Sonic Guild grants push local artists like Seattle band La Fonda toward their dreams

Seattle band La Fonda received a 2022 Sonic Guild grant (Photo La Fonda)

When Valerie and Veronica Topacio, sisters and the lead singers of Seattle Band La Fonda, received a call from Ben London telling them they’d been named as one of the recipients of a 2022 Sonic Guild grant, they were speechless.

“I literally couldn't speak. I just told Valerie, like ‘I can't speak - you speak for me because I cannot physically speak’,” Veronica said. “My heart was racing. It was pounding. People don't know really what it takes behind closed doors to prioritize your art.”

Veronica said the sisters have been through eviction notices, negative accounts, work struggles, and even having to pawn extra equipment in their pursuit of careers in music. Working on the band while having a full time jobs has been a challenge for the sisters, but one that they know is part of the process.

“We’ve been chipping away at recording this album for the last two and a half years. That in itself is so hard, sometimes you’re sacrificing vacations, not buying all the groceries you want, literally living paycheck to paycheck,” Valerie said. “At one point, I think I had seven dollars in my bank account.”

Their motivation, though, comes from an unshakeable passion for telling their story and healing through making music. Growing up in a house where money was often tight, the Topacio sister’s parents never gave up on supporting their children’s dreams.

“Every time we had a guitar in the house, we usually had to pawn it to pay electricity or put food on the table,” Valerie said.

Veronica added, “Our parents are so proud that we get to do this. We get to have this life of sisterhood, of dreaming, of making music to heal through all these things that we've been through as a family.”

That dream is now closer than ever before thanks to the Sonic Guild grant the sisters received. As part of a class which also includes local artists Deep Sea Diver, Thunderpussy, Cumulus, King Youngblood, Wild Powwers, Brittany Davis, Small Paul, Dean Johnson, and Shaina Shepherd.

“It's a pretty remarkable gift they've given,” Shepherd said. “It’s a release valve on the pressure cooker of some of my dreams.:

For La Fonda, it means they can now invest in finishing their album, releasing it on vinyl, hiring photographers, and investing in themselves.

“It really feeds so much more than just us as musicians. It feeds engineers, producers, our band, and it really allows people to make a living off of their creative endeavors,” Valerie said. “There's so much power in communities like Seattle, and there’s so much rich music.”

It’s also a full circle moment for the sisters who grew up frequenting venues like The Crocodile and festivals like Folklife and Bumbershoot, some of which they now get to play while being on the grant roster with artists they grew up listening to.

“We're really lucky to be in this hub, and to be part of the history of this city,” Veronica said. “With as much as it's changed over the last 10, 20 years, and feeling like we're kind of being pushed out of the city because it's so expensive, it’s almost even better to know that we’ll be able to stick around and that hopefully these venues are going to be here.”

You can find out more about the Sonic Guild here