Interview with Silver Dose: ‘Music is supposed to make you think; if our music does that, our job is done’

New Orleans’ based hard rock band Silver Dose released their debut album Slander last month, giving us a melting pot of tunes heavy on infectious riffs and unbridled energy.

The band comprises Guzz Andrade (vocals and lead guitar), Jordan Tamplain (bass and backing vocals) and Rikki Frazier (drums). Andrade moved to New Orleans from Brazil in 2018 and formed the band in October 2019: ‘After I moved to New Orleans, I went to a festival as a guest, I jammed with a few people and was invited to play an open mic night,’ he said. ‘Someone told our former drummer that I was in town and we started Silver Dose. The name doesn’t have a big story behind it, we thought it sounded good. It’s really hard to find a band name that isn’t taken (laughs). People have all kinds of crazy theories about the name, like it is related to drugs or a silver bullet!’

Slander delivers 11 hard rock tracks which seamlessly blend different rhythms, including Brazilian influences, hip hop and funk, all wrapped into drop tuned guitar riffs and catchy melodic hooks: ‘It’s a challenge to describe it but it’s my perspective,’ Andrade said. ‘It’s like hard rock that has mixed up a lot of influences,’ he said. ‘It was the first time making music that was a melting pot. The intention was to make songs that were diverse. If anything sounded too similar, we changed it. A song starts with an inspiration, normally a rhythm. I listen to everything from Brazilian music to hip hop and metal (laughs). When I write songs, I know what I want to write about but I hardly ever start with the actual lyrics. Normally, I’ll have a melody with a few key words and then think how to divide this melody into syllables to fill up the blanks in the song later. That’s how I wrote ‘Headlines’ (the opener). That Latin rhythm came first and the guitar complements it sounding percussive.’

‘The song has that feeling of being an outlaw’

‘Headlines’ erupts with a seriously addictive guitar riff, amped up by a wah pedal that builds: ‘The song was born in a jam,’ he said. ‘Jordan was also playing his bass through a wah pedal and I remember that he told me that the intro sounded like a police chase on a 70’s TV show. (laughs). We tracked it live – without the vocals – and then I double tracked the guitar and added some overlays in the chorus. When I wrote the lyrics, I had Jordan’s police comment in mind, the song has that feeling of being an outlaw and waking up at night and making trouble (laughs). The second verse could be about a criminal or a savage animal, a creature.’

As the track kicks off: “Headed for the spotlight, we are red and blue sparks always in sight. Coming under fire, not afraid of confrontation. It’s like the call of the wild, ready to ignite.”

His move to the US has influenced other songs on the album, including ‘Save Your Bullets’: ‘I had a few of the verses in my mind after watching a documentary about children in Brazil joining the drug cartels,’ he said. ‘Then, I moved to the US where we have all the mass shootings and it made me think about what motivates them and what not. Sometimes you have to lay down your weapons, metaphorically or otherwise. Some people think the song is about suicide; I guess it could be in a certain way. I like to leave songs open to interpretation. Music is supposed to make you think, if our music does that, our job is done.’

As the song goes: “Better save your bullets, problem child. No perfect crime. Lay your weapons on the ground. Find your redemption. Save your bullets, child. Look at you now.”

Growing up in Brazil, Nirvana was instrumental to his musical development: ‘When I started to listen to rock like Nirvana,’ I wasn’t so good at English,’ he said. ‘I listened to it and thought I HAD to learn English and learn how to play guitar, it definitely changed my life, as you can see!’

‘It’s a crazy love story’

Other tracks are a homage to both Brazil and New Orleans, especially ‘4700 Miles’, which is a reference to the distance between them: ‘This song is very special to me,’ he said. ‘It’s a crazy love story (laughs). I’d never been to the US, I didn’t even have a passport. I met my wife on Facebook. I was playing in a band in Brazil called Vulgar Type and I’d post updates on Facebook about what we were doing. We had some common friends on there and got chatting. After talking for three months, I went to visit her in New Orleans. That’s where the lines “Can I miss someone I have never met, can I miss something I just never had, you came like a miracle” comes from. And the line “break the screen, hold me tight” because she was always behind her phone screen when we talked. I wrote that song before we met for the first time. I played it for her at our wedding.’

Andrade has recently come back from a trip to Brazil and admits that he has found a new appreciation for his home country since living abroad: ‘I have a huge family, we’re very close,’ he said. ‘I have a lot of friends in Brazil. Now, I go home but it’s not my home. I enjoy it even more and rediscover a lot of things to do with the culture, I guess it’s an immigrant thing. I always wanted to visit the US, to see California, New York, New Orleans etc. I watched an American jazz band in Brazil years ago and said “One day, I will be there”. New Orleans is amazing, it’s a mixture of Latin, African and French influences, so in that way it relates to Brazil, which is also a melting pot of cultures. It’s very inspirational.’ One of his favourite venues in his adopted home city is Southport Hall: ‘We opened for Trapt (a Californian rock band) and Lillian Axe (a local hard rock band) there,’ he said happily. ‘There was great receptivity. We interact and jam with other rock bands here. Locally, we love Them Guys, they’re a rock band, they’re very good friends of ours. We play a lot of gigs together. She Might Be A Beast is a great (rock) band. They’re a trio as well. I learn about great local bands every time we go to play. I feel like there’s a great music scene restarting after COVID.’

‘Brazil has a very diverse culture, also musically’

If he could go for a drink with anyone, he is quick to say Jimi Hendrix: ‘He was so unique for his time, I think he approached his instrument in a unique way. There would be no Nirvana or Metallica without him. He didn’t care so much what people would think, he was like “I’m gonna make some noise and create something new (laughs)!” Bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Papa Roach, Linkin Park – I still have those influences when I play. I have lots of Brazilian influences, too. Musicians like Sepultura and Lenine, rhythms like bossa nova and all kinds of different stuff I grew up listening to over there. You might be able to hear it in our song “Down The Land” which is about the Amazon rainforest and the indigenous people fighting for their land. Brazil has a very diverse culture, also musically.’

If he could put together a supergroup for the night with him on vocals, it would be delightfully raucous: ‘I guess it would feature Mike Kerr from Royal Blood on bass and Tom Morello on guitar because I wonder how crazy they could sound together with all the effects they use?! I would add Eloy Casagrande from Sepultura on drums to keep it as heavy as it gets, too!’

They’ve had some funny moments together, although one recent one stands out for Andrade: ‘It happened when we were recording at Studio in the Country (an historic recording studio 70 miles northeast of New Orleans),’ he said. ‘I was talking about so many classic albums that were recorded using that beautiful piano in the room. I wasn’t even touching it because it was a work of art. And Jordan, ignoring all that, just sat in front of it and played the Baby Shark theme like it was nothing!’

(Top photo from left to right: Rikki, Guzz and Jordan.)