Fangirl Spotlight: Cindy

One of the best things about traveling for music is all the friends you make along the way. So, we're beyond excited to bring you the Fangirl Spotlight series to introduce you to fellow fangirls you may meet on the road, tell you their stories, and encourage you to book that trip. First up, the coolest gal around: Cindy.

BASICS

Name: Cindy Sun

Age: 19

Where do you live?: Charlottesville, VA

What do you do?: Full-time student majoring in Studio Art, while also shooting shows when I can.

Twitter: @chselawrence

Insta: @xondys

THE GOOD STUFF

Tell us about the first trip you took for a band/artist and what first got you into traveling for music.

The first trip! It honestly wasn’t as long ago as it seems, but in October 2017 I flew to Los Angeles, for the first time, to see MUNA headline at The Fonda Theatre. They’re also the first band I got a tattoo for, which opened the gateway to so many others (oops). If I remember correctly, it was the first time I traveled alone, and I took a red-eye to LA, so I got into the city at around 4 A.M. I took an Uber to Hollywood Boulevard, realized there was no reason for me to be at the venue that early, and camped out of a Starbucks for several hours (which I’m sure is all too familiar to a lot of my friends). The show is still one of my favorite concerts I have experienced; the band consists of such an intelligent, diverse, and kind group of women that have taught me so much about myself in some tumultuous years. My love for the music and the people that are involved most definitely is the reason why I travel.

Who have you traveled for the most? How many of their shows have you been to/how far did you travel for them?

COIN. I have been to 37 shows so far, and I’m doing 8 more on their upcoming 2019 tour. Most of the shows have been all over the United States, but a few of them were in Canada and the U.K. I was supposed to see them play in Korea too. Already at LAX, and the airline wouldn’t let me onto the plane - it’s a long story. You live and you learn, I suppose, and I definitely learned.

Why that particular artist/band? What about them, or their show, made you want to travel to see them?

Chase Lawrence. Need I say more?

Kidding (kinda). There’s so many reasons why COIN is the band I travel for the most; probably the most significant is that I have made a lot of close friends through them - individuals that live all over the country, and yet I feel like they know me better than some people at home (relative term, in this case, where I go to school). Going to all these shows gives me the opportunity to not only spend time with my friends, but also to see our favorite bands, explore new cities, or even learn about new cultures. It’s incomparable.

But of course, the band! It has been an absolute joy to see them go from playing small venues to a massive crowd at Reading and Leeds Festival, and everything in between (Opening for Jesse McCartney in an arena? Selling out 9:30 Club? Been there, done that). They’re genuinely the most thoughtful, talented, and hardworking humans I have ever met in my life. Take every synonym of “kind-hearted” you can find, and that’s COIN. They put so much of themselves into the music and the live shows, and yet never fail to forget about us. Chase has a knack for developing personal connections with someone he has just been introduced to, making them feel valued through transparent and selfless actions. I have always wanted to sit down and explain how appreciative fans are for their continued sincerity - it is so easy for someone in their position to not care, however they do. So much.

Have you traveled to see anyone else?

I haven’t traveled extensively for any artist other than COIN (and in turn, The Aces), however, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Arlie, DBMK, Jet Black Alley Cat, and Foster The People in various cities/states.

Tell us about one of your fav tour memories.

I don’t think I can narrow this down to just one, but I’ll be brief!

COIN at Reading Festival in the U.K. The show was on my 19th birthday, the crowd was insane, and let’s

just say Chase Lawrence is incredibly thoughtful and has a great memory. That trip was the best couple days of my life.

Shooting my first show ever on the Arlie/Briston Maroney tour was an extremely exciting feat for me.

Overall, that tour was so fun. They’re amazing.

Last, but not least, a vivid tour memory worth mentioning is when I smashed my face into COIN’s lighting setup during their Portland show. The right side of my face swelled up like a balloon. It was not cute. However, everyone deserves to see a picture of the aftermath.

What’s your favorite city you’ve visited on tour?

Portland. In my opinion, it definitely lives up to the hype. It’s busy, but not suffocatingly so like LA or NYC, and you’re surrounded by mountains and clean air and countless coffee shops. Portland is an absolute mecca of must-try restaurants and quirky thrift shops, a.k.a. my dream city. I need to go back as soon as possible.

Fav venue you’ve traveled to?

This is a hard question. 9:30 Club (Washington D.C.) is my favorite mid-sized venue because of the memories I have associated with it and since it is so close to home. But The Van Buren in Phoenix, AZ deserves an honorary mention; the venue is relatively new, so the building is absolutely beautiful, and from what I saw of the green room, it’s an interior decorator’s dream. The city itself also became one of my favorite places -- y’all got gorgeous sunsets AND Dutch Bros? Amazing.

Oh, and Mahall’s in Cleveland, OH. It’s a tiny venue, but also a bowling alley, so you really don’t need anything else.

What are your bucket list venue destinations?

Madison Square Garden is a given. Alexandra Palace in London. Cain’s in Tulsa, OK. The Amphitheater on University of Virginia grounds (been there, of course, but I just want one of my favorite bands to play on home turf).

We get this question all the time, and we all have different answers, and I’m sure you get this a lot too: How are you able to travel to so many shows?

Well, I have a part-time job! A lot of people who ask me this question know I am a full-time student, and they sometimes think that is mutually exclusive from: A. being employed, or B. traveling. I always make sure I don’t have classes scheduled on Fridays, and that those classes don’t have a strict attendance policies (on the likely chance I will be absent a couple times in the semester). I’m also super meticulous when it comes to planning for a tour; I estimate the cost of travel, accomodation, tickets, food, etc. way ahead of time, so I know how much I need to work/make in the upcoming months in order to pay for it all. If I fully went into detail of how I plan for COIN tour, this response would be way longer than anyone would want to read. To summarize, I just like allowing for as little room-for-error in my travel as possible.

What do you love about traveling for music?

For much of the reasons I mentioned in regards to why I travel for COIN. To see my friends and make new ones, experience some incredible live shows, visit new cities, try every coffee shop/cafe/restaurant on my unwritten bucketlist (Thanks, Yelp), and to find a career in this industry. I love everything about music, and want to spend the rest of my life working with artists, so traveling is just a part of it. Like, hey. I’m networking!

Any music trips coming up soon?

COIN’s Paradise of Thought Tour. Everyone should go, it’s always a good time.

Any advice for fangirls who want to start traveling for their favs?

First thing? Just jump the gun and do it. When we all get older (boo!), have full-time jobs and copious amounts of other obligations, it will be so much harder to find opportunities and/or time to travel for shows.

Save up, and plan ahead. Find friends that are willing to travel with you. Everybody saves money, it’s safer, and a lot of fun to be going to shows with people you love. But even if you can’t find someone else, don’t let that discourage you from touring bands. There’s no better way to meet new friends (networking, remember). It will still be an incredible experience, and you’ll learn a lot about yourself along the way.

Know any other fangirls we should feature? Let us know!