My Safe Word Is Murder: The Band Shredding Regional Victoria
By Wil Clifford | August 12th, 2021
The trio have taken their impressive live show around Victoria, including an opening slot for Private Function. Now they're focused on bringing that experience to their recordings.
"I think we've really relied on our live performances, that's how we've found new people to listen to us," said vocalist Grace Cecilia. "Everything's been from word-of-mouth and live performances, now we really need to focus on our online presence and online content".
My Safe Word is Murder are something of a supergroup; Cecilia's played in Flaura prior to MSWIM, while drummer Will Pain and guitarist Luke Pender are current members of Tall Relatives and Lazerlips respectively. According to Pain, scheduling between all the bands works out well.
"Obviously because both bands play a bit, there's been a few close calls, but it's pretty good".
Cecilia befriended Pender and Pain in 2019 after Flaura and Lazerlips appeared on a lineup together. Armed with a few originals and plenty of gigging experience between the three of them, MSWIM experimented with the possibility of the project becoming permanent with a performance at St. Kilda Festival.
"[Pain and Pender] played so well and I got along with them...I kind of just started poaching them, hoping they would join a new band," said Cecilia. "I got the opportunity to play at St Kilda [and] I really wanted to do something different".
"When I first started singing publically and performing, people would always try and put me in boxes. They'd say "You're a pop artist", I'd say "No I'm not", then they'd be like "Okay, well maybe you could be a blues artist" and I was like "No, I want to play heavy music, I want to be in the alternative scene".
MSWIM performing at The Leadbeater Hotel in January (Photography by Thomas McMahon)
Inspired by the heavy metal of Black Sabbath, the group's tough demeanour shines through in every facet of their sound. Pender's fuzzed riffs pack a mean punch, melding a bluesy playing style with forceful tones. Pain's drumming is vicious, summoning vigorous beats to contain the wild melodies. Cecilia's vocals can sing you to sleep then scream you awake, all with an assertive power. Everything, including the band name, is tough.
"I came up with [the name] because I was really sick of people not taking me seriously as a musician," Cecilia said. "I was really sick of not being treated for my worth, for my talent. I think I'm very tough even though I'm small and a female...I'm fucking extreme and I belong here."
Since their formation, the trio have been without a permanent bass player. While this has suited them well given their writing style, the band is open to the idea of introducing a new member.
“We'd like to have a permenant female or non-binary person in the band. I just really love that feminine energy,” Cecilia said. “It's just hard to find someone that fits and we'd really want to take our time finding someone...We don't want to have someone that doesn't click with us”.
Despite the intermittent Victorian lockdowns, MSWIM have flourished with their live show. The trio travelled to Geelong in April to perform with Neuritis and Nurse Ratchet, joining Nurse Ratchet again two months later in Ballarat, their first experience with a seated show.
"It's a lot more chill I think, I don't know why,” said Pain. “I think it's just that weird country vibe. I've grown up in the country, that's probably why. Regional gigs are sick”.
In May, the band opened a sold out show for punk legends Private Function in Frankston.
"We were playing at Bar Open...halfway through our set Chris, the lead singer of Private Function and Joe the guitarist came," said Cecilia. "I was freaking out because I love Private Function, I've listened to them since I was a little baby teenager...They really liked our set and they thought we were cool so they popped us on to support them in Frankston, it was awesome!"
"Our last three or four shows were cancelled, we had a big headliner that was cancelled, that was really shit. Now I think we're going to focus on recording, it's too ricky at the moment and it's really damaging for our mental health to continuously get ourselves excited for something that just gets cancelled".
MSWIM released Little Doll in October last year, their second single.
While regional gigs have been a major success for the trio, their Melbourne-based shows have been scarce. Like many of their peers, MSWIM have had countless performances postponed or cancelled; a headline at Death by Glory, an opening slot for Maggie Alley and a fundraiser for WIRES Wildlife Rescue to name a few. Pender articulates the feeling well: “It's so frustrating to be an artist”.
“It's getting easier to deal with [cancellations] now but it was very disheartening in the beginning, because you'd get your hopes up planning gigs,” Cecilia said. “It's not very common for us to just do spontaneous gigs, we like to plan them ahead of time and put a lot of effort in”.
“Our first gig back after last year was with Earl Gray's Breakfast Tea. We hadn't played in ages,” Pain said. “I realised playing that gig how much we needed it...We're keen to get back into it, when everything's going well”.
Looking to the future, MSWIM is optimistic. With plans to record standout tracks from their live show, the band hopes to further their reach online.
“We really want to focus on our recording and getting some different kind of content out to people,” said Cecilia. “Meeting some new markets and new audiences would be really cool”.