Feb 28, 2021

WHOLE LOTTA RHYTHM | SunfyreTV

Drumming, especially in the music industry, has been widely considered to be primarily a male-dominated profession and pastime. However, this is not the full story. Many women, trans, non-binary, and GNC individuals have been drumming all along, and many more are picking up the drums and breaking the stereotype. TomTomMag is also a great example, as “the only media company in the world dedicated to female and GNC drummers,” showcasing talent and building community among non-male drummers.

Withitgirl checked-in with Sunfyretv a metal/rock drummer streaming on the Twitch.TV platform. Her performances are refreshing and creative, filled with costumes and UV body paint. Originally from Costa Rica, Sunfrye currently lives in Buffalo NY and is a Duolingo verified streamer on Twitch.TV who speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

What is the inspiration behind your name Sunfyre?

I chose my name while scrambling to choose a League of Legends username back in 2011 while I was in college. I had a Marvel characters encyclopedia at the time and I landed on Sunfire but I changed the spelling to Sunfyr. I opened a Twitch account under sunfyr in 2016 and later changed my name to Sunfyregaming while I was mainly an FPS streamer. Finally, I changed my name to Sunfyretv in 2018 to keep it simple after deciding to dedicate my channel to drumming.

Best/Favorite parts of drumming vs biggest challenge? Favorite trick or fav thing to play?

I love playing triplets on my double bass/snare and the 5 stroke roll around my kit. My biggest challenge currently is learning the Meshuggah double bass herta pattern. It requires a lot of control.

When did you create your twitch account and did that have a big influence on your drumming practice? How does interaction with your subscribers and fans on twitch motivate your work? (Your tipping perks, subgoal milestones, and personal emotes all look super fun)

I created my twitch account in 2016 but it was mainly a gamer just hanging out with my few friends in my chat. When I started playing PUBG (PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds) my community started growing more and I wanted to stream more often to reach follower goals and affiliate status. Affiliate is when you can start earning revenue from subs. I discovered music on twitch and the drumming community in late 2017. My friend gave me his electronic drum kit Roland td11 early 2018 and then I started drumming on my channel. I've been drumming almost every day since early 2018 and my community has been built mainly around metal because that's the genre I mainly like drumming to.

Could you tell us more about your art, face makeup, UV body paint, costumes, etc. What inspires you? How do you pick the themes for each video?

The themes for body art happen randomly or I decide to plan for a donation goal. When we reach a donation goal I schedule a new costume or body paint design. I love painting myself with UV paint because it shines beautifully under black light and no one else on twitch does what I do. I like to stand out even if it takes me hours to prepare.

I watched one of your videos where someone in the chat asked “do you find it harder to play drums properly as a woman?” and your answer was so perfect. Do you experience a lot of attitudes like this as a female drummer?

Female musicians get a lot of ridiculous comments from viewers on Twitch and social media. It's because we are a minority. I actually like that we women can stand out in a male-dominated field by ripping on the drums or shredding on a guitar. What I like to do is turn the joke on them and have fun with it. Those people want a reaction and I never react angrily because it's what they want.

Any other inspiring womxn/female drummers you’d like to shout out? (or that we should connect with?)

I follow a lot of women on Instagram. It's a great platform for drummers and I get a lot of inspiration from NanuVillalba, RajaMeisner, and a lot more other accounts.

You totally do it all, hardcore drumming, insane face makeup, costumes, gaming, music theory, language learning, workout lessons, painting, illustrations, logos, digital art, neon body paint, and beyond. Any other comments about anything at all?

Thank you for your interest in me and what I do!

Twitch.TV is a live-streaming network that was originally focused on gaming. It has since expanded to include “shows,” music, cooking, cosplay, programming, design, and even just live chatting.

Find Sunfyretv on Twitch.TV!