Bunni Tenderly Hops Into Her Music Career

Pía Isabella Palomino has only produced music under the moniker Bunni for the last three years, but after the emotional tsunami of her latest project, Tender, she's feeling the urge to return to DJing.

"Now I want to go back to my roots and make music with a club influence and not necessarily so much pop," she tells New Times.

As a DJ, Bunni spins in the key of dark — eerie electronic music that doesn't exactly complement the bubbly electropop found on Tender's four tracks.

"Before, I was focused mostly on club music, and that people make music for the clubs, and that's how they grow — I saw that as a path," she explains. "But with this project, I wanted to leap out of it — still have the fun club atmosphere but also music you can listen to at home and play in the car."

Palomino took a stab at producing music and vocal work in 2019. While she had no formal training, she was driven to take the chance and spend the last ten months making Tender.

Operating with little more than an ad hoc studio in her bedroom, the idea of producing an EP felt exhaustive for Palomino. "I had all these demos, and I reached out for help with mixing and mastering," she says. "There are so many processes, and I was unaware of where to start. I started reaching out but was feeling defeated. I knew what I wanted to do but didn't know how to create the sound and get it fine-tuned. I met another producer, [Justin Seiditch]. I had shown him the demos, and we started working on a new track and realized that we work well together and communicated together. He helped me with the EP and mixed the songs for me."

Released earlier this month, Tender shows Palomino overcoming her self-professed imposter syndrome in a saturated scene and making her own sound. While Tender sounds like the same old tale of romance, love, lust, and heartache, that's only surface-level.

"I'm a very emotional person, and this EP let me express myself and resonate with people," Palomino adds. "I was surrounded by many talented people in the industry, and I was able to express myself through this EP."
Kicking off the record is "Sweet Thing," complete with an effervescence synth melody. "Never had a sweet tooth until I met you... but now I can kinda do/I can make you feel things, you can be my sweet thing," Palomino sings over a bouncy percussion and wobbly bassline.

"Thinkin.bout.U" carries the same torch as "Sweet Thing" but with visible cracks in the façade, while the third track, "Runaway," comes with the real-life feeling of a love waning, becoming darker by the minute.

"Tender symbolizes for me a loss of innocence," she explains. "The naiveté that this is going to be awesome but soon realizing with life and reality, you don't really get that fairy-tale ending. I wanted to tell my story in a way that is relatable."

The final track, "Phonebooth," carries the same emotional wallop from the previous songs but breaks into harder-hitting beats and gritty electronica, destined for a DJ set near you.

The Miami native has amassed plenty of respectful marks on her résumé, including a live performance at III Points last year, DJ sets throughout the city, and a roughneck track on Danny Daze's Homecore! Miami All-Stars compilation album. Still, Palomino's imposter syndrome keeps creeping in.

"I think it's going to take years before I can say I'm a musician," she confesses. "Sometimes, it's even hard for me to listen to my music. I already think about what's next. I really want to show my range as a musician and producer."

As New Times speaks to Palomino, she's on the cusp of moving to New York City, hoping to find more opportunities to dive into live music and performances.

"I think I struggled to find my footing here as a live musician," she says. "I performed at III Points, which was great, but there isn't a designated space. I don't DJ what I make as a musician."

Still, Palomino remains grateful to the community and the lessons she learned along the way.

"Embrace vulnerability," she says. "Embrace the raw emotion. Everything feels so new to me, but making music is the only thing that feels natural."