What We’ve Been Listening To: Safety First

Safety First‘s debut EP – aptly titled ‘Why Is Being Successful So Hard?’ – is a sensational five-track journey that unveils the captivating artistry diving into the distinct personas of the band, with each track acting as a window into their world.

The EP’s creation process was far from hurried, as the band began nurturing some of these compositions back in 2019. This meticulous crafting shines through as each note and lyric intricately weaves together. The record was birthed from a dual recording effort. This synthesis has allowed each band member’s individual strengths to shine while creating a harmonious sonic landscape.

Lexi’s vocals resonate with a unique authenticity, adding depth to each lyric, where the band’s guitarist, Zac, attests to the magic of musical unity, where every component holds significance in shaping their sound. “I occasionally make up random details to hide the identities of the people the songs are about,” Lexi says, “mainly so they don’t realise the song is about them, I’m so paranoid of people finding out I wrote a song about them.”

To celebrate the release of the single, Lexi and Zac from the band took part in the latest series of “What We’ve Been Listening To” on Eat This Music.

Who is Safety First and how did your namesake come about?

We are an indie rock band based in Gadigal Land/Sydney. This is the most boring name origin story ever but we literally came up with it by stringing random two word combinations together until we got “Safety First”. Something about it just felt right, and we’ve stuck with it ever since (:

What artists or bands are on your must-listen to list lately and why?

Lexi: If I’m honest recently I’ve mostly been listening to old comfort music lmao (The Sundays, 2000s Coldplay, Tatsuro Yamashita) BUT I have discovered SOMOH recently, Zac showed me her and it hits me perfectly with where I’m at right now. Right now what I need from music is to be a warm blanket and that is exactly what this is. Also would put Andy Shauf’s album Norm up there for pretty much the same reason. I’ve been listening a lot to Alice Phoebe Lou as well, I really love her lyrics/vocal style, how she’s obviously just having fun but the music still feels kinda sad underneath it all.

When you go into the recording studio to work on new material, what are your must-haves?

Lexi: Zac’s computer, microphones, Ableton, our Telecasters, Tom’s Jaguar, our ADHD meds, tape echo. Also here is Zac’s much more detailed answer lmao:

Zac: We always like to start off the sessions with the neurodivergent essential breakfast of sultana bran and Ritalin to keep us nice and energised and focussed enough to actually stay on task (oops). Other than this, the main things I can’t live without are my M1 Max Macbook Pro, Ableton 11 and my Apollo 4x. I had an atrocious laptop that I started engineering on but just could not keep up with the workflow and sheer amount of layered tracks we deal with in Safety First. This new laptop is the most powerful tool I’ve ever used and most importantly the fans have never ever turned on, which is actually unbelievable. I love the workflow in Ableton and it’s one of those DAW’s I just fell into and learnt very comprehensibly. It just makes sense to me, and I know all the shortcuts and layout well enough to work quickly and efficiently. You kind of have to find some different ways to get fx chains than you would in your usual Logic and Protools. It makes me feel like I’m really working for a sound and it always feels new and fresh to me. My Apollo 4x is such a little beast, and I hook it up to an Octopre for lots of input and output options. The unison plugins are such a gamechanger and as we become more experienced with it we find ourselves committing much more on the way in with plugins and processing. I’m slowly building up a 500 series rack and we have many guitars and amps in the room so that we can really chase some cool guitar tones. Having the freedom to do 5 mic setups on those has been such a fun little science project for tone building.

Which song, or songs, of yours would you recommend to a first-time listener and why?

Lexi: I would say Haircut! Just because it’s the catchiest, and I feel like once you listen to Haircut the other songs on our EP make a lot more sense.

Which song of someone else’s (artist or band) would you have liked to feature on and why?

Lexi: Sin Triangle by Sidney Gish — but honestly any of her songs really.

https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/377577710

What has led you into becoming a musician(s) and why do you keep making music?

Lexi: I wrote a lot of angsty teenage poems in high school and started putting them to music, and I guess that is how I began writing songs. I just need a way to express myself really and music feels the most natural.