Artist Spotlight: Meet Underdose
Can you talk about any specific themes or motifs that run throughout 'TILT?'
The governing thought behind our music in general, not only on ‘TILT,’ is an almost meditative introspection - emotional and cognitive self-analysis of the various states we find ourselves in, and which are rarely on the bright and shiny side of things. Our songs are meant not to be anthemic but rather intimate, relatable to a thinking, feeling person.
Were there any challenges or obstacle s you faced while creating this album?
Oh, you bet! Jason’s (our guitar player/vocalist) daughter was born (a bit – 1.5 months to be exact - earlier than was expected) right on our 3rd day in the studio, which obviously messed up our recording schedule big time. Booking additional sessions got further complicated due to various vis major instances but hey - that’s life, right? And life is exactly what we write about. The most important thing is that we stayed focused, pushed through in the face of adversity and the album is out. Recording is never meant to be a pleasure cruise, and if it is, you are probably doing something wrong.
Can you talk about any standout tracks on 'TILT' and what makes them special to you?
Every single song is special to us, as each one is different and has a unique history of evolving into the final form that you can hear on the album. “Serendipity” is probably Jason’s most personal song, as it talks about coping with estrangement from your own children. “Fake Eyelashes” is what we grew to call a skeptical love song about a toxic relationship and how it plants seeds of self-doubt. It’s also a great example of our lyrical collaboration as we both came up with separate ideas, musical and lyrical, and they blended wonderfully into a very cohesive song. “HumAnimals” is lyrically composed from notes and letters of French soldiers hunkered down in WW1 trenches, describing the utter madness and hell they had been forced to go through. It’s also the most complex song on the record, clocking in at almost 8 minutes.
What has been the most memorable experience or achievement in your music career so far?
In 2013, we headlined a show at the Camden Underworld, London. It was an absolutely eye-opening experience – 4 crazy guys rolling up in a van, after having travelled across half of Europe, just to play a single bloody show. Was it the smartest idea ever? Not really. Was it worth it? You bet your ass it was! We were stressed out of our minds but were eventually able to deliver a killer show. A similarly taxing but rewarding experience was playing live in the Slovak National Broadcast on the Headbanger_FM show. Feel free to check both sets here (the radio appearance interview is in Slovak though):
How do you continuously grow and evolve as a band?
I guess there’s no other way besides continuously exposing ourselves to new music and art in general, not letting ourselves get confined in “safe” genre clichés and constantly challenging ourselves through different, weird approaches to songwriting. Teaming up with Marco, our synth player, was a major breakpoint in opening ourselves to new possibilities, soundscapes and explorations. We started out jamming at first, but we eventually went ‘Hey, this stuff is cool, why don’t you join our band?’. It’s openness to novelties like this that prevents us from getting rusty and enables us to still find joy in what we are doing as musicians after all these years.
