Sulynn Hago
Sulynn Hago Credit: courtesy image

“I don’t like to write rock music in a traditional way, because I’m so influenced by my classical training. You know, my favorite music writer almost ever is Bach.” 

Sulynn Hago is an artist containing multitudes. Coming of age in Tampa’s punk scene, Hago is known for playing with some of the city’s most infamous bands, including New Bruises, Feral Babies, Ink & Sweat and Career. On top of that, for the last decade she’s played lead guitar for agit-punk legends Propagandhi, a gig she tried out for among hundreds of applicants across the world, beating them all.  

“I’ve been mostly a guitarist. That’s been my kind of, if you want,  ‘claim to fame’ in my career,” Hago says. 

A self-professed music nerd, Hago’s a student and a teacher of music, studying jazz guitar, training in classical guitar, while also spending her days as a guitar instructor when she isn’t playing or writing music. 

Hago’s latest release, Faith in the Doghouse, reflects this journey. “This solo project is really like my life’s work to date, it’s an accumulation of everything I’ve ever studied along the way,” she says.

This record also breaks new ground for Hago. It’s the first album she wrote and recorded entirely by herself, up to and including her first time as a vocalist. 

“I was like, ‘Oh, fuck, I gotta sing,’” she says. “I dabbled in singing, but was always so shy and had to almost go through hurdles.” 

Much like her methodical approach toward studying guitar, Hago dove deep into vocal techniques. “Because I had such a good experience with classical guitar, I wanted that same kind of study as a singer, and I had no time to waste, because I have all these years of experience as a guitarist, like 20-something years, and I’m like, the singing has to catch up,” she says. 

When you listen to Faith in the Doghouse, it’s hard to believe Hago wasn’t always a vocalist. Her melodic and aggressive singing is paired perfectly with precise basslines and guitar riffs throughout the record. 

Sonically, Faith in the Doghouse is not a standard punk album at all. “My sweet spot musically is the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, right … the vision I had for this project was this new wave ’80s pop-dance music, with a kind of punk sound,” she says. “How do I do everything that I’ve ever wanted in music, that I really care about in one place?” 

Faith in the Doghouse took four years to finish, with Hago recording in an apartment in New York, which included building a vocal booth fashioned from PVC pipes, clamps and blankets. 

At its core, this is a project a lifetime in the making, with shout-outs to her Florida community and her Puerto Rican roots. Hago dedicated the song “To the Sky” to her old neighbor on the island who is no longer with us, but who introduced her to punk, and taught her how to play guitar when she was just a toddler. 

“I was super shy, and used to give up on things when I didn’t do well. And he was so encouraging. He’s like, ‘Don’t think your fingers are too small. You just got to get used to it.’ And he’d put my fingers on a power chord. He’s like, ‘This is all you need.’”  

Hago’s tour — including an Orlando show Friday at Will’s — marks the first live shows for the new record, with a new band too. Hago’s bandmates include one of her students, who also happens to be an ER doctor. “His face shows up on the side of the building at Tampa General,” says Hago, “like he’s a legit motherfucker.” 

Sulynn Hago with Like Father, Big Sad: 7 p.m. Friday, May 15 ; Will’s Pub, 1042 N. Mills Ave.; willspub.org; $15-$20.

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This article appears in May 13-19, 2026.