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For pop rockers Safetysuit, music means nothing without the message. One listen to their major label debut Life Left To Go makes that perfectly clear. With songs that tackle messages from suicide to self-empowerment, this band doesn’t shy away from the things that make us all human. The title track “Life Left to Go” not only tackles the serious subject of suicide, but encourages everyone to take the time to notice others around them who may be in pain. “There’s a lot of crap that happens in life but nothing worth ending it because life is a beautiful thing; even when it’s bad. We just wanted to write a song to speak to anyone that was even letting those thoughts in to develop, to let them know that we see them. For the people that aren’t struggling with it, it’s a good reminder to look around and see the signs. It’s important that nobody goes through life every day feeling alone, it’s not cool,” explains lead singer Doug Brown.
Their new video for their first single “Someone Like You” takes a very literal approach to the song’s message. One of the most powerful parts of the video is when a surfer rolls up to the beach in his wheelchair and is transported to the water by his friends to surf again. This is not an actor. This is an actual pro-surfer who suffered a life-altering accident and now helps others with spinal cord injuries live out their passion for surfing through the non-profit organization Wheels 2 Water (You can find out more about this group at wheels2water.org). This incredible story embodies the entire message of the song, overcoming even the toughest of life’s obstacles by relying on one’s inner strength. Tune in to the VH1 weekly countdown to catch the video and place your vote for Safetysuit!
http://thepulsemag.com/wordpress/2008/12/1208-rock-shots/
- The Pulse Magazine
NEW YORK, Jan 14, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Hot on the heels of ultra-successful runs with Theory of a Deadman, Seether and the Puddle of Mudd Tour, Nashville favorites SAFETYSUIT will grace the stage alongside multi-platinum artists 3 Doors Down and Hinder for what is poised to be one of the biggest rock tours of 2009. They'll be kicking off a month long run on January 22nd in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Nearly a year after their debut single "Someone Like You" hit airwaves SAFETYSUIT, under the guidance of industry veteran and manager Rich Isaacson, has garnered critical acclaim and widespread appeal. "Someone Like You" broke through the Hot A/C Top 30 and Alternative Top 15, while the accompanying music video is steadily climbing the VH1 charts-hitting #8 on the Top 20 Countdown week of 12/22. Their second single "Stay" will be impacting at Top 40 and Hot A/C in February.
"Safetysuit is a fantastic artist development story," said Universal Motown President Sylvia Rhone. "They've built up a passionate grassroots following through constant touring, while our team has been working for the past year to seed their music across multiple platforms. They're a great band with a long career ahead of them, and it's gratifying to see everything coming together so beautifully."
To date four tracks from their debut album Life Left To Go, including "Someone Like You", have been featured on the hit MTV reality show "The Hills". The resulting sales increase is staggering; both mobile and digital track sales are up 1000% and full album sales are up 25%!
The holiday season has been good to SAFETYSUIT, during which their album and "Someone Like You" single sales increased for 6 consecutive weeks. Sales of "Someone Like You" have now exceeded 28,000, which combined with individual track sales, totals over 47,000 to date. Newly recorded acoustic tracks have been made available digitally as well.
SAFETYSUIT'S success has been cultivated by their tireless work ethic, partnership with Universal Motown Records and faith in manager Rich Isaacson. The band formed in 2005 playing dives, bars and even the occasional high school gym in and around Nashville, TN until being signed to a management deal with Isaacson.
In addition to SAFETYSUIT, Isaacson manages 5x platinum global superstar Mika, and helped build LOUD Records along with Steve Rifkind, with whom he launched publishing company Merokee Music along with Rondor Music. He recently opened the doors to his latest venture RI Entertainment, where he is offering artists full service, 360 degree deals.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/safetysuit-join-multi-platinum-powerhouses-road/story.aspx?guid=%7BB2E97EF9-2BE5-4CD8-A1E3-56207B7D4239%7D&dist=msr_1
- The WallStreetJournal.com
Hot on the heels of ultra-successful runs with Theory of a Deadman, Seether and the Puddle of Mudd Tour, Nashville favorites SafetySuit will grace the stage alongside multi-platinum artists 3 Doors Down and Hinder for what is poised to be one of the biggest rock tours of 2009. They’ll be kicking off a month long run on January 22nd in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Nearly a year after their debut single “Someone Like You” hit airwaves SafetySuit have garnered critical acclaim and widespread appeal. “Someone Like You” broke through the Hot A/C Top 30 and Alternative Top 15, while the accompanying music video is steadily climbing the VH1 charts-hitting #8 on the Top 20 Countdown week of 12/22. Their second single “Stay” will be impacting at Top 40 and Hot A/C in February.
