SafetySuit

SafetySuit
OriginTulsa, Oklahoma, United States
Genres
Years active2002–present
Labels
Members
  • Douglas Brown
  • Jeremy Henshaw
  • Tate Cunningham
Past members
  • Jesse Carey
  • Curtis Lloyd
  • Dave Garofalo
Websitesafetysuitmusic.com

SafetySuit is an American rock band from Tulsa, Oklahoma, currently based in Nashville, Tennessee. Their 2008 major label debut album Life Left to Go featured songs "Stay" and "Someone Like You", the former first achieving fame by climbing to No. 1 on the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown. In January 2012, SafetySuit followed with their second album These Times, notable for its songs "Let Go" and "These Times". The album peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and topped the iTunes album chart. Later that year, the band released an EP titled "Hallelujah" which included the hit single "Never Stop (Wedding Version)". The single has been featured in People Magazine with multiple celebrity weddings using it as the soundtrack for their first dance. Several singles from each of their albums have charted and have been featured on television shows such as Kyle XY, Imaginary Mary, and The Hills. The band's releases have been met highly favorably by critics, and they are known for their very energetic live performances. They have toured with many notable artists including 3 Doors Down, The Script, Collective Soul, Hoobastank, Parachute, Daughtry, and the Goo Goo Dolls.

History

[edit]

Origins, Day After Yesterday, and Crew EP (2004-2006)

[edit]

SafetySuit originated as a band called Crew, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was originally composed of singer Doug Brown, drummer Tate Cunningham, bassist Jeremey Henshaw, and guitar players Curtis Lloyd and Jesse Carey, who met while attending Oral Roberts University. After winning a local battle of the bands, Crew began to increase in popularity in their hometown of Tulsa, OK, so the band recorded and co-produced Day After Yesterday with local producer David John. Curtis and Jesse left the band soon after to pursue other careers, and guitarist Dave Garofalo joined the band a few months later. In 2004 the band decided to relocate to Nashville, Tennessee and retitled Day After Yesterday to create the Crew EP. In the summer of 2005, the members of Crew were introduced to producer Greg Archilla and recorded a 4-song EP called Stay. The band continued to grow in popularity locally until they played a showcase at 12th & Porter where they were signed by Universal. After signing their record deal, the band changed their name to SafetySuit to avoid legal problems down the road.[1][2]

Life Left to Go (2007-2009)

[edit]

SafetySuit recorded their debut full-length album Life Left to Go in 2007, once again with producer Greg Archilla. In February 2008, the band released their first single "Someone Like You" before releasing Life Left to Go on May 13, 2008. The album was met with a strong reception among critics, and the album reached number five on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart.

The album saw the release of two additional singles, most notably "Stay", which experienced success on several Billboard charts in 2009, including the Hot AC, Top 40, and Pop 100, and on VH1's Top 20 Countdown, reaching number one. The video for "Stay" on YouTube has reached over 2.9 million views as of December 2017. The song "Annie" was also released as a single, "Anywhere But Here" was featured in an episode of the television series Kyle XY, and "Something I Said" and "What If" were also featured on the MTV television show "The Hills".

These Times and Hallelujah EP (2010-2012)

[edit]

In 2010, the band went back into the studio to begin work on their second album with producers Howard Benson, Ryan Tedder, and Espionage. Their first attempt at recording new material was scrapped in late 2010, as the band did not feel the songs lived up to their standards and started over. On March 21, 2011 the band announced on Facebook that the first single off the new record would be titled "Get Around This," produced by Espionage, and available for download on April 19, 2011. On July 6, 2011 the video for "Get Around This" premiered on www.noisecreep.com. A second single "Let Go" debuted on September 2 by way of a Facebook application on the band's page and was officially released on September 20. The video for "Let Go" finished 2011 peaking at number eight on VH1's Top 20 Countdown.

It was announced on July 19, 2011 via a video tweeted by lead singer Doug Brown, that SafetySuit's second album These Times[3] would be released on October 18, after being pushed back by the band's move from Universal Motown to Universal Republic during the summer of 2011. However, on September 3, the band announced via their official Twitter[4] that the release date of These Times was changed to November 1, 2011. On October 18, the SafetySuit announced that their label had pushed the album release date back again, this time to January 2012. At the same time, they debuted an online stream of the album opener "Believe". The release date for These Times was soon after set for January 10, 2012[5] and was released exclusively through iTunes on January 3. During this time, Doug Brown wrote the song "May" for James Durbin's album Memories of a Beautiful Disaster.

