Sulynn Hago. Credit: Anthony Martino

Sulynn Hago. Credit: Anthony Martino

Of all the stories in this year’s Music Issue, Sulynn Hago’s is one of the most interesting. The 30-year-old guitarist started playing in bands when she was 14 years old and hasn’t stopped. Nor does it look like she ever will.

Hago has played with local outfits Ink & Sweat, New Bruises, and Feral Babies, and currently belongs to the lineup of Tampa post-rock floor-shakers Career, whose 2018 release “Structures” left a hole in our chest and then filled that cavity with questions and then piles and piles of dizzying, disorienting sound, including bone-crushing guitar from Hago.

FINDING FORM
Career gets "Structures" to tape, and finally turns in its gripping debut full-length

In 2015, Hago — who moved from Puerto Rico to Florida at the age of nine — landed a dream gig with her favorite band, legendary Canadian punk act Propagandhi. Now the girl who once used a Lego brick as a guitar pick for her banged up childhood guitar is touring the U.S. and Europe with one of the most respected outfits in North America.

After this issue hits newsstands, Hago will move to New York in the hope of shifting gears and working on experimental and jazz improvisation, composition, and classical guitar playing while also seeking out session work. She’ll continue to work with Career, Propagandhi and her latest band Whelks, and Hago’s mark on the Bay area will still be felt by the many students she’s taught as part of a nine-year journey teaching private lessons.

MUSIC ISSUE 2018
Meet 30 young Tampa Bay musicians who are (re)making a scene

“Regardless of age, I strive to instill confidence, boldness and authenticity on the instrument, which has the tendency to translate onto the individual’s personality as well,” she told CL. A lot of listening to and learning from recording and theory is involved, but the end result is that students find their own unique voice. 

“It’s the way I approach my own musical growth, so I like to pass it on,” Hago said, adding that the move is more or less so that she can explore her own musical curiosities.

“The aesthetic of the New York and Chicago scenes resonates with me,” she said. “I knew that if I wanted to play in that experimental or jazz style, that I had to be a part of the community. There’s no growth in improvising if you’re not playing with musicians often. It’s all about being challenged and learning from each other while still being able to stay true to your personalized style and vision.”

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Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...