Well here
it is, the long awaited first interview for Inside The Scene, and we are joined
by none other than Curtis Steeksma of Fighting For Ithaca. FFI consists of 5
awesome guys who have a chance to do what they love professionally being signed
with 604 Records, based in Vancouver. FFI consists of Curtis Steeksma (lead
vocals), Jonny Steeksma (guitar), Adamm Strange (guitar), Tommy Pheonix (Bass)
and last but not least Phil Maloney (Drums). Having FFI as my first interview
is kind of fitting, seeing as how they were the band that got me following the
local music scene, discovering many greats bands. One of FFI's achievements in
their young career was having their song Last Chance played on Vancouver's
Sonic 104.9 Radio station and being featured on their nightly Monday to Friday
segment called "The Sonic Spin-off" where 2 songs were pitted against
each other, and fans would vote on who they would like to win. The FFI
fans or "Ithacans" and they are more commonly called, placed their
votes and FFI beat out Justin Bieber with 96% of the votes, and then winning
the next 4 nights in a row after that, being retired to the Spin-off Hall of
fame. With that achievement they also hold the record for having the most
votes. Now enough of me ranting and raving about FFI, lets get to the
interview.
ITS - What
is the meaning behind your band name FFI?
Curtis -
"The name Fighting For Ithaca is a reference to The Odyssey in Greek
Mythology. I'll spare you the long-winded explanation but for us, it basically
means fighting to get where you belong."
ITS - Your
Last album To The Rescue was your first release with 604 records individually
what are your favorite songs off the album and why?
Curtis -
"We all have our own picks for what we love to play live or listen to on
our own but for the most part, I think we all equally enjoy every track. Out of
Time is probably a favorite to play live and I would guess that Seeing Stars is
a favorite to listen to."
ITS - What
has been your favorite moments in your career so far as a band and
individually?
Curtis -
"Touring. Touring. Touring. I can't say enough how amazing it was to get
out on the road. We're used to being supported in our hometown and we love that
but to go out on the road and see so many people that we've met via social
media, is just phenomenal.
One of
the best moments of the last few years was when we first started to notice just
how many people were singing along at shows. There is no feeling in the world
that compares to hearing your lyrics sung back at you and knowing that in some
way, you have impacted someone's life with them.
There
have been other more private moments in which fans have stated that we have had
a personal affect on how they view themselves and their life. I think this is
extremely rewarding. As somewhat public figures, I feel that we need to use our
influence to spread positivity so when we hear things like that, I know we're
doing something right."
ITS - If
there was one band or individual artist that you could choose to tour North
America with who would it be?
Curtis -
"Honestly, there are so many bands we would love to tour with. On the pop
side, it would be Hedley or All Time Low. On the heavier side, we would love to
tour with A Day To Remember."
ITS - So
your EP that you released Thanks For Waiting was a bit heavy what made you
decide to change to Pop-Rock for To The Rescue?
Curtis -
"We try not to put limitations on how we write. We're a versatile band
that
takes
pride in our ability to touch different genres of music. When we signed our
record deal, we knew we needed to write songs that were commercially viable and
could make it on Canadian radio. We had reached a point of national popularity
and we needed to crack radio in order to expand our fanbase to the next level.
I think we managed to do that, while staying true to our sound. The Canadian
"mainstream" market is a very exclusive club and the fact that this
small pop-punk band from Vancouver was able to somehow crack it, makes us very
proud.
The most
important thing to remember about Fighting For Ithaca is that we love all
styles of music and whether we write Do What You Wanna (our poppiest single to
date) or Draw The Line (Our heaviest song to date), we enjoy what we're doing
and we're proud of every song we put out."
ITS - So
what can the fans look forward to in 2014 from FFI?
Curtis -
"2014 will see a lot of changes from Fighting For Ithaca. We're going to
be taking a different approach to a lot of things, including writing and
touring. The songs we're crafting now are undoubtedly the catchiest and most
exciting stuff we've ever done so we're anxious to get it out to everyone.
We've
really matured as a band in the last few years. People don't realize this but
the songs on To the Rescue were written and recorded 2-3 years ago. A lot can
happen in that time.
We have
some surprises up our sleeves for the fans and we're looking forward to the
next few months to be able to share them."
ITS -
Final question. Do you have any advice for the up and coming artists or bands
that might want to get a record deal?
Curtis -
'Yes, absolutely.
The short
answer is a lot of hard work.
I think
there is this general misconception out there that FFI somehow got lucky and
landed a record deal by chance. I'm offended by people that have made this
assumption. We've been a band for 6 years and in that time we have toured,
played countless shows, learned how to become effective song writers,
identified a marketable sound and our target demographic, utilized and
developed our own unique skill sets, and ultimately, found a way to stand out
from the pack. We've sacrificed friends, relationships, money, and time. There
is no magic step-by-step to get noticed, it is a culmination of working hard
and making intelligent decisions over an extended period of time. There is
rarely a shortcut to success.
Getting a
record deal is often seen as the Holy Grail of the music industry. This is a
misconception and an attempt to create a definition for success. I've received
countless messages from other musicians saying "How did you do it? Can you
help me get one?". In most cases, these bands haven't even been together
for a year. It's like getting a record deal is the pinnacle of their plan for
success but this begs the question, what do you do AFTER you get a record deal?
Or perhaps more importantly, what can your record label do for you that you
aren't already doing for yourselves? With the industry in the state that it is
currently in, for a record label to even consider signing you, an artist needs
to be established and already independently performing the majority of the
services that a label can offer.
I don't
believe getting a record deal should be a young band's ultimate aspiration.
Having a record label to support you can be a wonderful thing but it ultimately
is what both you and the label do AFTER the fact that is the key to success.
You can't simply land a record deal and then rest on your laurels."
Well Thank
you for taking the time to talk to us Curtis, seems like 2014 is going to be a
big year for FFI, and the fans are going to have a lot to enjoy.
Curtis -
"Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read and we can't wait to show
you all what we've been up to!"
Catch FFI
This Friday night at Tom Lee Music Hall in Vancouver for their last show of
2014 "Holy Jingle Balls" with special guests.
Follow
Fighting For Ithaca on social media as a band and individually
Twitter -
Fighting For Ithaca - @FightingForIth
Curtis
Steeksma - @CurtisFFI
Jonny
Steeksma - @jonnyffi
Adam
Strange - @AdammFFI
Tommy
Pheonix - @TommyFFI
Phil
Maloney - PhiltyFFI
Facebook -
Fighting For Ithaca
Curtis
Ithaca Steeksma
Jonny FFI
Steeksma
Adamm
Thomas Strange
Tommy
Phoenix
Phil
Maloney
Instagram
Curtisffi
jonnyffi
adammffi
Philtyffi
and check
out their YouTube channel at Fighting For Ithaca
Watch the video here for Last Chance FFI`s first single off of To The Rescue
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