Upon release, These Times debuted at number 7 on the Billboard 200[6] and at number 1 on the iTunes Top Albums chart.[7] Several songs also debuted on the iTunes Top Pop Songs Chart; "Believe" reached number 60, "Never Stop" reached 65, and "Let Go" reached 146. Additionally, "Believe" reached 179 on the iTunes Top Songs Chart and "Never Stop" number 196. The video for the third single from the album, "These Times", was released on January 6, 2012. As of December 2017, the official video has over 1.7 million views on YouTube. The band joined Daughtry as direct support on the Break the Spell Tour which began in March 2012. On September 7, 2012, they embarked on their first ever headlining tour, beginning in Philadelphia, PA and supported by Go Radio and Taylor Barrett.

On August 28, 2012, SafetySuit released the four-track Hallelujah EP through iTunes. The EP included a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", an orchestral version of "Anywhere But Here", and an acoustic version of "Let Go". It also included "Never Stop (Wedding Version)" which has become the band's highest selling single to date. The song has been featured in entertainment magazines including People Magazine because of its use in prominent celebrity weddings, and is used as the soundtrack in over 45,000 YouTube videos with over 20 million plays.

Self-titled third studio album (2013-2017)

[edit]

On June 26, 2013, the band announced that they were recording their third studio album.[8] "On Your Side," the first single off the upcoming album, was released to iTunes on December 3, 2013.[9] The album was originally planned to be released in early 2014. On January 7, 2014, the band tweeted that news about the album and tour were coming soon, but they had been absent from social media since then. On January 7, 2015, exactly one year to the day of their previous post, the band finally reappeared on social media by tweeting and posting of an image containing the words 'Don't call it a comeback' and the caption 'Now what were we saying ... ?'.[10] On January 9, 2015, the band posted a picture of the upcoming album's track listing.[11] On January 12, 2015, the band released a 15-second video clip on Instagram and Facebook with a preview of the song "Perfect Color."[12][13]

On September 17, 2015, the band announced the second single off of the album, "Looking Up".[14] On October 23, 2015, the single was surprise released to iTunes.[15]

On January 28, 2016, the band kicked off their 2016 Winter Tour in Columbus, Ohio. It's their first tour since 2012.

On February 2, 2016, the band released the third song from their forthcoming album, entitled "Pause", to iTunes and Amazon Music.

On August 15, 2016, the band posted a photo on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook indicating that their next album would be released in October 2016 and would be accompanied by a new tour with Goo Goo Dolls.[16]

The band posted on Instagram that their self-titled third studio album would be released on November 4, 2016.[17] On October 25, the band announced on Instagram a headline tour in 2017.[18]

In the first months of 2017, the band announced the release of a new unveiling this year. In March, they performed the song "Perfect Color" with an acoustic version of the event. In April, various socials announce that the song will be released shortly.

On July 11, 2017, it was announced on SafetySuit's Instagram page that lead guitarist Dave Garofalo would be leaving the band to pursue other interests.[19]

New single and future projects (2018-)

[edit]

In December 2017 with a post on social networks, the band's frontman announced that their stay in California had inspired them and that new music in "single" format without any album or outgoing Ep would have arrived as soon as possible. On March 13, 2018, the band announced from a post on Twitter that on the 30th of the current month, the new single "Victory" will debut on all music platforms. On July 9, 2018 with a post on social networks the band suggests the imminent arrival of a new song. Four days later, in fact, they post a short video with a background of the next single titled "Feels" out on July 27. In October the band with a tweet announces the imminent release of a new single, still untitled. Probably the release of the song will take place in 2019. During July, the band announced the arrival in August of the new single "Stuck to You".

Band members

[edit]

Current

  • Doug Brown – vocals, rhythm guitar (2002–present)
  • Jeremy Henshaw – bass (2002–present)
  • Tate Cunningham – drums (2002–present)

Former

  • Jesse Carey – guitar (2002–2004, with Crew)
  • Curtis Lloyd – guitar (2002–2004, with Crew)
  • Dave Garofalo – guitar (2004–2017)

Discography

[edit]

Studio albums

[edit]
Year Album details Peak chart positions
US
[20]
US
Digital
US
Rock
US
Heat

[21]
CAN
[22]
2008 Life Left to Go 173 5
2012 These Times 7 1 3 37
2016 SafetySuit
  • Release date: November 4, 2016
  • Label: Arena Complex Records (Independent)

