Teddy
Geiger's
Big Screen "Rockin'"
by Lynn Barker
 Are
you a "TedHead"? Fans of gorgeous, dark-haired, blue-eyed 19-year-old
singer/songwriter/actor Teddy Geiger go by that tag. If you are just discovering
this hottie of the clever lyrics and sultry voice, we'll tell you more
in this up close, exclusive and very personal interview! Tall Teddy is
starring as a garage band frontman in the funny dramady with music The
Rocker alongside actress/girlfriend Emma Stone and the very funny
Rainn Wilson of "The Office".
A few years
ago, hot Teddy, who, we're told, had “thick glasses and a bowl haircut”
as a high school Freshman, was a finalist on VH1's TV show "In Search
of the New Partridge Family". He was also on the short-lived CBS
dramady "Love Monkey" where he was spotted and given a record
deal with Columbia Records. In 2006, his first single "For You I
Will (Confidence)" hit the top 40. When we chatted with Teddy earlier
in the summer, he was just starting on his tour which ended July 24th
but you can check out his sound and still vote on 11 songs out of the
33 Teddy wrote, to appear on his new album. He's big on fan participation
in his career. Go to his Myspace page to participate. Teddy will also
have nine songs on the soundtrack for The Rocker.
Meanwhile,
picture this; it's mid-day at a gorgeous hotel on the Santa Monica beach.
We are in Teddy's ocean-view hotel room for our chat. Hummm, should I
look at the beautiful view, listen to the waves or stare at the gorgeous
guy in front of me? We'll opt for the guy whose smoky blue eyes just act
like magnets. His gray and black v-neck sweater, jeans and super white
Converse Chuck's tennies are very casual "GQ". If this handsome
guy was a goofy-looking nerd in high school, there is hope for us all....
AGW: So how
did you get involved in being a part of “The Rocker”?
Teddy: I got
the script. I was in the middle of mixing some of the songs for my record
and I went in and read for it. I initially wasn’t going to read
for it and just went in to meet them and they’re like ‘hey,
can you read? And I was like ‘uhhhh’. At this point I wasn’t
very comfortable with readings. It got easier after the movie but I was
clueless. So, I was like ‘all right, let me go down to Starbucks
and get a coffee and get my head straight’. Then I came back up
and read it and it ended up working out. I got a call back.
AGW: It seems
like a really good first movie gig for you. How serious are you on the
film side?
Teddy: I’d
like to balance it with my music. I’d like to try, especially next
time, do something that reflects something a little more personal to me
or something close to me. It could be anything, maybe something more dramatic.
I’d like to do something that would be a little challenging, not
quite myself just to do it. I get these scripts and I’m like ‘I
don’t want to go in for that one’ then I’ll wait like
ten minutes and ‘I should just go’. I always have this initial
reaction like ‘run, run, run!’
AGW: How is
your sound evolved since your first hit “For You I Will”(’06).
Teddy: I guess
what’s different about it is the first time out I was 16 years old
and I was in a studio with a bunch of music producers so there was only
so much I could offer in terms of explaining to them the way I wanted
things to sound. It was kind of their choices in terms of choosing sounds
because I was very new to recording. After making that album, I made another
EP and had a lot of studio time, I was able to get my hands on some nice
recording equipment. I was playing music every day and playing with new,
very skilled musicians and you just learn a lot more than you do just
playing in Rochester [New York].
AGW: So it
wasn’t just musical growth, it was personal growth.
Teddy: Yeah.
There was a lot of personal growth in terms of moving out of my parents'
house and really starting my own life and figuring out how I wanted to
see the world and what my values were; almost coming out of a rebellious
stage. Rather than just discounting everyone else’s opinions, I
was just saying ‘okay what do I really feel? And where do I need
to stand up? And where can I back down?’
AGW: What’s
the new album called?
Teddy: “The
March” and basically what it really is is that journey, moving out
of my parents' house, the empowering journey, to get confidence. It’s
pretty personal.
AGW: Is there
anything that’s too personal for you to write about?
