Unsigned Spotlight: City of The Weak

November 7, 2016 Jordan Mohler

Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.

Stef w/ an F - Vocals

Brent Lindblad - Guitar

Cody Hoffman - Bass

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to City of The Weak? How long has the band been around?

Stef: I started City of the Weak when I was 18, so I wasn't really in much prior. In high school I was a part of this all-girl band called "Phoenix," later called "Phoenix Phire". It went exactly as you think it would - we fought ALL the time! After we had a falling out when I was about 16, I performed under the name "Justified Vendetta' where I hired on a different band for every live performance. It was tough, but I made it work. When you live in Glendive, MT your choice of good musicians is very slim!

Brent: City of the Weak is the first band I've been a part of, other than random garage jams with my friends in high school.

Cody: I've played in countless bands and projects before moving to Minneapolis in 2011. Once I got there, I joined a group called Gabriel and the Apocalypse, who recently inked a deal with Pavement Entertainment. While I no longer play in the band, I'm still involved out quite a bit behind the scenes. I recently did the album artwork for their new record "The Ghost Parade" and have some fun future stuff planned. The band began in the early 2000's but our 2011 release "New World Disaster" served as a rebirth for the band.

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

Stef: City of the Weak was founded as a collective of us who wanted to do something different. We were these little punk rock kids in a mainly jazz & theatre based school. Nobody took us seriously when we were starting out, so City of the Weak was fitting for a group of us who were considered the underdogs. Fortunately, we've had the same name since we started in 2012.

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?

Stef: Writing is a group effort. When we started writing 4 years ago it was the typical jam session, but now we've streamlined into more of an effective process. Cody will come up with the core of a song, & go back and forth with Brent to finish it off. After they've finished the main structure of the song, I come in and add melody, lyrics, and rearrange the pieces so it is more catered to the vocals. The process has been working great, and you can definitely hear it in the new material.

The common theme with almost all City of the Weak music is this "fuck you' undertone. No matter what the song is specifically about, there is always something about each song that is a slam to someone else. Cody described us as 'feel-good angry music' and I think it fits us perfectly. We have the punk rock attitude of not giving a fuck what people think, all wrapped up in the form of our overly-styled hair & polished pop-rock that you hear on the radio. It's one of those things that literally EVERYONE can relate to. Everybody gets pissed off, and everybody wants to feel empowered and just go up to those people they hate and tell them to get fucked in the most satisfying way. That's what we do, and it's cool to see our fans get excited and follow suit. I absolutely love it. I don't see our music changing a whole lot in the near future, but you can definitely see and hear a clear maturity and evolution from our 2013 release to now.

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

Stef: I've been in love with Bring Me the Horizon's "That's the Spirit" since it came out. It never goes out of style, and it's such raw emotion with catchy hooks. Also Rihanna's new album of COURSE. I love pop music and she's my favorite pop star by a long shot. She carries herself with such a moody, savage presence that comes across in such a classy, powerful way.

Brent: You know it always changes so much for me, it's hard to really define a single band that inspires my writing as a whole. Right now, I would have to say Coheed & Cambria. The long drives on our last tour were appeased by Coheed songs on repeat, so that's probably why I'm so drawn to them right now.

Cody: For me it's a pretty weird mix of pop, acoustic, classical and progressive rock. I think it's bands like Panic at the Disco, Kurt Travis, Coheed and Cambria, Hail the Sun, and My Chemical Romance that kind of spill over into what we write for COTW.

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?

Stef: The Beach Boys were the first band I ever got into, probably when I was about 8. I got a Greatest Hits cassette tape for my birthday, and I listened to that shit so much the fuckin' tape was all worn down and I couldn't even play it anymore. As I was exposed to more music over time, my tastes changed and evolved, like anything does. I just remember not really having the luxury of much music as a kid, so when I wanted to hear music, I just wrote a song and played what I wanted to hear. I learned a ton of instruments for the sole purpose of accompanying myself so I could sing and have the song sound complete.

Brent: When I was in 5th grade I went to my first concert, which happened to be Nine Inch Nails and Queens of the Stone Age. I knew right away that I wanted to play in a band!

Cody: I actually remember watching an Iron Maiden DVD with my dad when the lightbulb went off that I wanted to learn to play guitar.

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …

Stef: I use Brett Manning's Mastering Mix program to do my 25-35 minute warm up before every set. And I drink more water than the fucking Pacific Ocean LOL. I should probably stretch before but I never have, I just deal with the dreaded Bangover the first couple nights of tour.

Brent: I do a lot of stretches to prepare for running, jumping, and all the headbanging, as well as finger exercises and scales.

Cody: I have a kind of loose routine - I make sure I'm warmed up with my hands and vocally, usually do some pushups and jumping jacks to get my heart rate up. Besides that I'll sometimes do some meditation/breathing exercises to try to relax and get my head in the zone.

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

Stef: We've had our ups and downs for sure! It's hard to really specify one thing that has highlighted our entire 4.5 year career. It's always a slow climb to get where you are today. If I had to pick one, I would say Chicago Open Air this last summer. It was SUCH an honor to play the first year EVER of the Open Air series. There are only a handful of bands that have the privilege of saying they kicked off the first year of a soon-to-be legendary annual festival. Every band on that bill was ginormous, I still can't believe they booked us for it, to be totally honest. I almost feel not worthy of it LOL!!

Brent: My personal highlight of COTW's career has been playing the first year of Chicago Open Air alongside huge bands that I've been a fan of since I was a kid.

Cody: Easily playing the inaugural Chicago Open Air Festival has been the biggest highlight. So many of those bands that played have influenced and inspired me since I was a kid. It was just an insane experience both on and off the stage.

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

Stef: Joan Jett for sure! I don't think I really need to explain this one... she's a straight up badass!

Brent: If I could tour with any band it would be Alice in Chains! They are my favorite band of all time, and it would be a dream come true.

Cody: For me so many great bands come to mind - I think it would be incredible to tour with Queen back when Freddie was still alive. That band has influenced the world so far beyond music. Think of what the world would be like if you didn't hear We Will Rock You at sports events, or if an entire bar full of people didn't sing everytime Bohemian Rhapsody came on the juke box. To tour with an act like that would be insanity.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

A huge thank you to all of our fans, friends, family, and everyone that has stuck with us. We love what we do and at the end of the day, you guys are the reason for it all. We couldn't do this without you. You'll never know how much you mean to us. Hopefully we will get to see every single person out on the road again very soon.