Extended plays

[edit]
Year Album details Peak chart positions
US
Indie

[23]
2003 Day After Yesterday
(as Crew)
  • Release date: 2003
  • Label: Independent
2004 Crew EP
(as Crew)
  • Release date: 2004
  • Label: Independent
2006 Stay
(as Crew)
  • Release date: 2006
  • Label: Independent
2012 Hallelujah
  • Release date: August 28, 2012
  • Label: Arena Complex Records (Independent)
46
2017 #YouAreThePerfectColor
  • Release date: November 15, 2017[24]
  • Label: Arena Complex Records (Independent)

Singles

[edit]
Year Single Peak chart positions[25] Album
US
Adult
US
Alt
US
Rock
Digital
US
Heat
JPN
2008 "Someone Like You" 27 17 Life Left to Go
2009 "Stay" 17 44 36
"Annie"
2011 "Get Around This" These Times
"Let Go" 39 39
2012 "These Times"
2013 "On Your Side" SafetySuit
2015 "Looking Up" 48
2017 "Perfect Color" #YouAreThePerfectColor - EP
2018 "Victory" Non-album singles
"Feels"
2019 "Stuck to You"
2023 "Good Day To Be Alive"
"—" denotes releases that did not chart
"×" denotes periods where charts did not exist or were not archived.

Promotional singles

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Year Song Album
2016 "Pause"[26] SafetySuit

Other charted songs

[edit]
Year Song Peak chart positions[27] Album
US
Rock
Digital
2012 "Believe" 50 These Times
2015 "Never Stop (Wedding Version)" 20 Hallelujah (EP)

Music videos

[edit]
Year Title Director
2008 "Someone Like You" Zach Merck
2009 "Stay" Zach Merck, Damian Acevedo
2011 "Get Around This" Zach Merck
"Let Go"
2012 "These Times" Matt Pfeffer
"Hallelujah" Unknown
2016 "Looking Up"

References

[edit]
  1. ^ True, Chris (2008-05-15). "AllMusic biography". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-12-04.
  2. ^ "SafetySuit Nation biography". Safetysuitnation.com. Archived from the original on 2013-02-02. Retrieved 2011-12-04.
  3. ^ "SafetySuit Fan (@SafetySuit_Fans) - Twitter". twitter.com.
  4. ^ SafetySuit [@SafetySuit] (3 Sep 2011). "Many ?'s coming in_one of which is the release date. Its now Nov 1 for reasons out of our control. You hate it, we hate it, but we love you!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "SafetySuit Set New Date For 'These Times' :: Rock Access – Rock News". Rockaccess.net. Archived from the original on 2012-05-02. Retrieved 2011-12-04.
  6. ^ "SafetySuit Debut At No. 7". Rock Access. 12 January 2012. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  7. ^ "ORU-connected SafetySuit tops iTunes charts with new album :: Tulsa World". Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  8. ^ SafetySuit (26 June 2013). "Tate is tracking today. Tweet, FB or comment on Instagram "I want more #safetysuit to be entered into a chance to win a drum head!". twitter.com.
  9. ^ SafetySuit [@SafetySuit] (22 November 2013). "http://t.co/6t2e7QC0DW" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ^ SafetySuit [@SafetySuit] (7 January 2015). "Now what were we saying...?" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ^ "Instagram post by Safetysuit • Jan 9, 2015 at 8:07pm UTC". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24.
  12. ^ "Safetysuit on Instagram: "Perfect Color..."". Instagram. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  13. ^ Sorry, this content isn't available right now. www.facebook.com.[dead link]
  14. ^ "Instagram post by Safetysuit • Sep 17, 2015 at 5:00pm UTC". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24.
  15. ^ "Looking Up - Single by SafetySuit on Apple Music". iTunes. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  16. ^ "Instagram post by Safetysuit • Aug 15, 2016 at 4:00pm UTC". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24.
  17. ^ "Instagram post by Safetysuit • Oct 18, 2016 at 9:15pm UTC". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24.
  18. ^ "Instagram post by Safetysuit • Oct 25, 2016 at 6:39pm UTC". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24.
  19. ^ "Instagram post by Safetysuit • Jul 11, 2017 at 8:28pm UTC". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24.
  20. ^ "SafetySuit Album & Song Chart History - Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  21. ^ "SafetySuit Album & Song Chart History - Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  22. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 26, 2004. Retrieved 2012-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  23. ^ "SafetySuit Album & Song Chart History - Independent Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  24. ^ "#Youaretheperfectcolor" – via Amazon.
  25. ^ "SafetySuit Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  26. ^ "Pause" – via Amazon.
  27. ^ "SafetySuit Album & Song Chart History - Rock Digital Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
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