Diandra Interviews Wonderfox: You Are of Value

Being vulnerable is not easy and, at times, I wonder if it is even optional. As human beings, we can act like feelings can be turned off, but instead they are quieted or numbed; never fully shut but, instead, denied. For Wonderfox, punk and pop have a way of revealing and releasing emotional repression, which is good for sentimental singer Isabel Valencia. Fiercely smart and transparently sensitive, she creates songs that show the mind and heart are on an eternal dance to figure out who will you be as a spirit. In our interview, we discuss how everything from history to affirmations make that dance a constant one. 

Diandra: How do you feel your song represents where you are, right now, in life? 

Isabel: All of my lyrics are very metaphorical. So they can be interpreted in very different ways. I wrote these songs, in the beginning, they had a different meaning, and with all that has happened in the pandemic and quarantine, they have taken a new meaning, which is that we really have to support each other and check on each other and ourselves in terms of what is happening inside of us. 
Wonderfox – Creer que Puedes, Justo Antes de Poder (Video Oficial)

Diandra: Was there anything, during the quarantine, that you learned about yourself? 

Isabel: I felt like there were a lot of people who were like, “If you don’t learn an instrument or learn a language during this quarantine, you have failed!” I had all these feelings of guilt because, “Do I really need to read 10 books and learn how to cook during this quarantine?!” So what I learned is that it is okay to have your feelings. It is okay to feel sad and do nothing. This is one of the biggest values I have learned that it is okay to let yourself feel. In life, there is contrast. There is good and evil, light and darkness, sadness and joy, moments of creativity and times when you do nothing. We have to give ourselves permission to feel bad, sometimes, but also know not to stay there. Life is balance. 

Diandra: So true! I think that people also did not expect this quarantine and pandemic to last so long? 

Isabel: Yeah! I am like, “Oh my God! When is this going to end!” We have never been more prepared for a pandemic, in history, then now. I watch, on Netflix, Explained, which explains objectively things like history and art and science. They explained that this pandemic was inevitable, but also how we have never been so ready for one, in terms of human history. I love shows like that like, Adam Ruins Everything, which had a great episode about institutional racism. It is like, “Oh my God! How can one community have suffered so much!” Other communities have suffered, but, with black people, it is like the cherry on the top.

Diandra: I feel like the protests, in some ways, remind me of that ultimate, abuela quote, “Me tienes HARTA!”  (she laughs) They say that to us when they have reached this moment where our bad behavior feels intolerable, and you have to confront it because going around it makes it worse. It feels like that. 

Isabel: Yeah! We are so lucky to be living through these days because we are living history. I am an optimist. Pretty much, I am a romantic person, and we needed this to happen. This is long overdue, but I believe things will get better. I feel like the world will be more gracious, but first we needed to be shaken. 
Wonderfox – No Nos Dejemos Caer (Official Music & Lyric Video)

Diandra: I agree! Yesterday, I read about a Christopher Columbus statue being toppled and more protests trying to topple him, and as a Puerto Rican with Taino ancestry, I was like, “YES!” He was horrible and committed so much darkness. I am for changing Christopher Columbus Day to Indigenous Appreciation Day.

Isabel: I feel a little weird about that like, what if there was a White People Day. I learned that from Denzel Washington, in an interview, about why is there a Black History month and not a White History month. Why is our appreciation put into one month, when we have been put down for so long. Like, you see it in how we teach Latin American history versus European history or how Africa is made to look smaller, on maps, than Europe. It is a freaking continent! 

Diandra: Yeah, it can feel like a husband telling his wife, “I will only love you on our anniversary!” but, as sad it is, we need instances like, Black History Month and National Latino Heritage Month, and even affirmative action to continue being remembered, invited, and apart of societal narratives. I hope one day that they will not be necessary and that people of color will be appreciated always, but these things were put in place to fight off the systemic erasure happening to our communities. They happened as a start for appreciation and we need to get even more. 

Isabel: Personally, I am glad that they could be changing Christopher Columbus as Indigenous Appreciation Day. Although, we were taught he was a dreamer and explorer. That he was this man that faced a lot to discover the world. In Colombia, our history is taught from a very Spaniard perspective. 

Diandra: Yeah, in school he is portrayed as a hero, but, in reality, he was a villain. He was an enslaver, torturer, thief, killer, rapist of entire communities, and did that even to kids. Yet, he is seen as a dreamer.  It is like Freddy Kruger being portrayed as a man with vision, while completely avoiding the fact that his visions are terrifying and kill people through their nightmares. 

(She laughs)

Diandra: But enough about Christopher and his brother Freddy (she laughs again) what about your dreams?! How do you feel you add empowerment to the world? 

Isabel: I feel honored to have people connect with my music. I stopped for awhile because I needed to take care of myself first. I felt so much love from people resonating with my new songs and saying, “I needed this in my life.” Having a connection with another human being can feel fresh to us all. 
Wonderfox – Laberinto (Video Oficial)

Diandra: So is that what made you come back? 

Isabel: Wonderfox became like my superhero. It is the tool from which I express myself, and vent and get closure for some of my thoughts. I couldn’t stop making music, but I went through a depression phase. Still, I couldn’t stop writing these songs, and then my friend Nico heard my songs and he said, “You have to put them out! You have to release them! You are letting them get old!” He is Argentinian so he was like, “Che!” And I looked up on Youtube how to record your voice through Logic and learned how to do things myself. Then, I sent it to him, he told me to work on it, and then he said, “This is it!” We went to the studio and revamped and recorded. 

Diandra; Such a relatable story because its so hard, especially when you are depressed, to help yourself and keep helping yourself.

Isabel: I felt so frozen. I was frozen to the bone. I couldn’t think or do. It was so difficult to take action. I didn’t want to ask for any help or do anything. I was kind of like on auto-pilot, and it took a lot of personal will to get out of it. It took some mental training to get some tools like, affirmations and thought replacement like, “I have no value” became “I do have value. I am valued.” In Colombia, we grew up in a society and with a history with so much pain, even if our music is loud and fun, our lyrics can be so sad. I grew up in this cultural blame like, if something goes wrong it is on you. It is all your fault, and it goes into your body: that guilt and that belief you are always in the wrong. It makes depression inevitable. But what you seek is inside of you. If you feel you are not valued then value yourself. 

Diandra: Time is another big thing for me. The desire to accomplish all, right now. 

Isabel: It is so true. We have to have a home by 30 and be rich by 27. At the end of the day, I have been learning lately that how you think of yourself is how the world will look at you. It is not only about how you feel or even thinking positive. You have to be love to get loved so there is a lot more that goes into manifesting it. You were born on your own and you die on your own, which is why you have to take responsibility for your happiness. It is me who has to make me happy: not anyone else. 

Diandra: If Wonderfox had a superpower, which would it be? 

Isabel: A phoenix! In a world or darkness, a phoenix can show you the light. It is a reminder that if you look back inside, you will find what you need, and be reborn. 

Diandra: DAMN! That is deep! 

(she laughs) 

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