Editor’s Note: It was great to once again catch up with vocalist Stef With An F as her band City Of The Weak made their stop at Lifer’s in Iowa. As of press time, City Of The Weak has just wrapped up their tour with Echo Black as they played at various stops across the country, obtaining new fans at each stop, which is what quality live bands do. This summer, City Of The Weak will be release their full-length album entitled “Pulling Teeth” and they have recently released a dynamic cover of “Pardon Me” by Incubus. Fans can find City Of The Weak at the following locations:
www.facebook.com/cityoftheweak
www.cityoftheweak.wordpress.com
www.instagram.com/cityoftheweak
Madness To Creation: We talked last summer in Iowa City, what has changed for you since we last talked?
Stef: Last time we talked, we took a break for the holidays, did some writing for the new record. We’ve also been out with the guys in Echo Black, and every day has been a blast for us, making new fans and just getting out there and playing shows, which is what we love to do.
Madness To Creation: What challenges or anything crazy that has happened since we talked?
Stef: Well we had major issues with our touring van and it makes you get anxious and go crazy especially when you rely on this van to get you from show to show. It turns out that the mechanic that worked on it for us was a huge fan of our music and he fixed it for really cheap, basically the part that we needed was thousands and thousands of dollars and he gave us a major discount, I seriously wanted to cry for him helping us, because he hooked us up with a vehicle rental for a very affordable price and it was fantastic.
Madness To Creation: How has it been working with New Ocean Media?
Stef: I love Doug, you have no idea. We are busy with radio appearances and so many interviews, but I want to do this for a living and am willing to do what it takes to make that happen. We are also working with a tech company and they have been wonderful, giving us a different approach from 90% of the bands out there in terms of what to do and how to make it in the music business.
Madness To Creation: What are the summer plans for City Of The Weak?
Stef: Remember last time we talked about the upcoming record?
Madness To Creation: Did you get a release date Stef? *laughs*
Stef: I do, it will be released in June and it’s called “Pulling Teeth”. We are releasing it independently because as we’ve talked about, I prefer the DIY method of making and producing an album, we have tried the record label route and it was like “pulling teeth” for us to be able to make music how we want to make it and write the songs how we want to write the songs. As we’ve talked about, the song “Censor This” is basically my middle finger to those in the suits and those that try to tell me how to create my art and how I’m supposed to write the songs. I write based on life experiences, things that I’ve seen and been through, and this record will show that I have been through a lot and that we’ve been through a lot as a band, and it felt like at the time everything was like “pulling teeth”. It is such a great feeling to have this product that is ready to be released and for people to hear it because I would rather stay up and get little sleep and create something that we can be proud of instead of writing and recording based on how the record company wants us to.
Madness To Creation: What was it like working with Craig Owens?
Stef: It was incredible working with him! I was a fan of Chiodos and a fan of Craig Owens as a singer and now him as a producer. He was completely open minded and would show us little tricks to make a certain part in the song better or the vocals better on my end. He is a guy that works nonstop and he is an artist’s artist.
Madness To Creation: You all have released the cover of “Pardon Me” by Incubus. Were you an Incubus fan growing up?
Stef: Yes, but more importantly we wanted to do a cover that was going to challenge us as artists and as a band. Incubus has written some of the most diverse, complicated music from an arrangement standpoint in rock. I am a huge fan of deep lyrical content and Incubus has always written deep poetic songs. The song “Pardon Me” is just as relevant today as it was when it came out in the 1990’s. In my influences, I am such a 90’s girl in terms of rock and alternative rock because I feel that music had so much style and substance. A lot of today’s rock is the same shit and you know what’s going to happen in the songs. There are some bands that you’ve heard one song by them, and you’ve heard every song by them because it’s the same. We wanted to push ourselves as artists and we are thrilled with the responses and how it came out.
Madness To Creation: What are you planning for the summer?
Stef: After this tour with Echo Black, we will be playing the Rocklahoma Festival over Memorial Weekend. That festival is one of the biggest festivals in America and we will be sharing the stage with A Perfect Circle, Stone Temple Pilots, and The Used. We will also be playing Awesome Biker Nights in Sioux City, Iowa, which will be an awesome time as well. Hopefully we will have a summer tour in the works but I can’t say anything until stuff gets confirmed.
Madness To Creation: I know that you have other interviews and you have to get ready for the show tonight, anything else you would like to add?
Stef: Just want to say thank you so much to the fans for sticking with us and when we come out we see familiar faces along with new fans, make sure that you bring friends out to the show when we come to you. Keep checking our Facebook and website to see if we are coming to your city!
And there you have it! Special thanks to Doug of New Ocean Media and Stef for taking the time for us at Madness To Creation! Here are some tour dates below.
Friday, May 18th- Every Buddy’s Bar in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin (w/War Without End and Evernoir)
Friday, May 25th- Rocklahoma in Pryor, Oklahoma (w/A Perfect Circle, Stone Temple Pilots, The Cult, and The Used)
Saturday, June 16th- Awesome Biker Nights in Sioux City, Iowa (w/Grand Funk Railroad)
Thursday, June 21st- Diamondz Event Center in Jerome, Idaho (w/Aaron Ball Band)
For tickets and further information on any of the shows listed above, click here!
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