Stef

By: Makyala O’Connor

Huntsville, Alabama born and raised, singer Stef, stepped outside of her town’s “norm” for the path of her career and we are lucky that she did. This now city girl decided she wanted to pursue music and moved to Nashville to make her dreams come true. 

Stef was involved in theatre and acting but eventually decided to make a career out of her music. Throughout high school she worked on improving her songwriting abilities while traveling back and forth to Nashville, but in 2018 moved there full time to enhance her career. 

Stef makes music that anyone can relate to. Her music is both affectionate and tough with some honesty and attitude. Stef’s latest EP A Glitch in Our Virtual Reality, expresses and documents her own pain and triumphs she goes through in her everyday life. 

The five tracks that make up her newest release have so much passionate, lyrical expression that there isn’t one song on there you couldn’t find yourself saying “I know exactly how she feels and what she means.” 

Stef says the first single on her EP “I Used to Build Dreams About You,” has a lot of meaning behind it.

“I just started dating my boyfriend and it’s the first serious relationship I’ve ever been in. You grow up with these expectations of what you want your partner to look like, and as you get older you want different things,” the singer explained. “Your whole life, you’re thinking of this person that you envision but now that they’re right in front of you, you realize you’ve been building dreams about them.” 

After listening to this song, you realize how right that analysis really is. At one point in the song she says, “Swear, I thought that others felt right, I was really wrong the whole time.” Anyone going through a breakup or tough time in their love life can listen to this song and really feel it. It can help anyone realize that it is not that they were not good enough for someone, but it just wasn’t the person they were meant to be with. 

A more self-empowering track on the EP, “Here’s What We’re Not Gonna Do” takes a turn from that first track and gives a new meaning to self-worth. In the song, the singer says, “Here’s what we’re not gonna do, take you back from your ex, I’m not gonna get in my head tonight, no staying home reading texts.” This song is all about knowing yourself and what you deserve and is the perfect after-a-break-up song. In her own words, “having high standards for yourself and knowing your self-worth” and this is important for her to know her worth and herself as she continues on her path as an artist. 

A Glitch in our Virtual Reality is Stef’s second EP. She released her first back in 2019, titled Why Do I Laugh When I Cry? 

You can find both of those EPs on all streaming platforms!