By: Zaq L. - February 16, 2020
The Safety Word are set to release their latest single, “Washed out” and we’re absolutely loving it! This digital/acoustic ensemble from Melbourne, Australia, incorporates numerous genres to create their down tempo-electronica sound. The Safety Word takes their inspiration from post-rock, new romantic, chillwave, and trip-hop sensibilities.
Consisting of the core songwriting team, John Rousvanis on (vocals/electric guitar), and Simon Quinn (laptop/keys), who performs live as a duo, or expand their sound with Craigus McVegas (electric bass/synth), they also work with an assortment of guest musicians for unique performances. The Safety Word blends soulful vocals, abstract guitars, deep bass, and ambient synths. The combination creates a unique listening experience and an outstanding live performance.
In “Washed Out,” they explore why we exist in dreams. They examine the bases of transcendental meditation and how it affects the mind, body, and spirit. The Safety Word encourages awareness of viral energy, and the journey taken to discover and harness it, and dance with it. This is similar to dancing with death as in preparation for a dreamlike state in the afterlife that transcends our spirit towards reincarnation. Listeners will find it easy to fall along into this journey with them.
The Safety Word released their debut EP in January 2019 and have released 3 more singles, “My Kryptonite,” “Right on Time in Dreamz,” and now their latest single “Washed out”. These singles are now available across all streaming platforms. We look forward to hearing much more from them.
Listen to "Washed Out" here.
You incorporate so many different sounds and take inspiration from many genres. When you sit down and begin working on a song, how do you decide which sounds you want to work with to create the final product?
John: Well we tend to look more for what evokes the strongest emotion or nostalgia, it has always been a bit of an automatic process of going through sounds and listening very carefully if it fits and thinking why it should be there in the first place, we pretty much are usually thinking the same about sounds and trust each other with what works, basically it’s a filtering process. Simon: Yes exactly, often a song will start from a simple chord progression that we both resonate with as it evokes the emotion or sonic texture that we feel like painting with. Sound design is really important to us and we will spend hours crafting each sound layer to be just as we want it in order to convey the true emotion of the songs mood.
At the root of the ambiance and synths of “Washed Out,” are the spiritual lyrics that take us on a journey towards the afterlife and reincarnation, do you feel that same level of spiritual togetherness as a group and with your fans? Simon: It’s so amazing to know that our music is being played right around the world and it is so meaningful when fans reach out and let us know how much they have connected with a particular song.
John: Yes that’s the main reason why we are together, we have a very close relationship and almost telepathic connection when it comes to creating, we are bouncing ideas and inspiring each other most of the time, we also feel that the songs become just as personal for our fans as they are to us, we really appreciate our fans and consider them part of our family, we are creating the music for ourselves and them, sometimes we can be socially awkward and the music is in a way a medium in which to convey pure feelings of emotions, concepts and ideas.
Since the release of your self-titled debut EP you have put out 2 singles, and now your third with “Washed Out,” do you believe releasing singles has become more receptive to your followers or do you find there is still a desire from fans for EP releases.
John: “We won’t rule out doing albums and EPs in the future however I think people live very fast-paced lives and are always on the go, so listening to a new single once a month or two gives the song a speciality of just standing on its own, plus it could work better in certain playlists. Simon: We plan on releasing a single every six weeks for at least the next year in order to build up our fan base and also so we can have the freedom to explore different sonic territories and just enjoy the process of creation itself. We will be releasing a couple of EP’s this year combining songs that we feel flow well together from our single releases. These EP’s will include extended versions of some of the singles plus bonus tracks that we have accumulated along the way.
Your influences and passion for electronic music allow so many possibilities for growth and collaboration, who would you love to work with in-studio or on the road?
John: That’s a tough question because we would love to work with a variety of people, one, in particular, would be Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun. Simon: Currently we have a number of remixes underway by some of our favorite local Melbourne electronic musicians including Men Imitating Machines, Houg, and Increment. I would love to collab with other artists especially ones that I really look up to in terms of solid production and interesting melodies and hooks. I could see us doing some amazing work with artists such as Boo Seeka, Cub Sport, M83, the Naked and Famous, Tycho and my all-time favorite electronic act Boards of Canada. But the most amazing thing is that we have found so much inspiration in each other that we can honestly say we could write a thousand more songs and never feel like we are repeating ourselves. I’m really excited about what the future holds for this project and look forward to sharing our art with the world.