The Failsafe, a hard rock band based in Minneapolis, recently released the Toxic Hearts EP. This six-song collection features some awesome tunes that showcase a progression in the band’s style over the past few years.
The members of The Failsafe include: Jesse Weber (vocals); Caio Thomas (guitar); Chad Helmonds (drums); and Deven Jason (bass/guitar). Though based in Minneapolis, the band members live in different states – Caio and Chad in Minnesota, and Deven and Jesse in South Carolina.
The Failsafe began in 2019, Three of the members — Caio, Chad and Jesse – had previously been in a band called The Phoenix Philosophy that broke up in late 2018. They still wanted to play music together, so they formed The Failsafe. The band released an album called Erasing Color in 2019 and the new EP Toxic Hearts in 2023.
All songs on the Toxic Hearts EP except “Ghost Of You” were self-produced, with mixing done by Chad Helmonds and mastering by Augustine Ortiz, Jr. “Ghost Of You” was co-written, produced, mixed and mastered by Sahaj Ticotin.
When it comes to song-writing, all of the band members contribute. Someone will usually come up with some element of the song – a guitar riff, a vocal hook – and then they work together to build a song around that. Jesse wrote most of the lyrics on their older songs, but recent songs have been a more collaborative effort by the whole band.
What impresses me most about The Failsafe musically is the variety. Each song is unique. The tempos range from fast to slower, even within the same song. Their songs combine both heavy and melodic elements. There are some elements of metalcore in some of the tracks, with hard vocals and breakdowns. Jesse’s tremendous vocals are versatile, as they can be soft and thoughtful or heavy and powerful depending on the message he’s trying to share in a particular song.
Now I’ll share some of my interpretations of the songs on the Toxic Hearts EP. I think most of them are about trying to deal with and overcome relationship issues. The one exception to this would be “Us Against The World”. I saw this song is actually from 2021. That’s right after the COVID-19 year. I’m not sure if that has anything to do with that specifically, but it’s definitely an anthem of being strong and standing up against adversity – at least those are my thoughts. Jesse commented on a Facebook post about the EP that the band wrote these songs over the past three years, so they represent the evolution of the band’s musical style.
The band shares that the first song on the EP, “Remind Me I’m Alive”, which was released in 2020, was inspired by being isolated and alone during the COVID-19 lockdown. “Us Against The World” was actually originally written for a friend of the band who is a professional wrestler to use as his entrance theme.
The video for the title track, “Toxic Hearts”, is a fan appreciation video of sorts. It definitely shows how much the band members enjoy what they do and love interacting with people. Caio put the video together. It was made using a lot of behind-the-scenes footage filmed on band members’ phones combined with some professionally-shot live footage. It was all turned into a Polaroid-style collage, and it came out great!
The Failsafe is gearing up for their biggest year yet in 2024. They have some amazing new songs coming out which they think are some of the best they’ve made. As of now, the band has one upcoming show, which is the Antimatter Music Festival in Sioux Falls, SD on December 2nd. They are planning on a tour next spring, so stay tuned!
You can find The Failsafe on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and the band’s website.
Annie's Awesome Rock Blog 