teethin released their exhilarating debut EP Greed Between The Lines via Silent Kid Records earlier this month. Raised in a circus by punk-era parents, Welsh – Greek musician James Minas is at the centre of teethin, backed by a crew of long-time friends and collaborators. Hailing from the Welsh Valleys to Athens, Ukraine, and the Philippines, The Decibel Decoder had to find out more ahead of appearances at Left of the Dial, Mutations and Live at Leeds.
How did teethin come together? It’s an international mix of band members but having formed in only October 2024 I wonder if the band blended together relatively quickly?
Well we actually were a solo project under Minas, me, but I hated the dynamic when it had clearly become a band. We’re all such a unit and after the amount of gigs looking around at other bands etc staring at us bewildered while we made loud weird noises and rolled around on the floor or whatever it was like, ye it’s us as a whole.
Congratulations on EP Greed Between The Lines. How did you approach putting together this debut body of work? Is there an overall theme that threads through it?
Yeah it basically came from us needing to channel our rage into something that wasn’t risking prison time. The countries fucked, people are being twats, Wales is behind the rest of the UK and they’re still trying to oppress the little we have, so instead of arson we’ll play music and shout on stage.
I have to ask about EP opener ‘Thrown Shapes’. What a deliciously skittish, unnerving start. The first few seconds are completely captivating. Can you expand on this track, and is its start the reason you put in first on the EP?
Pretty much yeah, just feels like THE starting track for anyone who decides to pop a look in. Kinda covers all bases. It’s essentially about the divide that’s ever growing between communities and sections of people and the fact that everyone’s a fucking expert nowadays when realistically – we all have as little of an idea on things as we always have. We’re all just out here throwing shapes.
Which track came together the quickest?
Probably ‘My Generation’. I wrote it on the way back from Outbreak Festival on my shitty laptop. Then got with the band and we added the rest.
The mix of punk, rave, techno and grime are an utterly thrilling combination across the EP. Yet the tracks are cohesive wholes. ‘DUD’ is just captivating as it ebbs and flows, the energy is wild and yet it also has its moments of calm. What is your creative process? How do you seemingly effortlessly blend these influences?
I work as a producer in multiple genres so that helps. Mostly though it comes from my “fragmented personality disorder”. I was a kid who went through lots of identities growing up but got completely absorbed in them. It took years for me to come to grips with it and actually put stuff out as I was constantly battling who I wanted to be and the music that felt “me”. Luckily I have the band, they keep me contained but as we all love multitudes of music styles we find a way to make it work, we don’t intentionally mix genres, it’s just what feels like us.
You have a busy autumn with sets at Twisterella, Left of the Dial, Mutations and Live At Leeds. Have you played many live shows yet? Are you looking forward to these festivals?
Ah we can’t waaaaaaaaaaait! We been off performing for a month and it’s TOO LONG. We’ve played a few throughout the year and the sets become so solid, we can’t wait for people to see it.
I have to ask about the band name! Did you have a long list, or did teethin immediately come to mind?
We had a few ideas but our manager said as we were chatting “we’ll have some teething problems at first” about us starting out with a new name and style etc. and that was it. Such a cool name we’re gassed.
If I looked in your fridge right now what would I find?
Won’t lie it’s got chicken stock me n my housemate made, some old spinach, bare hot sauces, milk and some spanakopita and tzatziki I made. Need to do a fucking food shop.
For more information on teethin please check their instagram.