Teeter

Pop punk is the ultimate irony.

Two once-separate genres that were never designed to intersect, but
have come together as an umbrella term describing some of the greatest
rock ‘n’ roll of the last two decades.

Southern Ontario’s latest pop punk exports are Teeter, a band born out
of 90s popular culture. To them, history begins with Blink 182 and
Jimmy Eat World, who they cite as formative influences.

Sonically, Teeter combines the angst and swagger of the Sex Pistols
with the slick charm of the Backstreet Boys. With the way they mix the
urgency of punk with their enduring passion for pop, Teeter produces a
sound that simultaneously grips the heartstrings and gets the party
started.

“The fact that we’ve been around for a while gives us legitimacy,”
says guitarist and songwriter JP Kaczur. “We’re not just some metal
band who decided to write pop punk songs. We were pop punk when it
wasn’t necessarily cool.”

Born and raised in downtown Toronto, JP has been writing songs with
singer Tommy Dillon since high school. As lifelong friends, theirs is
the vision for Teeter, a band that revels in the irony of pop punk.
The emotions in their material are genuine, but their live show is a
delicate balance of adrenaline and playfulness.

JP describes the speed and intensity of Teeter’s live show: “When I’m
onstage, I feel like a NASCAR driver. If I blink, I can hit the wall.
No matter what band you’re in, when you’re up there, you’re under the
microscope.”

The band describes the entrance of drummer Mike Sleath as “bringing in
a ringer.” Once he entered the fold, the band toured Eastern Canada
and took their songwriting to the next level, dreaming up the hooks
that would define the towering choruses of their debut album.

Teeter’s lineup crystallized in 2007 with the additions of lead
guitarist Marko Rosi and bassist Paul Greenberg, veteran performers
who provide equal amounts of instrumental depth and stage presence.

While Teeter initially hesitated to make the transition to a
two-guitar attack, JP believes Marko’s atmopheric riffs have made all
the difference. “Adding the extra guitar gave us more options when
we’re writing, and it thickened our sound.”

With the final pieces in place, Teeter was primed for a life-changing
trip to Baltimore, Maryland, where the band spent three weeks under
the guidance of hit-making producer Paul Leavitt (All Time Low, Senses
Fail). Leavitt preserved Teeter’s rocking edge while adding a glossy
pop sheen that screams out for radio play.

The Baltimore sessions gave birth to their album Heating Up, a
collection of party anthems packed into 3-minutes, each loaded with
hooks catchier than the common cold.

The album, released in late 2008, opens with the evocative “Standing
At Your Window,” a love song that’s the obvious choice to replace “In
Your Eyes,” whenever they decide to remake Say Anything.

Heating Up also includes the bouncy, riff-heavy “Crystal Clear,” the
angsty, slow-burning “Stupid Kids,” and the definitive recording of
longtime fan-favourite “Kiss Me and Kill Me After,” which has never
sounded so good.

Ultimately, Teeter are lovable, the kind of band who capture universal
emotions in a radio-friendly package. They continue to blend genuine
emotions with a charming self-deprecation, collecting an ever-growing
fanbase along the way.

Armed with a catalogue of hits waiting to happen, a clever sense of
humour, and their boyish good looks, Teeter are poised to become the
next great pop punk outfit, no matter how ironic that sounds.