maybe originally from, like you formed in Portland. Do you guys all live together here then, besides Sarah?
No, we all live about two minutes away from each other. It’s funny because on maps, our houses make like a triangle. So, we’re very close.
Okay, so this is going to sound weird.
Hit me.
I was standing in line waiting for the bathroom at the Deathchant show. I literally remember this because it made me think of a conversation me and my friends would have. You were talking to someone saying, “So I’ve made a list of people that I want to fight. Number one, people that have earwax and number two, people that FaceTime in public.” What else is on your list?
That’s so funny... that was me and my friend, Katrina. We were literally just talking about that. My list was people with visible earwax, people that FaceTime in public or are on speakerphone in public, and chewing gum with your mouth open. If you’re chewing gum with your mouth open, fucking close it. That’s so funny that you overheard.
I was thinking, This is so accurate. Anyone that heard it was probably like, exactly.
That’s hilarious you’re standing there. I’m saying, “So I made a list of people I want to fight.” And you’re like, “Cool.” That’s awesome.
So, wait, the name Sunny. That’s not your real name, is it?
No, my name’s Allison. But god, sometimes people still call me Allison like family, my dad a little bit.
It’s been a whole life thing?
Yeah, I’ve had my friends started calling me Sunny in 2012, I believe. Maybe even earlier. Fuck, I don’t even know. I’m probably going to end up changing my name legally just because everyone calls me that. Every once in a while, at home, my family, it’ll come out a little bit. Or if it’s someone, an old-ass head that I knew 12 years ago in Colorado and we haven’t seen each other in over a decade kind of thing, they’ll call me Alison. I’m always, “What, how do you know that?” Then I’m, “Oh yeah, that was my name.” My friend Alana gave me that name.
Because you’re a ray of sunshine, or you wanted the sun?
I think she was just like Allison, Allisunny. I’m going to call you Sunny. That’s literally what she did and then it just stuck hard. I didn’t have plans on changing my name or adopting a new name, an identity, whatever. So, for a while, it was just my close friends that were calling me Sunny. Then others would hear, so it just slowly trickled out into the outer webs of the people that I knew. Similarly, to moving here, I’m like, “What do we say now? What should I say my name is on records and shit? Because my name’s Allison, but everyone’s calling me Sunny now. And I like Sunny. I didn’t intentionally state, “I’m changing my name.” It’s like, boom. It just happened over time. I’m Sunny Buns now.
I like it. What’s the number one thing that you’re most insecure about?
You’re going to hit me with that? In music or in life? That’s a cool question actually.
Hopefully you’ve never thought about it.
I mean, well, everyone’s insecure. I could say all the stupid shit that’s easy and obvious. Honestly, being an artist is fucking hard. It’s vulnerable. You wear your heart on your sleeve and you just kind of put the shit out. You do the thing where you’re like if people like it, they like it, and if they don’t, then whatever. But the whatever part of it is hard and vulnerable. There is an insecurity in that because it’s like first of all, people’s opinions on your art has nothing to fucking do with you. They’re just going to do what they’re doing anyway. But there’s this piece, this ego element where when you’re making something and you want it to be impactful in people’s lives, and then you put it out and someone’s kind of like meh. That’s fine, but it’s also like ahhh, because I care about this shit and I want to make things that actually contribute to people’s lives, not just in and out. So yeah, I think I get insecure about art.
That makes so much sense because I skate and put videos out and I am definitely like, oh yeah, if they like it, cool, if they don’t, cool. But I never was, I’m going to make a magazine with my friends. I just got roped into this.
This shit is cool as fuck. It really is.
The first issue, people were hating on it. Not because the quality is bad or anything, they were just hating on our opinions or wanting standards in our sport. I felt so crushed because I thought I made something so good, but the community hated it so bad. That’s a whole different story. But I’ve never put myself out there as much as that.
It’s scary, dude. And it’s hard. I think that there are lots of musicians and artists out there who really can lean into the like it or don’t, whatever, and the ego piece isn’t there. But for me, it is. I’m not really embarrassed to admit that I have fucking ego about shit sometimes.
