Out of all of the local Seattle event companies, Safe Escape Events has the most unique and connected bond.
Formed after a group of friends decided to try a new direction with production, SEE has hosted numerous events at The Underground with much fanfare. When it comes to their shows, patrons have seen almost every genre, from house all the way to hardstyle.
We linked up with Safe Escape Events to discuss their upcoming show, Nova Astra, and their special method of business.
RMR: Tell us, who is on the Safe Escape Events team? What is each member in charge of?
Stephen Cleese: The management team is made up of Dylan Drew the CEO, myself a general manager, Lane Frost head of promotions, Robin Hess our lead on social media and journalist and James Wong our photographer and media manager. We also have a kickass team of promoters!
RMR: What is it like to create these shows as a team of friends?
Dylan Drew: When you are surrounded by and working with the people that make you the happiest, I truly think that reflects in the overall vibe of each show. We have all gotten to a point that we work together so well that things seem to just come together. It is truly unique and hard to describe the feeling when we each work so hard at our part but since we do it together its equally as fun. SEE has been blessed with an amazing group of people behind the scenes.
Stephen: It’s kinda stressful to put together these events at times but it’s always worth it to bring people together and give people an excellent experience. Working with DJ’s and promoters and the venue owners is something I never imagined I’d be doing seven or eight years ago when I was just an attendee to EDM events. It’s a really unique experience and I’m super lucky, especially to be doing it with my friends.
Robin Hess: It’s an amazing experience seeing all the hard work of these events come into motion. From event coordination to media, to actually watching DJ’s prepare their mixes, it’s truly an exciting thing to be a part of and the community vibe is strong.
Since we’re still fairly new, what I look forward to the most is seeing our team build into something bigger and watching our grassroot DJ’s and artists grow. I hope this collective brings a lot of happiness and sense of community to everyone who is a part of it.
Lane Frost: Getting together to put on these shows has been teaching me a lot at a fast pace in the short amount of time (one and a half years) I have been attending shows. I was originally an attendee to a couple SEE shows then I wanted to help with creating the magic behind the scenes.
Scouting for DJ’s and producers in our local areas so they can showcase and express their music; constantly making those amazing connections with people (Musicians and attendees) that bring this community of music and people closer is really the heart of it all.
RMR: We’ve seen quite a few memorable shows from SEE so far. In your experience, what moments have been the best?
Dylan: I think my perspective on this is a bit different but for me, it’s a collection of many small moments. These moments happen throughout the entire night and each time remind me why we work at creating an escape through music.
When I see a DJ really into the track they just set up finally drop getting as lost in the music as the crowd. When I see someone singing along, or a photographer catching a memory that others might have missed, these are the best moments.
Stephen: It’s always difficult trying to decide what’s the best moment. I think it’d either have to be our first event or our last event for me. The first one just cause it was so incredible to see how many came out to support us. Our last event because of the music and attendees. Melodic dubstep is one of my preferred genres and the people were awesome. I traded a bunch of light shows and made some new friends as well.
Lane: If I had to pick a couple of moments from SEE shows, the first would be as an attendee at the first show “Winter Wonderland”. That first night of really getting to engage with people, seeing the amount of flow toys being used at The Underground and ultimately growing closer with people I would soon be working with! It’s also heartwarming to see faces from the first SEE show still going to all and the most recent shows!
A second moment working with SEE would have to be “SEE-137: Wubba Lubba Dubstep” we had all put this show together with a Rick and Morty theme, we had one of the hardest hitting local dubstep line ups and we had actually brought the Szechuan sauce for the event! Everyone was really digging the theme and fun put into that night. We always plan on doing these fun things at shows.
RMR: Besides Nova Astra, what’s next for SEE?
Rob: Several team members in SEE have connections to RMR. We share a lot of similar perspective on our view of the local region. We want to do what we can to build up our region, our own companies, our artists, and ourselves as much as we can and try to share the love and the fun as much as we can as well. I hope to see SEE and RMR team up with bigger projects in the future because I feel that we balance each other out and together can build a stronger base for new and cutting-edge events that the PNW have yet to imagine.
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