Hardcore trio TEETH talks about powerful single, “Writhe”
Band picture: Lee Zavitz Hello Teeth, thanks for your time. Would it be possible to introduce your band to our readers, as well as your roles in it? Thanks for havin’ us. TEETH is Blake Louis Prince (Vocals), Chris LeMasters (Guitar), and Ryan Leger (Drums). With a worldwide pandemic going on, how have you handled the management of your band so far? It’s been tough. I think it’s been really tough on everyone in this industry. We’d just begun to get things rolling - we had a bunch of touring lined up for 2020 as well as plans for a new record - and when COVID hit, everything got put on hold. That said, it’s been a great exercise in how to keep a band moving while you’re, well, immobile. We just made the decision to keep creating music in the form of singles and release them ourselves. Watching the world shut down while being in quarantine obviously impacted us psychologically. So we just used that to our advantage and wrote songs about how the whole experience affected us. This whole ordeal produced two of our favorite songs - Deathrace and Writhe. You guys have revealed, back in June, your new single “Writhe”. The message conveyed through this song is extremely powerful and emotional. Care to elaborate with our readers? Writhe is a product of the frustration, hate and disgust I felt when I learned that a woman very close to me had been both physically and emotionally abused for years right under my nose. I felt so many things - I was upset with myself because there had been numerous occasions where I’d suspected something was happening, but I had no proof. I thought “She’d TOTALLY tell me” but the reality is, she was just too afraid to speak out. I felt like I failed her. When she finally came forward, the stories made me sick to my stomach. Writhe is about those moments where you feel powerless. It’s a really dark song, honestly. It’s about wanting to inflict pain and hurt on that aggressor. It’s about vengeance and spite. It applies to SO many different situations, too - whether it’s pushing back against corrupt law enforcement or domestic abusers. We’re not condoning violence, and two wrongs certainly don’t make a right. But we refuse to ignore those primal urges we all have when put in situations like these. Those feelings are visceral, and real, and we should embrace them. Can we expect a music video for this song anytime soon? Absolutely. We’ll be shooting a video for Writhe in the near future. You've also announced your signing to New Damage Records. What does this collaboration represent to you, as a band? For us, New Damage and Dine Alone has always felt like home. We’re a Canadian band, they’re a Canadian label. Our other bands have had long standing relationships with them/people on the team over there (Hundred Suns, Dead and Divine, Straight Reads The Line, etc). And it’s always just felt like our home-base. On top of that, so many of our pals are on New Damage so it just felt like the right move for TEETH. Do you have any other projects in the making? We’re always keepin’ busy. For TEETH, we’re working on our debut record so we’re really excited about that. Oh, and Blake has just announced a really cool personal side project that he’s doing called Blake Prince & The Alarmist. So keep an eye open for that as well. The last words are for you. If you have a message to convey, here’s your chance! Please stand up and actively push back against systemic racism and the mistreatment of the LGBTQ+ community. Have difficult conversations with your loved ones if they espouse racist or bigoted/homophobic views. Be good to one another, fight for what’s right, listen to TEETH and bang your fucking head. We cannot wait to be in the same room as y’all next year. Thanks for your time!
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