It was a Tuesday night time in June, and Sabrina Fuentes, the frontwoman of the band Fairly Sick, was about to make her ordinary Tuesday night time rounds in Decrease Manhattan. That meant hitting a bar or two with the concept of ending up at Studio 151, a sushi restaurant above the nightclub Nublu.
Because the night time received began in earnest, Ms. Fuentes, 24, was having a glass of orange wine at a sidewalk desk exterior Time Once more, a bar on Canal Avenue co-owned by the Queens rapper Despot, né Alec Reinstein. Ms. Fuentes was carrying low-cut Issey Miyake denims, a black tank prime and Repetto ballet flats. On her proper shoulder was a short lived tattoo that includes a butterfly and the phrases “Chunk me.”
The actor Reza Nader joined her on the desk. He talked about that he had not too long ago filmed a scene for an episode of “Legislation & Order: SVU.” Then he requested her for some recommendation on an issue he was having in his romantic life.
Mr. Reinstein stopped by to ask Ms. Fuentes if she wanted something earlier than turning his consideration to the rapper Lil Yachty, who had arrived with a gaggle of pals in a compact SUV.
Ms. Fuentes is a lifelong Manhattan resident who lives along with her mother and father on the Higher East Aspect. She shaped Fairly Sick when she was a youngster, and its first album, “Makes Me Sick, Makes Me Smile,” got here out in 2022. Pitchfork had good issues to say about it, although it took a slight dig at Ms. Fuentes for doing little or no to disguise her musical influences (Nirvana, Gap, the Breeders, Blondie and Iggy Pop, amongst others).
This month Fairly Sick is releasing an EP, “Streetwise.” On the identical time Ms. Fuentes will put out a restricted line of clothes, P.S. by Fairly Sick, to be bought on a web site and in a number of Heaven by Marc Jacobs shops.
Ms. Fuentes was youthful than the lads she was hanging out with at Time Once more, however she got here throughout extra just like the skilled Willy Wonka than the wide-eyed Charlie Bucket within the chocolate manufacturing unit that’s downtown New York.
As a youngster, she was an everyday in Tompkins Sq. Park and the town’s nightclubs. She interned on the vogue firm VFiles and did some modeling for Stüssy, Alyx and Opening Ceremony when Fairly Sick, with its authentic all-female lineup, was placing on its first reveals.
“In each venue, the sound guys would assume we didn’t know the way to arrange our amps and pedals,” she mentioned. “They gave us a tough time as a result of we’re chicks.”
Kenna Hines, a mannequin from Laguna Seashore, Calif., arrived at Time Once more carrying head-to-toe Adidas Yeezy. She mentioned she had adopted Ms. Fuentes’s lead throughout her early days in New York.
“Sabrina was the child you wished to have in entrance of you strolling into any social setting,” Ms. Hines, 24, mentioned. “She’s a quintessential metropolis child.”
A younger man who seemed to be Lil Yachty’s assistant took maintain of the yellow bars of a pedestrian sign hooked up to a street-corner pole and tried some pull-ups. After Lil Yachty scolded him (“That’s not a full pull-up!”), Ms. Fuentes left for Josie’s, an East Village tavern.
“Josie’s, that’s residence,” she mentioned.
She added that she most popular it to Sophie’s, an analogous bar the place she tends to run into folks she would reasonably keep away from.
“I get in a fistfight each time I am going to Sophie’s,” she mentioned.
As soon as inside Josie’s, Ms. Fuentes downed a tequila shot and headed to the jukebox along with her longtime buddy and bandmate, Ben Arauz, 23. They selected the Replacements’ “Unhappy.”
“We’ve been coming right here since we have been 17,” Mr. Arauz mentioned.
Ms. Fuentes completed her teen years at Goldsmiths, College of London, rising with a level in widespread music and a take care of the British document label Soiled Hit. The primary Fairly Sick album, she mentioned, was “my method of processing all this loopy stuff that occurred to me whereas I used to be rising up too quick.” The band made the brand new EP with the Swedish digital producer and D.J. Arthur Nyqvist, who goes by Woesum.
“Working in a rock setting is typically simply so self-serious,” Ms. Fuentes mentioned. “With this album, we get to maneuver ahead. You may snicker at your self.”
Two males have been hogging the pool desk. After some time Ms. Fuentes determined it was time to maneuver on. On the best way to Studio 151, along with her bandmate Mr. Arauz at her facet, she carried out a short Fairly Sick strolling tour: “On this nook was Sidewalk Cafe,” she mentioned. “It’s the place we performed our first present.”
“You may have a raspy voice,” Mr. Arauz mentioned.
“I’ve been smoking since I used to be 12,” Ms. Fuentes mentioned. “Closely.”
It was a bit of after 11 p.m. once they entered Studio 151. They ordered drinks and settled right into a sofa with a number of different pals. A girl informed them to take their toes off the desk.
The eating space had been cleared for dancing. Tasmin Meyer Ersahin, a D.J. and photographer, stood on the two turntables within the nook, able to deploy her assortment of vinyl rock LPs and 45s.
In a cluster of pals Ms. Fuentes danced — furiously, playfully — to the Strokes, the Intercourse Pistols, Amy Winehouse and Oasis. Her companions included: Lily McInerny, a 25-year-old actress and a face of Celine; Dusty Rose Ryan, a 26-year-old mannequin; Malachy O’Neill, a 24-year-old musician; and Rick Rocha, a 26-year-old movie director.
At 2 a.m., Ms. Fuentes was again out on the sidewalk, leaning towards one among her dance-floor friends. The momentary butterfly tattoo on her shoulder was nearly gone.
“I’ve been invited into a few of the darker elements of the music trade, and I simply keep away from it,” she mentioned. “I’m fortunate. I’ve actually good pals.”
