The San Diego-based band SILVER BULLET released their debut single “BABY’S TRUCKIN’” on Jan. 5. They bring a new wave of rock and roll to the streets of San Diego. San Diego State University students Hannah Geller, John Kelly and Ryan Simmons join Point Loma Nazarene’s Jake Quintanar to collaborate on their modern take of 70s and 80s hard rock.
The band came together in September 2023 with the help of social media.
“My main objective was [to] look for guys to jam with,” Kelly said. “So Ryan, our drummer, posted an ad on the San Diego State community Snapchat story, and was basically looking for people to play with. So we arranged a jam session.”
Prior to transferring to SDSU, Kelly and bassist Jake Quintanar were mutual friends on TikTok. From there, they sought out a lead singer to bring the band together. Luckily, they came across Hannah Geller, who happened to be the vice president of Aztec Music Group.
Geller has already established herself in the industry with her solo music.
“Besides SILVER BULLET, I am a solo artist and I release all my own original music; it’s like psychedelic alt rock,” Geller said. “I just wanted to be in a band where I could just sing and move around and just do what I’m fully confident in. So then when I saw that John was looking for a singer for his upcoming band, I was like ‘Okay, this is exactly what I’ve been wanting to do.’”
Both Quintanar and Kelly started by playing guitar in fourth grade, paying homage to rock and roll legends like Metallica, Led Zeppelin and AC/DC in the meantime. Ever since then, they’ve been in several bands, getting to write their own songs and curate their own respective styles of rock. The sound that SILVER BULLET has created for itself today doesn’t shy away from the legendary bands they grew up listening to.
“I don’t want to say we sound exactly like this, but when I think of rock and roll, we kind of give off more of a late 70s/early 80s vibe,” Quintanar said. “I feel like a lot of the riffs I’ve been writing have been more on the 80s side, because there’s been a little bit more of a heavy influence in them.”
“We all had different influences, like Hannah with the psychedelic indie rock, Jake with the hardcore metal background, me with my most influenced era being late 60s and early 70s rock and roll – Hendrix and early [Led] Zeppelin, and Ryan’s is grunge 90s rock kind of,” Kelly said. “So we mesh all those influences together and that’s where I think we get our own unique twists on the 70s and 80s kind of rock.”
SILVER BULLET has been very active on social media, which they use to promote their music while leaving listeners in anticipation of their upcoming drops. The band frequently posts their jam sessions and personal content on Instagram reels to connect with their audience.
“Now that we have our first show scheduled, people are saying, ‘I want to come to the show’ and they’ll hit me up or whatever,” Kelly said. “So I guess it’s been pretty positive reviews so far, and I’m excited that we’re finally starting to play some shows or have some booked.”
The foundation of their current media posts are from the promotion of their song “BABY’S TRUCKIN’.” The single started with bassist Jake Quintanar, who wrote the instrumental for the song. Then came the lyrics with the help of guitarist John Kelly and drummer Ryan Simmons. From there, lead vocalist Hannah Geller decided to put her own special twist on it.
“I changed up the [original] lyrics a little bit to make it – I think originally they were written as if a male were singing it for a woman,” Geller said. “But since I’m a woman, I changed it up a little bit. So it was like from my perspective of being the woman that is singing about this man.” Geller’s version of the lyrics emphasize a woman’s worth and making sure that her time isn’t being wasted.
Geller recognizes the power of her position as a female vocalist in a male-dominated field, and stresses the importance of women empowerment in her songs and her performances. However, she doesn’t let that get in the way of her voice.
“It seems like more male-fronted bands seem to somehow be more successful out here,” Geller said. “But I’m just kind of there to be like, ‘Nope. I have what it takes too and I’m not going to let that happen.’”. Her bandmates support her talent and artistry and are in agreement with the future of rock and roll being female.
As far as their new single goes, “BABY’S TRUCKIN’” is a great preview to the band’s future, and they don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon. SILVER BULLET has their first live show on Feb. 3 to showcase what they’re really made of. The band also shared that there will be another single released in February.
