Upcoming NYC alt rock band Nicotine Dolls (lead singer Sam Cieri, guitarist John Hays, bassist John Merritt, and drummer Abel Tabares) are ready to share their emotional and powerful EP How Do You Love Me that fills the void that Snow Patrol and The Fray left behind in the early 00s. The band formed in 2017 and their EP is a dedication to relationships, love, and a 2 AM frantic wake up call with lyrics that lead singer Cieri poured into the personal EP.
I sat down with the lead singer to talk about the new EP (out now), how the band met, and how they delivered a fantastic rendition of one of late great Tina Turner’s songs.
Your sound fills the niche that Snow Patrol and The Fray held once. Raw,
empathetic, and melancholic. Did Snow Patrol and The Fray influence the band’s
sound? If not, who did?
Actually my favorite band is Snow Patrol so that is a lovely compliment. I heavily
listened to them growing up and still love the their Irish influences and cinematic
sensibilities. I also listened to The Fray and grew up in the Alt/Indie Pop world. There is
also an earnest quality to these bands where they aren’t afraid to be romantic in their
structure and I think that may be what I have taken the most from bands like these.
Your voice sounds like something from the deep South. Did you have vocal
training?
Growing up I was in musicals and choir here and there and learned the basics of
singing healthy and all the technical tools I still look to today but I definitely have come a
ways with my voice. A big influence for me was Michael Bolton growing up. I remember
hearing that Hercules song and knowing I wanted to be a singer. I think with him as my
main influence as well as Joe Cocker and a few other my singing voice became
connected to them. People have pointed out that my talking and singing voice are very
different and I don’t think I have ever sung and spoken from the same place in my body.
I do remember this one time a producer saying I had to “clean” up my vocal because I
sounded to “Michael Bolton Cheesy” so I tried to do that for a few years. It’s taken a few
more to get back to singing in a place that’s the most honest and natural for me and if
that means I am giving Bolton Cheese that’s something I am completely ok with.
How did the band meet each other and where did you get the name Nicotine Dolls
from?
The band was formed when me and our lead guitarist John Hays were doing a tour of
a show called “ONCE”. In the show we played guitar both of us and I was writing all this
stuff and knew that when I got back to NYC I wanted to start a band and John had said
“if you ever start a band I am going to be your lead guitarist” I held him to that and we
started the band in 2017. There were a bunch of trial and error moments finding John
Merritt (Bass) and Abel Tabares (Drums) but when the four of us finally got into a room
together we all felt something had clicked. It was clear that we had something special
and that we were all going to fully commit to seeing how far we could take that. We had
been going under a few different names but finally landed on Nicotine Dolls for two
reasons. First we needed something no one else had and that was easy to spell.
Second, when I was in high school I would go to parties but be socially overwhelmed
(still a constant for me) so I would stay outside chain smoking. I noticed there was a
little group of people that seemed to do this at every party so I referred to us as Nicotine
Dolls.
The new EP, How Do You Love Me, is an emotional powerhouse of songs. What
inspired it?
I was at the end of my 20s, the end of a relationship, and the end of my rope with a
few mental health issues. This all seemed to culminate in a string of songs. These 4
were the ones all four of us resonated with the most. Especially HDYLM, that song
came out of a manic 2 AM episode and was something that broke my heart but also felt
euphoric and kinetic. There was also a relationship that ended but didn’t, you know?
“Real House” and “SLIP” are both that story but from different perspectives. “30 Somehow”
was the song that felt like I needed to put out just as a bookmark for who I am
emotionally and physically at this point in time. That was another one that made me cry
when I heard it back for the first time.
How did you end up covering Tina Turner’s “The Best”?
I love doing covers. Taking these incredibly classic and timeless songs are understanding them on a comprehensive and conceptual level is like going to school every time. “The Best” was just one where I wanted to focus on the simple drive and power that she was able to capture. The decision to release was based on the luck which sometimes we have and sometimes we don’t in having it do so well on TikTok. I felt we could do the song respectfully as a tribute to Tina while also giving our listeners what they were asking for.
How will these songs translate to a live audience when you go on tour?
Hopefully they are elevated live. We just did our first Sold Out Tour and having people
scream these words back and express in a room together the shared experience of
them is pretty fucking wonderful. Our live shows are not just us up playing at our
audience. The show is a shared experience, we are all in a room sharing the night and
we acknowledge that. We talk and play and laugh and cry and treat every show like it is
it’s own specific hang with all of our friends because that’s what it is.
What do you want these particular songs to be remembered for?
I don’t know if I have any or could ever have any input as to what these songs will be
remembered for. My “plans” if you can call them that stop the moment the song is
released. Then it’s all up to the listener and the when and where of the song coming into
their lives. I guess if I am answering the question it would be the hope that they are
remembered as moments or touchstones for our audience to mark the when and where
and who and why of what’s happening the world around them. I can’t say what effect it
will have on someone but I do hope it does have one.
What’s next for the band?
We have our biggest tour yet in the spring out West. We have never played out there
so we are all very excited. Outside of that the plan is the same as it always is, constant
creative communication. I know that sounds pretentious, but we have a lot of music we
are working through and putting together right now. There are little world and big stories
we are stacking up for the next few years. To know what we will be doing for the next 3-
5 years is pretty exciting and when we can share more about that we will. Just know we
are tirelessly working on these things that will push us as a band and push our audience
as well. I like that.
