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Here at Impact 89FM, our staff has the opportunity to interview a lot of bands, artists and other musicians. We're excited to be highlighting those conversations and exclusive live performances.
Hello. I'm Rachel Fulton with Impact 89FM. I am the podcast director and a news producer for Michigan State's all student run radio station. And this weekend in Lansing, Michigan, we have Stoop Fest, which is going on Friday and Saturday. And this year, Impact 89FM is a proud sponsor of Stoop Fest. So this year, we actually are hosting the main stage. So our stage is Impact 89FM, and there's gonna be a wide variety of different artists that perform on our stage throughout the weekend, including RB, who is from Get Tuff, who I have on today. So thank you so much for joining me.
RB:Yeah. Thank you so much.
Rachel Fulton:Can we get into a little bit of your background first? I wanna get to know you and your band a little bit. So where are you guys from and how did you get the band together including maybe your name too? How was that inspired?
RB:Yeah, so we're all in Lansing. We're just a bunch of Eastside kids. So Get Tuff was like a band. I had had, like, a solo project for years and years before I moved to Michigan. I moved to Lansing in 2019. And so for a long time, it was just kind of like a solo project. And I really wanted to, like, be a full band because it's a lot more fun when I can just just sing and just, like, have that fun and be able to, like, play with other people as well. So, yeah, I just kinda put together a bunch of my friends, and now it's, like, even better than I could have ever expected. The name is, like, kinda funny because I was on tour with a friend of mine in this band called Caving. I was playing lead guitar for them, and we were just, like, in the car one day between shows. And I was, like, I just always thought it would be cool if someone, like, had a band called Get Tuff, and then they were like, why don't you call your band that? And I was like, oh, yeah. I could do that. And then I did that.
Rachel Fulton:I love that. And then you said you're from where?
RB:I'm from Ohio. I moved into a house that did house shows, and so, like, immediately upon, like, moving here, I knew a lot of people, and, like, the band, like, gray matter was, like, a lot of the reason that I moved here. I already knew all of them, and so I just kind of became friends with everybody else in the scene from there. And when it came time to, like, needing to put together a band, I kind of, like, already had the people in my mind of who I would want to play. So
Rachel Fulton:Can you talk to me a little bit about the type of music that you guys work around, is there a specific genre you like to call yourselves I guess?
RB:Yeah. I mean, we call ourselves, drama pop, which is kind of just, like, a quippier way of saying, like, we make pop music for, like, theater kids, and people who are really dramatic. But at the same time, like, we we are a pop band, but we're very, guitar driven in a lot of ways. And, like, we have a vibraphone on stage, so there's, like, a lot of just, like, interesting elements going on. So oftentimes, like, sometimes our our sound even shifts into more of, like, the punk sphere, like, just because, most of the people in this band, like, we all have backgrounds in, like, punk music, so it's really fun to make, like, what is typically really, really catchy pop music, but still have those moments where there's, like, really thrashing guitars and, like, noisy moments.
Rachel Fulton:So you're from Ohio, and the rest of the band's from Lansing. So do you guys typically stay in the Lansing area? I know you said you travel as well. Do you aim for a certain spot when you guys do perform for a certain audience?
RB:Yeah. I mean, we we're all in Lansing now, so, like, it's, been pretty consistently here. So we, you know, we practice in Lansing. We play in Lansing pretty often. We also get out to Detroit and things like that, and we've played in Ohio as well.
RB:And, like, you know, it's just, like, a slow build of, like, trying to get out there a little bit further. But it definitely is helpful, like, having those connections in, like, other cities, through the lots of other bands that people in this band play in.
Rachel Fulton:And in the spirit of stoopfest, is this your first time attending the festival?
RB:No. My first stoopfest was 2019, and that was, you know, before I moved up to Lansing. And then, you know, once I moved here, I got on the team, and I've been doing all of the art for Stoop Fest ever since then, which is a lot of fun. So it's fun to, like, get to do all of the the back end kind of, like, art stuff and then also get to play because I just I love Stoop Fest. It is, like, my favorite weekend in Lansing every year.
RB:So any way that we get to be a part of it is, like, such an honor.
Rachel Fulton:Is this your 1st year performing, though?
RB:No. We, played last year as well.
Rachel Fulton:Okay. Very nice. So what should the audience expect from your performance this year? Maybe if you wanna, like, compare it from last year too, if there's anything different.
RB:Totally. I mean, I think the the biggest thing is, one, this is our first time playing the main stage, which will be really fun. It's always fun to have, like, more space for us as, like, a dance y band to be able to move around. So we're really excited about that. And, also, like, I think over the last year as a band, we have just gotten so much more tight in our performance.
RB:Like, we've hit played a lot more shows than we had at that point last year. So, like, it feels like such a bigger performance this year than it was last year even though we had the best time last year, of course.
Rachel Fulton:Yeah. I know there's gonna be a huge crowd, and I'm so excited to see it. So, you know, if there's anybody out there listening who's interested in attending Stoop Fest or just interested in seeing you guys perform, Get Tough is gonna be performing on Saturday, May 11th at the impact 89 FM stage at 1:30 through 2 PM. And then more information can be found at stoopfest.org. And was there anything else you want to add, RB?
RB:Come out to Stoop Fest. It's gonna be a great time.