I mean, as you should. I would feel the exact same way.
It’s just hard. It’s not like that’s the foundation of anything or running the program. But it’s fucking there so you might as well acknowledge it. It’s not easy for anyone that cares about something to just dump it all out and be like, “Here you go. Here’s my entire soul. Everybody enjoy.”
Well, I think you guys’ music is badass as fuck.
Thank you, babe.
The song “Willow,” I could feel it through my whole fucking body. Anyway, okay, so tell me what you are confident about?
Okay, the confident one. I’m just me. I’m confident in my fucking self. I’ve tried so many times to be someone else and change up the program and abandon who I am. It doesn’t fucking work. So, I figured, okay, I guess I’m just going to be myself really hard. Life is hard and people are insecure about shit, and you’re an artist and you’re a freak. You trip up and nothing ever really feels easy. But being able to carry yourself and hold yourself and love yourself through that shit helps all of that.
As time goes on, you’re finally old enough to recognize that I’m actually badass and I just like who I am, so the rest doesn’t even fucking matter.
Dude, it’s crazy. As time passes, the more you just stop giving a fuck. No one has ever asked me that shit in interviews before. What are you confident about and what are you insecure about? That’s cool.
Where’s the craziest place that you’ve ever had sex?
Oh my god. The craziest place I’ve ever had sex is under a stage of an amphitheater while a TED talk was happening above us.
No way. Dude, that is the best answer ever.
There were like 15,000 people watching this. I don’t even remember who the fucking speaker was. I was there because my boyfriend’s band at the time was playing a couple songs, but it was for a TED talk. We were like, do you want to go poke around the basement? I don’t even know how the fuck we got down there, but it was really creepy and it was all these weird hallways.
What venue? Do you remember where it was?
It was in Portland. I don’t remember what it’s called, but it’s big. It’s an auditorium, not an amphitheater. We somehow fucking ended up underneath the stage while this person is giving a TED talk about whatever the fuck. I was like you want to real quick? He was, “Hell yeah.”
Dude, that’s fucking sick. I don’t think I’ve ever done it at a venue.
It wouldn’t have been as funny if there wasn’t a TED talk.
Is there anything fucking insane while you have been on stage that you’ve visibly seen while performing? It almost causes you to mess up? Or are you so in the zone?
No. I’m very easily snapped out of the zone. I mean, sometimes I’m really in the zone. That’s kind of a hard question. People get crazy. The thing that fucks me up the most usually is my merch dude makes me laugh because he’s always so stoked. He’s just the most toxically positive person, he’s like the most incredible. It’s not annoying, we need it. It’s like when you’re on tour and you’re exhausted, you just have someone that’s always like, “Good morning, today’s going to rule, we’re going to drive for eight hours, we’re going to rip this show.” He makes me laugh. But I was talking about this last night that I didn’t see it happen, but when we played in Vancouver, Canada, the first time I think, a dude in the audience somehow took a pocket knife and cut his underwear off while he was standing there watching us and threw them on stage.
That’s good. That’s a great answer. Just like throwing your bra on stage.
I don’t know how you fucking do that shit. He had to go in there with a fucking pocket knife, and then he threw them on stage, and it landed on Mikayla’s pedal board. It was funny. Props to that guy if you’re out there. So insane. I’m like, “What?”
So, what happened to the underwear after? Did you keep it and frame it?
No. I think we were kind of grossed out by it, to be honest. I would’ve been more excited about a bra. Do people still do that shit? No way. That’s not a very 2024 kind of vibe.
Who would be the number one person that you would want to meet? Can be dead or alive. It could be fucking anyone that you’d be like fangirling out.
The person I would want to meet and fangirl out on hard is Mary Oliver for sure. She’s a poet. She’s my favorite writer. Her shit is a huge part of my life I feel, and a really big piece of inspiration behind how I write and how I write music, and how I see the world and all of the things. She’s like my fucking hero. I love her. It’s funny because I was just talking about her this morning. You should get some of her books and read them and it will change your world.
Did she die?
Yeah, she died a few years ago. I don’t know how old she was. She definitely had done life. She’s my lady.
