City Of The Weak Interview with lead singer Stef Huschka. Interview September 8, 2015.
City Of The Weak Interview
– What’s new in the world of City Of The Weak? A lot of great things are new! We are currently writing music for our new album (due next year), we just released a music video for “The Blame Game”, we just announced the “About Time You Got Your Own Taste” Tour, & more tours are in the works!
– How was it making the music video for The Blame Game? Putting together everything for “The Blame Game” was definitely a project. We did everything ourselves, with assistance from a couple friends. We funded it ourselves, secured location, gear, lighting, came up with the concept, directed it, acted in it, and even edited and colored it. We shot the whole thing for 26 hours straight. The location was so expensive that we could only afford to rent it out for one day/night so we really had to hustle. Dan Garland from New Medicine assistant directed, and Tanner Morris helped us do some of the live shots. They were awesome to work with and it’s always good to bounce ideas off of each other. With this one we really just wanted control of the whole project. We are confident in our creative ability and it felt amazing to put out a product that we were all super happy with.
– How important are music videos in the industry today? How do they compare to videos from 20 years ago? So many bands forget the importance of music videos. I can’t even tell you how many of these ‘lyric videos’ I see on my Facebook & Twitter feed every time a smaller or mid-level band releases a song. It blows my mind that they will spend $200-$800 on a mediocre lyric video, instead of saving that money and paying a little more for an actual music video that people will WANT to watch and share with their friends. A large percentage of people are visual, so they connect with being visually stimulated. I know this because I am a very visual learner. I’ve clicked on hundreds of lyric videos or audio streams, just to turn it off after the first 30 seconds. I almost never make it to the end of them. Give me a well-done music video and I’ll watch it over and over. And I’ll remember it. And then I’ll share it on social media and tell my friends that they HAVE to see it. That’s why music videos are SO important. Your music is your product. It’s your JOB to make it as appealing in every way possible. In a digital age where there are 39840734829 bands trying to make it, the ones that get noticed are the ones who draw interest through many different senses. Invest the money to make a professional, good looking music video, and people will notice.
Comparing them to videos 20 years ago? The technology has changed dramatically since then. There is so much you can do now vs. back in 1995. Video software now is easier to use and more affordable than ever. A decent music video doesn’t have to be exclusive to major label bands anymore, or an insanely high budget. We would not have been able to do all of this ourselves 20 years ago – the technology would have been much more costly and way less user friendly. Technology these days is truly amazing, and we definitely utilize it the best we can.
– How important is it for a musician in this generation to spend time on social media? It is very important. We really enjoy interacting with our fans and friends around the world, and social media makes it insanely easy.
– How was life on the road this summer? Life on the road is always an adventure! We hit some states that we’ve never played in, and we met a lot of great new people. The festivals we got to play were INSANE. Especially Rock Fest (Cadott, WI) with Shinedown. We played 4.5 hours and holy sh*t that show was SO rowdy. Wisconsin turns UP.
– How many shows do you play per year on average, and how crazy does the schedule get? In 2014 we played about 110-120 shows. It was nuts, we literally were on the road pretty much straight from April to October. We book all on our own or split it with other bands, so we pretty much tour as fast as we can secure dates. At the end of 2015 we will end up with about 90-100 shows for the year. Our schedule is so insane. We are constantly doing way more than we can handle. We are always doing press interviews, photo and video shoots, writing an album, ordering and designing new merch, social media campaigns, playing shows, and a million and one other things all at the same time. It’s way more than a full time job but we work our asses off constantly, and the hard work definitely has been paying off.
– What is the strangest inspiration you’ve ever had for a song? I get inspiration from everything. Sometimes I just pull my car over in random places and just pull from whatever’s around. I wrote a chunk of our song “Leech” in a janky grocery store parking lot on 7th Street.
– In your opinion, which album would be essential to have if someone were stranded on a deserted island? “Unapologetic” by Rihanna- She’s one bad bitch. OR “Dying is Your Latest Fashion” by Escape the Fate. It literally never gets old.
– What equipment is the band currently endorsing, etc.
Monster Products
Wornstar Clothing
EMG Pickups
Spector Bass
Elixir Strings
COLDCOCK Whiskey
Blank TV
Koalacore Clothing
Puncture Wounds Clothing
Kate’s Clothing UK
Rock Rage Radio
Non-Stop Flights (http://nonstopflights.com/)
– Where do you see music in general going in 100 years from now? No idea. That’s the beauty of the arts – you never really know what direction the industry is going to go in until it happens.
Check out City Of The Weak https://cityoftheweak.wordpress.com/