Q & A with City of the Weak’s Stef (with an F)

City of the Weak is a Phoenix-based hard rock band that has made a name for themselves by perfectly meshing together extremely heavy riffs with pop melodies that cut through the music like a knife – coming together like a Voltron of styles that gives them their unique sound their fans adore. They are veterans of the Van’s Warped Tour and have shared stages with the likes of Korn, Rob Zombie, A Perfect Circle, and Ozzy Osbourne. As they were wrapping up their last tour before an upcoming break, front-woman Stef took some time out of her morning to speak with Dustin M Pardue of Shutter 16.

Shutter 16: Thanks Stef (with an F) for lending us a little bit of your time to chat. I would really love to introduce people to your band City of the Weak, introduce them to you, and get as many people as possible to come out to see you all kill it live – as you do. You are currently on tour as we speak, aren’t you?

Stef: Yeah, we’re on the “Building a Legacy” tour right now with a band called Artifice currently in Jacksonville, Florida.

Shutter 16: If you were describing your band or your music to someone that had no idea about it, how would you describe City of the Weak?

Stef: We are a pretty standard active rock band, but I think our rhythm feels a little bit more than just straight active rock. We also like working with different effects. So I feel like we try to fit in a lot of different scenes and appeal to a lot of different crowds.

Shutter 16: I definitely think so too. I know when I saw you play live I was trying to pick out, everything I was hearing in the musical space. Do I hear a Paramore in the music, or do I hear something harder? Who do you draw inspiration from?

Stef: You know, I feel like we get the Paramore comparison a lot which I guess is pretty fair. But usually, I feel like we couldn’t see more difference – especially the current Paramore. They’re very, very indie rock. even in the earlier days,…

Shutter 16: I think it is the lyrical phrasing.

Stef: Haha, yeah they’re very kind of like punk pop or emo. So I’m always pretty flattered. But I mean as far as media-inspired right now, I guess, obviously anything. Rihanna definitely is one of my favorites. The Plot In You is a band I’m listening to a lot right now. So yeah, that’s fun today. I also really dig the new Scary Kids Scaring Kids album. I’ve been playing that one a lot.

Shutter 16: I hear a flurry of dynamic things in your music, heavy but intricate. I think that is what drew me to your band. There’s a certain in-your-face attitude that is delivered with pure power – yet humble at the same time. I think it’s a very unique thing. That really gives the music a big punch that it otherwise wouldn’t have had with any other vocalist in the band.

Stef: Wow, thank you! I appreciate that.

Shutter 16: So far, City of the Weak has released one full-length LP, Pulling Teeth, and a couple of EPs. You may be working on something new if I remember reading correctly. Is that true?

Stef: Yeah, we also have a couple of cover songs that we’ve recorded. So the new EP is completely done, which is really, really exciting. We are kind of trying to figure out when to put that one out and what to do with it. We also have another EP that’s around halfway done and then a few more singles as well. So we have a lot in the works for now. We’re just trying to do some filming this fall and get it out in the spring.

Shutter 16: Wow, that’s a lot. Congrats. You mentioned covers earlier, who are you covering?

Stef: Yeah, we’ve put out we put out a Halsey cover and an Incubus cover. We have a new cover on the new EP but I don’t know if I want to give that one away yet.

Shutter 16: Well let’s keep the secret under wraps for now. How much longer is your current tour going to run?

Stef: It’s kind of like a southeast, northeast, midwest tour. So it’s half the country in about three weeks.

Shutter 16: Are you planning more after that or taking a break for the holidays?

Stef: We’ve been touring pretty heavily for the last 11 months, so I’m kind of ready to take a break from touring for a little bit.

Shutter 16: Understandable.

Stef: It’s mainly because I want to do more filming and more writing. I feel like we kind of get a good thing going with our film and writing, and then it’s like, before we know it, back on the road. Again, we kind of put everything else on hold. And obviously, I love touring a lot. We’re never going to stop because we all really enjoy it. However, the creative side sometimes gets pushed aside a little bit just to get on the road. I want to focus more on that to make sure that we can deliver the best art for everybody.

Shutter 16: I couldn’t have said that better. Sometimes you do have to really focus on that so you can hit the road and have a reason to hit the road. I know your aspiration would probably include being the biggest rock band in the world, but where do you hope to see City of the Week go in the next few years?

Stef: I think my biggest goal right now is to just keep creating. We’ve done a really great job over the last few years of putting music out and building upon every record or every single we put out. I feel like it shows a lot of growth especially since we started this band as teenagers. Obviously, our stories, our messages, and our skills have completely evolved. They continue to evolve every year. So I would like to just kind of see us nurture that evolution of those things. Obviously, we want to keep growing and get bigger as a group, but I think that all starts with the quality of the art and the kind of people connecting with that art. I definitely want to focus on that. Being the biggest band in the world would be cool but as long as I can just connect with just a couple hundred people in each city – I think that’s a really great achievement.

