IE: For someone who has never heard of you guys tell us a little about Safe And Sound, when you guys got started and what your band is all about?

Jaxon: Safe And Sound started in January of 2012 as a 4-piece wannabe straight edge youth crew band. Since then we have rounded our sound off to be more representative of a 90's vibe mixed with a melodic and northwest influence. We are playing a style that not too many do nowadays and we love it.

IE: OK, so your new EP just came out on vinyl after being released digitally a few months back and it is called “The Tides”. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

Jaxon: Our 7", "The Tides" was released by Life To Live Records based out of Florida. It was released digitally on May 2nd, and records started shipping in mid-September (unfortunately due to a major pressing plant delay). 650 records were pressed plus 25 test presses. Last I heard around half of the records are gone from the L2L HQ meaning most were sold but some were distributed to other labels and to us.

IE: Where was the cover photo taken and what is the meaning behind the 7"s title?

Jaxon: Our cover photo was taken in Thea's Park on the waterfront of Tacoma, WA. “The Tides” refers to a few of the lyrics that I wrote for the 7" before it had a title. Basically I relate the rising and lowering of tides to the highs and lows of our lives. They are constant and unchangeable but you don't have to sway with them or be swept away.

IE: Since the band's start in 2012 you have kept really busy racking up a bunch of demo and cassette releases and also doing 4 tours. How much of your free time would you say goes into band related activities and is that same enthusiasm shared by everyone in Safe And Sound? Would you say you are the type of person who has your band on your mind 24/7?

Jaxon: Safe And Sound is for sure more than just a hobby to me. I love being in a band that has had the opportunity to tour and to have a record pressed so I take pride in that. I also love being the one behind the merch, tours, and main ideas for our band. It's kind of like my little baby haha. I would say a decent amount of my free time would be spent mocking merch designs out of anything! Our lead guitarist Rusty shares the same enthusiasm that I do but the other 3 are more or less just along for the ride. They are interested but we are the ones who deal with almost everything Safe And Sound related. I would say I think about Safe And Sound a lot of the time because as I said before it's more than just a hobby to me. I want to see how far we can go and how much we can do.

IE: When you were giving me a run down of what you had put out you described your  2012 demo as "really bad". What made it so bad in your eyes?

Jaxon: Haha, oh God. It was called "Life Choices". We just wanted to be a straight edge youth crew band but we didn't know how to do it at all. One of the songs had a ridiculous breakdown, it was recorded by some random that had no idea what he was doing in a practice space. It was just bad news all around. It was my first time writing lyrics so some of the stuff was pretty rough too. I was embarrassed of it. I wish I could completely erase it from the internet but it's out there.

IE: Safe And Sound has done 4 tours in your 2 years together.  Being in a van for a long time with the same people really helps you get to know people better.  With that said tell us 1 interesting thing about each of the other 4 guys in your band?

Jaxon: Our lead guitarist Rusty used to be a homeless crust punk until he found Krishna, our other guitarist Jacob is a vegan that works at McDonalds (I am not lying), our bassist Mat broke his foot doing a heel flip in a tennis court while we were on tour, and our drummer Will doesn't actually listen to a lot of hardcore but loves the Deftones and candy.

IE: Now what would they say about you if they were given the previous question?

Jaxon: That I love Morrissey too much and spend too much money on clothes.

IE: Where have you guys played on your previous 4 tours? What were some of the places you played that may have surprised you and what were some of the places you played that may have been a bit of a letdown? I did an interview with Kill Your Idols awhile back and they told me that the smallest towns on the map often ended up having much better shows than a lot of the bigger cities that you might expect a bigger turnout from.

Jaxon: We have done two Western Canada tours and two West Coast tours. One place that really surprised us was Lethbridge, Alberta our first time around. That was one of the best shows we have ever played. Only around 60 kids there but during our set there were at least 10/15 kids constantly singing along and that was and still is a huge deal to us. Most of our California shows were a bust. Especially the LA area. I feel like you have to be more of a hype band to have kids come out there so that was a letdown. I would completely agree with that!

IE: While out on tour many DIY hardcore bands rely on the generosity of their fans to put them up for the night here and there and maybe provide a meal or two. Give a shout out to the person/persons who took the best care of you on any of these tours. What did they do to deserve this shout out?

Jaxon: We always meet the best people who give us amazing places to stay on tour. There are 2 people that come to mind in particular. Doodoo Dave from Lethbride, who let us stay at his literal mansion and let us have girls over to party. He had heated floors and let us all shower and told us stories as we watched Sharknado. The other person is Caleb from Las Vegas who threw us a show at his house, let us swim in his pool, bought us tons of snacks and made us veggie dogs and burgers. He also had an awesome dog named Henry.

IE: Who gets to control the music while you guys drive around and tell us some of the things we can hear in the Safe And Sound van that isn't punk or hardcore music related?

Jaxon: It's mainly the driver or the co-pilot. So, mostly me or Matt. Some of the things you would hear would be Sabbath, Obituary, Slayer, Incubus, Sunny Day Real Estate, Madonna (my choice), and Shaggy (unfortunately).

IE: Any upcoming tour plans in the works now? What's next?

Jaxon: We are roughly planning a Southern tour for the winter time but nothing is set in stone! We want to do the east coast next summer!

IE: You guys are obviously proud to fly the straight edge flag but after some band member changes one out of the 5 of you is not edge. Who is the non-edger in the band and has this ever led to any weird situations? Are there ever any moments of teasing or joking around that may go back and forth in good fun?

Jaxon: Our drummer Will is not straight edge. Not any that I can think of! He is totally about us being proud of who we are and we let him do his thing! Yes we tease and joke but it is all in good fun. Will is our wild card and Safe And Sound wouldn't be the same without him.

IE: You were telling me that your sound has evolved since the band started. At first you were more of a straight up youth crew style band but now you have worked in more of a melodic sound feeding off of some of your influences that range from Champion,  to Burn, to Spawn. What would you say is the biggest factor behind the slight tweak to your sound and could you see yourselves branching out and doing more in the way of experimenting in the future?

Jaxon: I think it's because it's more of the music that we respect for being different and we strive to be different also, that's what got us to stray away from being the typical youth crew band that we started to be. We still incorporate a youth crew style but we make it our own. Also Rusty is really big into his guitar work so he always keeps it interesting. Yes before we break up we have talked about doing a release that sounds like late Uniform Choice or Turning Point. Some full on singing and more rocky haha.

IE: Where would you like to see the direction of this band go in say 2 to 3 years from now? Do you see Safe And Sound as a more serious band with touring most of the year or do you see it as something more laid back or something more in the middle?

Jaxon: Before we call it quits we want to make it to Europe and Japan. If we can do that I can die happy. 2 to 3 years I could see us being there and playing other places or still a band but playing infrequently because 2 out of 5 members are married and one is on the path so I feel like our time is becoming very limited haha. I would say something more in the middle if even that. I have no desire to be on the road for months at a time. Touring is an amazing thing but I get homesick too easily.