Stef Chura

The first time they hung out, Molly Soda was dying Stef Chura’s armpit hair pink. A few months later they would become roommates, when Stef moved into Molly’s unfinished attic. They both live in Detroit. Stef is a songwriter, whose Bandcamp is full of dim-lit guitar-pop with moody, twisting vocals that she’s been releasing since 2010. Molly is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work spans videos, GIFs, zines, and all sorts of digital performance. The video for “Slow Motion” is a collaboration between the two. The song comes from Stef’s forthcoming full-length, recorded by Fred Thomas, who also plays bass on the song.

“Molly and I were at a show at the UFO Factory in Detroit went we thought of the idea to shoot basically a ‘party’ in the bathroom,” Stef explains. “The girls bathroom there is very photogenic and pink with a huge cloud painted on the ceiling by local artist Davin Brainard. And also it is a pretty notorious place for bathroom selfies that are posted on Instagram #ufobathroom #ufopeople #ufofactory.” Bringing to life a space known famously for selfies is an apt experiment for Soda, whose art riffs on self-identity and the internet. The clip shows Stef sitting on the ground with her huge teddy bear, blowing up balloons and setting up party snacks on the toilet. Once the party guests arrive it gets psychedelic and hazy. Stef and her teddy bear both look kind of bored, but everyone pushes them to have fun. “And right when it starts to feel like home / it’s time to go,” Stef sings on the cut. - Impose Magazine, Liz Pelly

27 year-old native Michigander Stef Chura has her first real debut album in the can now. It’s called Messes, and it was recorded with Fred Thomas just the other month, and it is so awesome. We're running a feature on her shortly so I'll dispense with too much information now. If you have a decent record label, you'd be so smart if you got in touch with her about releasing the thing.

I asked her about this video which was released a few weeks ago for a song from the album, and she replied.

Metro Times: The “Slow Motion” video looks like it was a lot of fun even though you’re pretending to not have fun. What was that like, how did it come about?

Stef Chura: Back in August of last year Molly (Soda) and I were at a show, I think it was even a Saturday Looks Good to me show… which is funny, at UFO Factory when we came up with the idea of essentially shooting a “party” in the girl’s bathroom at the UFO Factory.

We invited a bunch of friends out and bought a bunch of junk from the dollar store that morning to glitz it up. Molly recorded it all on her Hi-8 camera. What’s funny is we forgot to bring some real speakers to play the song on so a lot of the scenes where people are dancing everyone is actually singing Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen” a capella. - Detroit Metro Times

Stef Chura alongside boyfriend and Jamaican Queens drummer, Ryan Clancy filled the space with what felt like a collaboration between Karen O and The Modern Lovers Jonathan Richman if they scored a 90’s teenage runway film. Stef’s voice is dominant with a confident meekness that is shrill by means of catharsis. So much so that guitar and drums seem secondary. Her vocal playground is purposeful, warped, and effective. It’s a freeing expelling of emotion but stripped down and wonderfully messy like early Flaming Lips recordings. - Audiofemme

Supreme bummer vibes are in store for those who listen to the mix that Fred Thomas posted yesterday. Anything that starts with one of Plush's best songs has to be worth checking out.

The former Michigan resident, who currently resides in the nether regions of Canada, will take a break from saving stranded polar bears to perform at UFO Factory this Friday with Bonny Doon, before taking off on a short tour with them.

We asked him about the mix yesterday and he said "The mix today was just totally for fun! Felt like making an Autumnal mix for this first day of November, as many friends are probably in comedown mode from this year's Halloween falling on a weekend. Stef had sent me a new song that she demoed with David from TOPS while they were in Detroit, and I felt it fit the mix, as did an ambient track from a tape I'm working on with my friend Dash from Chicago in our project Sister Lake... Other than that it was low key bummers, dirgey reggae versions and whatever drifty shit was passing through my mind. Hoped people would listen to it and just zone out, be hungover, study, stare out the window, etc."

Thanks, Fred! - Detroit Metro Times

There’s a charming quivery/careening sensation to this Detroit-based Stef Chura strummy new single (off of her forthcoming full-length, Messes).

“Faded Heart” is part rollicking indie-pop, part space-rock, part fractured folk; the shambling rhythms, delayed-and-dizzied staccato guitars, and the singer-songwriter’s uniquely trilled, high ‘n’ hazy voice achieve this kite-like caprice.

It’s no wonder Saturday Looks Good To Me’s Fred Thomas is such a fan; this sounds right up that kind of quirk-pop alley. Thomas is featured as the bassist – contributing to Chura’s signature fluttery guitar riffs – but he also produced the track in Ann Arbor, MI, right before moving Montreal.

The standout here is Chura’s singular voice, a seemingly delicate, orphic thing that can slide from breathy lullaby to belted ballad. Chura and her band head out on the road this month, while Messes will be coming out at some point over the summer. - PASTE MAGAZINE, Jeff Milo