Shutter 16: That is a huge thing, and not even a couple hundred if you can connect with one or two in each city that’s a lot more than many people before you have. So that’s a very great way to look at it.

Stef: Absolutely.

Shutter 16: You mentioned this a little bit earlier, you said that with each song, there’s growth and I really hear that. I completely agree with you from the older stuff even up to “United Hate Division.” Amazing song by the way.

Stef: Thank you!

Shutter 16: I can see growth in the band lyrically, musically, as well as production. Especially vocally with the phrasing and delivery. I think that’s the icing on top. So I do think that the more that you and the band create the better, it’s going to escalate. So keeping on that creative path I think will be huge for you as a band.

Shutter 16: Broad, but a fun question. If you had the choice to open for any band that’s currently touring, who would it be?

Stef: If I could open for anybody that’s touring right now? That’s a thinker. I would probably say I feel like I’d pick a different band every time I thought about it. But I’m going to say Metallica just because they’re the ultimate just worldwide, massively respected, rock band. So I’m gonna go with Metallica for today.

Shutter 16: Haha yeah good choice. I think I would change that answer every day—Pearl Jam one day and Springsteen the next.

Stef: Right! So obviously I have the acts that I love but then again a lot of my favorites are smaller bands.

Shutter 16: Definitely understand.

Stef: Go big or go home for today! That’s how we’re feeling.

Shutter 16: I know a lot of bands write while they’re touring. Does your band do that or do you just focus more on ‘we are in X city tonight, let’s kill it.’

Stef: Many bands generally have crews to help them, and we kind of are like a DIY all-in-one. So we’re pretty stacked throughout the day. We are doing all of the ads in the marketing. We do all the tech stuff, graphic design, videos…..everything. I would love to write on the road and if I had any more free time. Wait, I still do actually, it’s funny. Last night, I was listening to some of our demos and I tried to brainstorm. I’ll listen to music as well just to get inspiration. I will write down little lyrics here and there as things happen in my head because I feel like all my best ideas come at the worst times.

Shutter 16: If you’re anything like me, I get my greatest ideas right before I’m about to fall asleep. Just in time to keep me up all night.

Stef: Yeah, yeah (laughing). Totally, 100%. It’s always at the worst times for me, I’ll be driving, weaving in and out of traffic and then the best lyric of my life will start to pop into my head. Then I have to pull my phone up and I’d be like, “Hey Siri!” and then the notes will turn out to be gibberish.

Shutter 16: What would you say is, of all of the City of Weak tracks, which one are you most proud to have written?

Stef: That’s a complicated question. Every song is a different piece of my life or a different piece of what I like to think is my life story. “Not This Time” is probably one that is consistent. I feel some sort of way for it. I never really get bored of that song. I never am on stage thinking, oh I don’t want to do this one. I’m always very drawn to that song because it’s such an anthem as far as never ever allowing anyone to tell you how to live your life. You’re always going to prevail if you want it enough.

Shutter 16: A great message and great advice. A tough question I know, but you did well.

Shutter 16: So when is City of the Weak playing Las Vegas again? It’s been like 8 months!

Stef: That’s, that’s a tough one. We live close now though. We only live four and a half hours away. We’re in Phoenix now. So, you know, maybe we’ll come to visit and say, ‘what’s up!?’

Shutter 16: Your show here in February blew my ears back. I got my socks knocked off. We chatted for a couple of minutes.

Stef: Yes, I remember! The guy in the brown hat.

Shutter 16: You got it. So, one more question for you and we will wrap. So, if you could co-write or perform a song with anyone living or dead, who would be your dream collab?

Stef: I mean, I feel like I already did that. My favorite artist of all time is Craig Owens and he actually produced her last record. So, I feel like I kind of achieved that one!

Shutter 16: No Way! Now, that’s an answer…..

Stef: But obviously, there are always more people. I would probably say, Rihanna. (Stef begins to recite “Bad Bitch.”)

Shutter 16: (Laughing) Well yes, that’s a mic drop. I really appreciate you taking a few minutes out of your busy Monday morning to do this and I wish you and City of the Weak the absolute best.

Stef: Thank you too, and thanks for taking a chance on new music.

Shutter 16: That’s how great music becomes anything. It’s all new music at some point, right? Before you know it you won’t be new music anymore, you’ll be a legend. So let’s go for that.

Stef: Absolutely. I like that idea.