Known for their songs “Stay,” “Get Around This,” and “Let Go,” Nashville-based pop rock band SafetySuit kicked off their current headlining tour last month in Philadelphia, in support of their latest record, These Times.
Prior to hitting the stage this past weekend at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, California, I sat down with the guys of SafetySuit (Doug Brown, Jeremy Henshaw, Tate Cunningham, and Brad Oliver, who’s been sitting in for Dave Garofalo on guitar) to talk touring, their new EP (Hallelujah), and what to expect from their next record.
After spending this past spring on the road supporting Daughtry, lead singer Doug Brown says the response to their current tour has been a “pleasant surprise.”
“We’ve had just a great turnout at all the shows. When you get a lot of opportunities to do support for great acts like we have, you just [have] to take ‘em, so we haven’t have a lot of time to headline. So, to headline and to have a good turnout has been really cool,” he said. "Playing four or five shows a week has left not a whole lot of downtime during tour stops for the band, as they’ve been busier with added responsibilities on this tour."
“You do the meet-n-greets and you do all the production set-up, and you have the lights. Just a lot more to take on, but I think the added benefit is that people come to your show, and they get to really experience your full catalog of music,” Brown explained.
The added responsibility hasn’t slowed the band down on stage, as they perform with a seemingly endless amount of energy throughout their live show. As far as keeping their energy level up every night, Brown shared that they tend to keep a certain perspective in mind.
“You pretty much go out there with the same attitude every night,” he said. “Every night is your only chance to impress those people in that city, so you really can’t phone it in any night.”
While talking about their favorite part about touring, Brown mentioned that he likes to see the sub-cultures and different people they come across, whereas bass player Jeremy Henshaw said that the band's show is his favorite part of the experience.
“There’s moments in the show where you’re feeling this huge energy from the crowd, and we’re giving it to them and they’re giving it right back. There’s all this back and forth happening that’s just exciting, “ he explained. “And this tour, specifically, we’ve been doing this meet-n-greet for Camp Sunshine, and the response to that has just been insane. I think we can all say that’s probably like one of the favorite parts about this tour, for sure.”
Article comments
1 - Ruth Eddy
Great Article Kirsten