THE SAFETY FIRE INTERVIEW
Enjoy progressive metal music? You’ll love these guys, The Safety Fire! We caught up with Derya Nagle from the band who is braving the Brighton bungee with another band member, Calvin Smith, this Saturday.
Have you guys ever done a bungee before, and are you nervous?
This will be both myself and Calvin’s first time bungee jumping. We were tempted to do a tandem, but thought it would be best to have the chance of laughing at each other while they do it. Nervous…yeah a little, the closer it gets and the more I think about it. I think asking people about it, what to expect, their experiences and what not, hasn’t been the best idea either.
What is the craziest extreme activity you guys have ever done?
I can’t speak for anyone else, but personally, I went skydiving for my 16th birthday, which was pretty awesome. They asked me if I wanted to wear the usual skydiving attire, but for whatever reason I chose to go out in my jeans and t-shirt. Probably wasn’t the best idea, was absolutely freezing. As far as group activities go I would probably say touring. The first time we went to the US we drove around in a Suburban. Seven of us, in a seven seater SUV. Sleeping upright, playing high energy shows, hardly eating and driving over 12,000 miles for a month was pretty extreme….a different kind of extreme, more of a mental and physical marathon, but none the less, extreme!
What attracted you to want to bungee jump in Brighton?
It’s something we had been talking about recently as a few of the guys are afraid of heights, so when the opportunity came up we had to do it. Brighton is also one of our favourite cities to play and visit, so any excuse to get down to the beach, we’ll take it!
Explain a bit about your journey so far as The Safety Fire…
The band started out as five teenage friends jamming and learning our instruments together on the weekend. No real goal or anything, just having jokes. Skip a few years forward and we started to take things more seriously. We self-released an EP and started growing a fan base. Since then, we signed to InsideOut Music, toured the UK and Europe extensively, toured the US, played several major festivals and made many other boyhood dreams come true.
Any plans to use this for more than just a Saturday afternoon giggle / fright?
We have a lot of friends down in Brighton, so it’s definitely an excuse to see them and have some seaside jokes. I think doing things like this are always a good way to put things into perspective. Your whole body is telling you not to do it, as an intrinsic reaction, jumping off into the abyss is not something we are programmed to do. I’m looking forward to not dying.
What has been your best memory so far as The Safety Fire?
I think either playing in New York to a sold out venue or playing Download festival to a rammed out tent would probably be the best two, so far. It’s hard to say, as things are constantly changing, and we are given the opportunity to have these amazing experiences. I think getting on our flight to start our US tour would be a special one as well. We had just finished a UK tour, drove straight to the airport and flew on no sleep to Chicago. It was all very surreal, but that was just beginning of a very exciting month for us.
What is next for The Safety Fire? (Maybe even more extreme experiences!?)
We are playing Hevy Fest in a few weeks times, then playing the 100 club as part of the Converse Represent event. Then we have a full UK and Europe tour with Between The Buried And Me and Periphery in October. Lots of exciting times ahead! Be sure to check the dates out over at facebook.com/thesafetyfire. Safe.
Cheers for that guys, we’re excited to see you jump this weekend. Still some spaces left if anyone wants to come show some support and take the leap! Book a Brighton bungee here!