“SafetySuit is a fantastic artist development story,” said Universal Motown President Sylvia Rhone. “They’ve built up a passionate grassroots following through constant touring, while our team has been working for the past year to seed their music across multiple platforms. They’re a great band with a long career ahead of them, and it’s gratifying to see everything coming together so beautifully.” To date four tracks from their debut album Life Left To Go, including “Someone Like You”, have been featured on the hit MTV reality show “The Hills”. The resulting sales increase is staggering; both mobile and digital track sales are up 1000% and full album sales are up 25%
http://hardrockhideout.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/safetysuit-to-join-hinder-and-3-doors-down/
- Hardrockhideout.com
Discography
"Life Left To Go" UniversalMotown-released 2008
track list-
Someone Like You
Apology
Find A Way
Stay
Something I Said
Anywhere But Here
Down
The Moment
Annie
What If
Gone Away
Life Left To Go
Photos
Bio
Anythingand everythingabout SAFETYSUIT can be summed up by the bands name.
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. Were 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, weve succeeded.
Which begins the story of SAFETYSUIT, an extraordinarily talented, musically confident young band that does, in fact, inspire. Their songs capture the grandeur and depth of U2, with an imaginative pop sensibility at its core and a dizzying wall of guitars as its backdrop. Its not rocket science, says Brown. Quintessential good melody and good lyrics, thats what makes a song.
Oddly, the bands influences share very little with the groups final sound. Hey, I like Rob Thomas the way he twists a melody has always caught my ear. I grew up on the Allman Brothers and the Beatles. I like a lot of modern rock. And the Eagles you wont hear that in our music, but theres a band that really showed me what a group of people can accomplish musically.
When Brown speaks, its with assurance, as if he knows what hes doing and where hes going. Its a feeling that began in, of all places, Tulsa. Here, before there was a SAFETYSUIT, there was Crew. And this early incarnation of the group was, indeed, friends. Their journey started the moment Doug, drummer Tate Cunningham and bassist Jeremy Henshaw (along with two other guys; guitarist Dave Garofolo joined a little later) entered a local Battle of the Bands contest at the last minute and won.
It continued throughout the next year, as Crew became a local phenomenon, drawing up to1000 people per night on the local circuit. But to grow as a band, the band needed a new direction. We wanted to move, and move to one of the three major music hubs, remembers Brown. The group wanted space to think, to grow and, most importantly, to focus. With that in mind, the usual rock music meccas (Los Angeles and New York) gave way to Nashville.
Despite the new locale, the lack of a local fanbase, no deal and no manager, the group assembled in Tennessee and obsessively began to rehearse. After a chance meeting, 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.
So the gigs began at nice places, dives, theaters, clubs, wherever, often 2-3 times a week. And, as expected by the band, the fanbase grew. Labels started sniffing around. And the group discovered what would become its second home, a local haunt called 12th and Porter, where the group began a residency. 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.
With a Universal deal in hand, the band met with a number of big-name producers, before ultimately deciding to stick with Archilla (Were stubborn, says Brown. We like Greg. He doesnt mess around, he tells it like it is and he plays golf. So thats awesome.) The final result, Life Left to Go, is unabashedly catchy. It feels like that album thatll live in your car stereo for months on end. But the title, like the bands name, has its own story. Its named after our last song on the record, which is our least commercial song ever, admits 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. Its a song to let people know that, no matter what, somebody notices them, that someone cares.
That song is a big deal for us, Brown continues, then pauses. I dont 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.
Its a feeling youll hopefully discover when SAFETYSUIT heads out of Nashville this spring and hits the road. As Brown promises, anyone who comes to their show should feel better afterwards than before they came in. As is with their music, its an inspiring thought.
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