March 11th, 2009 
James Shotwell The owner slash mastermind of Failsafe Records took a sit down at the Harvest Of Hope merch tent with UTG Billy and Lee to discuss recent releases and the development of the growing label.
[UTG] Billy: It’s Sunday of the three day Harvest of Hope Festival. How are you holding up?
Shaun, owner of Failsafe Records: It’s been a lot of fun. We did The Fest in October and it was stressful. It was the first major thing we did as a label, and we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off. We came out here, set up and up until today we only had one band play Friday and Saturday, then today four. Sales started slow, but today’s been great. The bands have been received well.
[UTG]: What are the recent releases?
Shaun: The most recent thing we put out has been The Casting Out. It’s Nathan Grey from Boysetsfire, which is what I grew up to. He’d be pissed if he heard me say that, but working with him is awesome. We just put out the test pressing of Anchor Arms split with Why I Hate from California. Justin is the lead singer of Why I Hate, and he’d never been out of the state, never been on a plane, and flew here for this weekend to be with Anchor Arms. That’s being pressed right now, and will be out next month. Really excited.
[UTG]: What is your responsibility at the label?
Shaun: I wear a lot of hats. I have James from Anchor Arms, he talks to people and does research for me. I got an army buddy Brandon who helps me out but generally it is a one or two man show most of the time.
[UTG]: Where are your offices?
Shaun: Out of the house in Gainesville, Florida. My wife has stepped up as well mailing stuff. We’re pretty small right now trying to make it happen.
[UTG] Lee : Hows Gainesville to work out of?
Shaun: I would have never started the label if I hadn’t moved to Gainesville. I’ve always thought it’d be a cool idea but was never in a place to do it. I saw Anchor Arms play, and it was their second show in front of a handful of people and I realized how good the bands were. I thought it was a good opportunity to start the label, starting with Anchor Arms and built from there. The momentum hasn’t stopped. It has gone quite a bit better than I could’ve hoped for. I love Gainesville and the musicians are unreal, there are so many good ones. The city for shows is what I’ll dance around because some of the kids have seen it all. Hot Water, Against Me. I don’t know if the kids are jaded or spoiled, but some nights we’ll still play to 8 kids. Not just us, but all the shows. I don’t know why they aren’t eating it up because they don’t realize how awesome it is.
[UTG]: Would you ever consider a rap group on the label?
Shaun: We always said we wouldn’t rule anything out but folk will probably be the next departure we take. I love it, and we have been talking to some bands. The biggest thing is we have to be behind it 100 percent.
[UTG] Lee: Apart from Anchor Arms, what else is in the works?
Shaun: We have Bitchin Summer out west writing a full length and Onslaught Dynamo writing a full length.
[UTG]: You get the final word, anything at all you’d like to say.
Shaun: I’m very excited about what the future holds and we are working hard to put out good music, not just any kind of music. I am excited for the bands, and that people come up to them and say they’ve heard them. They are built from the ground up and it is awesome to see it grow. People have been awesome to us and HOH has been amazing, we love it. Thank you for coming by to talk with me.
*Written By: Billy T*
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