Teddy: Maybe
if someone were to ask me, I’d be like ‘no. That’s not
personal’ but I tend to do most of the writing I do on my own and
then bring it to somebody else as a collaborator. Working in movies has
really helped me to collaborate better with other people because I never
was on sports teams growing up. I never was a part of that ‘group’
development. I did my own thing.
AGW: Have
you learned something new from being an actor?
 Teddy:
It’s been nice in movies to have conversations and learn. Just the
acting side, having to portray something that I wouldn’t be comfortable
portraying in my personal life, it really helped me to let go of some
of those barriers I have in terms of my own stuff.
AGW: Your
character in The Rocker is a musician but not just like you.
Teddy: Exactly.
He’s very similar but he has a little bit more of a temper and gets
upset so it’s fun.
AGW: On tour,
do you try to get out and see the towns you are in or are you stuck in
a bus or hotel room?
Teddy: It
depends place to place but usually you get back at 12 from the gig and
there’s nowhere really to go. I end up doing a decent amount of
midnight walks around the city.
AGW: Ah ha!
So we might see you out late on a walk then. With your touring schedule,
how difficult is it to keep up a personal relationship with a girlfriend
[he and “Rocker” co-star Emma Stone are an item]?
Teddy: It’s
weird. You do your best to keep it going. Phones are always weird. It’s
not like talking [directly] to a person. You have a lot of business relationships
where you’ve only talked to that person on the phone and you almost
question their existence. You’re like 'am I even doing work with
this person? Have I lost my mind?'
AGW: That's
our modern age all right. In a relationship, what most ticks you off?
Teddy; Well,
I guess it’s always tough in a long distance relationship when one
or both parties are consistently insecure about things. I’ve had
a few relationships like that where it will be me or somebody else and
it’s just tough to work on that. It’s like this constant tension.
When you’re together it’s fine but you’re apart and
there’s this tension. It tends to break the whole thing down.
AGW: Who were
your music idols when you were 15 or 16?
Teddy: I really
like Weezer. I really liked Ben Folds. The Beatles, I listened to them
when I was really young but everyone around me were ‘do you know
this song?’ and I only knew the classic Beatles songs so it’s
been fun delving into that.
AGW: What
do you do really well in life and what pretty badly?
Teddy: Hummm,
I guess I’m okay at cooking, just general stuff. I don’t think
about that stuff much. I wish I could cook better and put together a nice
big spread for some people. That would be nice.
AGW: But you
don’t feel that you have to be the best at anything?
Teddy: Well,
actually I tend to get competitive occasionally. I get that from my dad
so I try to not do that. I guess that’s something I don’t
do well. It depends on the situation.
AGW: Were
you a fan of the kind of '80's music Rainn's character plays in the movie?
Teddy: I wasn’t
big on it until recently. I went on i-tunes.
AGW: Would
you rather be a musician back in the ‘80’s or now? The music
industry is so different now.
Teddy: I guess
the cool thing about the ‘80’s was the adventure. People were
willing to make sounds that were completely ridiculous or whatever. It’s
all over the place. That’s what I liked about it. 'That’s
wacky, let’s use it'.
AGW: What
scene in the movie was most like being a musician in real life?
Teddy: That
scene where the bus pulls up in front of our house and they load all the
gear on, that’s happened like ten times in front of my parents’
house. It pulls up, we pull all the gear out of the basement, load it
up and get on the road. That’s one of the more accurate parts.
AGW: Fans
picking the songs for your album? Isn’t that kind of brave?
Teddy: I was
a little nervous. At this point, I’m generally happy with all the
thirty-three songs that I’ve released on my website that the fans
can pick from, 11 of those will be on the album.
AGW: What
is a bad name for a band? Didn’t you have a couple of bands in high
school?
Teddy: Yeah,
I had two. One was called The William Arthur Project and the other was
called Faction.. hey, it’s better!
AGW: What
kind of music was it?
Teddy: It
was okay music. We were just a bunch of high school kids messing around.
AGW: Ah, but
from that can come greatness.
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