SafetySuit: “Nashville isn’t All About Country Music After All”

SafetySuit have had a busy year. The Nashville based rockers released their debut album, cracked the top 20 at rock radio with “Someone Like You” and started crisscrossing the country on tour. The band released Life Left to Go on May 13th through Universal Republic and things have been nonstop ever since.

Before there was SafetySuit, there was Crew. The early incarnation of the band assembled in Tulsa, OK after winning a battle of the bands and quickly became a local favorite. After playing shows to crowds of 1,000 fans every night, the band decided it was time for a change of scenery. They needed a place to expand their fanbase even further and grow as musicians. “We wanted to move, and move to one of the three major music hubs,” recalls Brown.

Nashville was chosen as the final destination, and the guys began rehearsing obsessively and playing shows whenever and wherever possible. They recorded an EP with Greg Archilla (Matchbox 20, Collective Soul, Buckcherry) in the summer of 2005. “When we were done with that, we felt we were as ready to play as ever,” says Brown. Their fanbase began to grow in the new city, and labels began gaining interest. “Actually, the best show we ever did was at 12th and Porter, and it was the night Universal showed up,” says Brown. “Everyone brought everyone that night. Twenty minutes before the show, somebody came into the green room and announced there was a line around the block. All I remember is …I walked out on stage that night, the lights went up, I saw the crowd… and the whole thing was a blur afterwards. I was in a zone the entire time. When the last note of the last song hit, I sort of woke up. It was… amazing.”

SafetySuit kept Archilla on board to record their debut full length album, Life Left to Go. This is one of those albums that will live in your car stereo for months. Songs that are unabashedly catchy that capture the grandeur and depth of U2, with an imaginative pop sensibility at its core and a dizzying wall of guitars as its backdrop. “It’s not rocket science,” says Brown. “Quintessential good melody and good lyrics, that’s what makes a song.”

“Someone Like You,” the lead single off of the album has impressed program directors at across the country. The track has been praised as an instant hit that’s perfect for radio.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there is the title track, “Life Left to Go,” which is probably the least commercial song on the album according to Brown. “It chronicles the thoughts of someone who wants to end their life. Then it presents the counter of that, the person begging them to stay.” He continues, “That song is a big deal for us. I don’t want to wave any sort of flag, but the focus on music is always so ego-centric. We wanted to flip that. I wanted this to be a song about the artist giving for a change.”

After touring with Theory of a Deadman earlier this year, SafetySuit teamed up with South African melodic rockers Seether for a slew of dates throughout the summer. They also made a few stops on select dates of Simon dTOUR live joining the likes of The All-American Rejects and Forever The Sickest Kids. The band tries hard to stay in touch with their fans by checking in through video tour updates where you can often see them goofing off on the road.

People can’t help but wonder – where did they get the name SafetySuit anyways?

“I think the key word is ‘safety,’” explains singer/guitarist Doug Brown. “The four of us in the band have been friends forever. We feel comfortable around each other. We’re in a safe environment… and that makes us feel free to be who we are. And, if we can inspire that moment or that feeling in our fans, we’ve succeeded.”  [ END ]