London Ontario's , SAFE WAY HOME are not afraid to experiment within the punk/Hardcore frame. We spoke with frontman Dan Van Zant (July 2002) to see what was going on in their world.

INDIERAGE : What is your home town music scene like right now ?
Dan Of Safe Way Home : It's pretty good actually, after seeing what other parts of Canada have to work with, I think we are all very lucky as musicians living in the GTA.

INDIERAGE : What is it about your bands sound that makes you different from those around you ?
DAN : Without sounding too pretentious, I think that our band is fairly progressive, and really the whole genre of Punk is progressive, but again I'd like to think that we're always trying to play something that sounds fresh or different, at least to our ears.

INDIERAGE : What seems to be your most popular song ? The song most requested live ?
DAN : I guess, for popularity, it would be either "one away:, or "a spark to start the fire", but we haven't really had any requests when playing live.

INDIERAGE : Do you guys work day jobs or is this your main focus right now ?
DAN : Yeah we all work day jobs, we've got two Landscapers, a Construction Worker, a Roofer, a Janitor, and an Animal Control Officer. However, "safewayhome" is most definatly everyone's main focus.

INDIERAGE : From The travelling you have done within Canada, who gives the greatest reaction ?
DAN/SAFEWAYHOME : Well we haven't toured all of Canada, but from where we've been, Quebec is definatly the raddest scene ever. Lots of kids at shows, lots of support from people in the industry, at least on an indie level, and lots of positive attitudes.

INDIERAGE : Has anything come about from out side Canada ?
DAN : For a while we heard that a band from Italy really liked our stuff and wanted to do a split, but it never happened. Lately we've talked to this hip-hop act from the U.K. about some touring, but who knows what will really happen.

INDIERAGE : If there is 1 thing you want your fans to know about you, what is it ?
DAN : We really do care about what we do, and we put a lot of effort into this on every level that is possible for us.

INDIERAGE : Are you a supporter of Sites like MP3.com ? Do you think they are valuable or just a neccassary eveil. ?
DAN : Those sites are valuable for bands, like safewayhome, who want to make some connections, but because of sites like those, bands who really want to make a career out of this, like safewayhome, are in for an extremely bumpy ride. Basiclly downloading music is both good and bad, and theres no real defined truth about it because it affects such a broad spectrum of people, both positively and negatively.

INDIERAGE : What do you guys think about the Much Music Video awards ? To the world, they must think Canada has only 5 bands. What do you have to say ?
(REFERRING to the 2002 in particular) DAN : You know, it's not fair to isolate Canada as a place where the mainstream music industry is basiclly a cess pool, because it's really a worldwide epidemic.
So about the MMVA's I'd say they are supposed to be a recognition for good artists, but really they are just as jaded as any other award ceremonies; seriously a bunch of famous people either:
A) telling some new people that they can now "join the club" or
b)telling the old "members" how great they are.
I don't think every award at every ceremony is a sham, but the ones that seem to "matter" to most people are the most pathetic by far. A Beautiful Mind, best picture of the year??????? What about the fifty thousand other indie/non-hollywood films that were made this year ya know?

INDIERAGE : What are the plans for the band right now ?
DAN : Our plans right now are to tour as much as possible, while trying to finish writing some songs so we can record a full length. We are hoping to be VERY BUSY!!!! (hint hint...to anyone...PLEASE!!!)

INDIERAGE : What seems to be the bands biggest disagreement ?
DAN : We are a little bit unorganized at times but besides that there is not an ongoing issue that we can't resolve. Most of us have known each other for the better parts of our lives, so we don't really let stuff bottle up to much.

INDIERAGE : What is the one thing the whole band always agrees on ?
DAN : That "they" suck and "we" rule! Jokes, um we always agree on the way our songs should sound, and if we don't we work with it until it is resolved. Sometimes it is trying, but always worth it.

INDIERAGE : I know the money is tight & being in a band can be tough. But what are the greatest parts?
SAFEWAYHOME : For us the best part is being able to listen to our own music. We try to make music that we like more than anything we listen to, and when you achieve that, which we all feel we did with our ep "blueprint",and we want to keep doing that with all our future recordings.

If you want to hear more from SAFE WAY HOME , visit our Canadian Band Listing Page, You will find their link & other great bands.
Safe Way Home also deals with East End Industries