Safe Side - Sound In The Signals Interview

I recently had the chance to interview Safe Side. We had a chance to talk about their upcoming EP Blossom, which is out July 15, 2016. Check out the full interview after the jump!

First off thanks for the interview.

Danny/Bass: No worries. Thanks for having us!

Blossom comes out in July. Can you tell me a little about the writing and recording process of the EP?

Danny: We started writing it in September of last year. Chris and Jordan began swapping ideas with each other and we started laying down demo’s in the months that followed. While that was ongoing we decided we wanted to work with Neil Kennedy at The Ranch in Southampton (Boston Manor, Creeper, Milk Teeth). So we went down there and recorded 'Blossom' in the chilly month of February. The recording process was an eye opener for us. To work with an established producer did us the world of good and taught us some valuable lessons. We thought we had the finished product before we got there but that quickly changed. Going into an environment like that I think things are always likely to change with other people's ideas being brought into the fold. It's good to see someone else's view on specific matters.

I really like the first track on the EP "Wilt". Can you tell me a little about the writing process for the song in particular?

Danny: Thanks, glad you like it! This was one Chris worked on. It was the first idea he sent to us. The writing process is the same for every song. Chris or Jord will come up with a guitar part or an instrumental idea and program that into Guitar Pro which then gets sent to Callum for him to work the drums out. After that it goes back to Chris and it then gets demoed. Finally Frank gets his hands on it and works on the lyrics. The process is a little different from what other artists do but it works out fine for us, so far!

I really like the vocal performance on the EP a lot and the performance. How long did you work on the vocals and what was one of the biggest surprises or challenged during that process of the EP?

Danny: Frank took longer than he usually would writing, to get the lyrics and melody right. He was still working on the vocals when we went to the studio. He was even recording demo's in our room while we were tracking guitars next door. We changed a few keys to help him out and get the best for his range, as he has quite a low key voice. I think it was a challenge for Frank to get it all finished in the certain time frame that we set ourselves. As a group we're quite demanding in a sense, we like to keep things moving along swiftly. So there was an unintended pressure from the rest of us to get it done. I guess writing lyrics especially when they're personal to you and trying to portray them in a certain way is tough too. We definitely don't make things easy for ourselves.


What was one of the best experiences you had while recording Blossom?

 Danny: The whole process was a great experience. It was the first time for a few of us actually being in a 'real' studio environment. Watching the songs form piece by piece was a great feeling. A sense of excitement seeing it all come together. Spending a whole week together is always fun too, we all have our moments so there's always some funny comments and odd stuff going on. One evening Frank was dancing around the room with a blanket on his head, he looked like E.T.


The artwork is really eye catching for the new EP and I think it fits this time of the year nicely mood wise but also captures the feel of the music nicely. Who came up with the concept for it and why did you decide to use it for the artwork?

Danny: Chris came up with the idea of a silhouette kind of shot, which we agreed looked cool. Our previous release was illustrated artwork, but with our sound maturing we wanted the artwork and other aspects to mature with it. Chris took the shot and edited it on Photoshop. The model in the artwork is also Chris' girlfriend! We have a rather strong D.I.Y approach to how we work.

EP Artwork

For music listeners who have never heard of your band what would be a good first song to check out and why?

Danny: We recently released a music video for our first single from 'Blossom' called 'In My Place'. It showcases the EP well in our opinion. People should definitely check that out. We're very pleased with how the new songs have turned out and hope people do check out the new record.

 

I guess that about wraps it up. Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else you would like to add?

Danny: Pleasure, thanks for asking us. We just hope people enjoy the songs on 'Blossom' as much we do. Hopefully we'll see some new faces at some shows too in the future.