Geiger's insight, 'Ted-Heads' give 'The Rocker' career boost

By George Lang

Published: August 22, 2008

Teddy Geiger's acting career might look like typecasting, except he's just so perfect for the roles. Just as the singer-songwriter was releasing his 2006 debut disc, "Underage Thinking,” the then-17-year-old Geiger was showing up on the CBS series "Love Monkey” as ... a 17-year-old singer-songwriter.

Now, in the feature film "The Rocker,” Geiger plays Curtis, a sensitive lead singer for a band that hires Robert "Fish” Fishman, a washed-up hair-metal drummer played by Rainn Wilson of "The Office.” These are obviously roles that hew close to his day-to-day world, and Geiger, who releases a new disc this fall, sees no problem with onscreen fantasy reflecting his onstage reality.

"I mean, I've gone in for other stuff,” Geiger said, referring to roles that did not involve guitars. "These are just the things that have worked out. So, I guess something about me fits — well, I mean, it's what I'm doing.”

But there is much more to what Geiger is really doing — he's building a one-man interactive cottage industry. The Rochester, N.Y., native's career is a textbook example of 21st century synergy: Geiger has a foot in two different-but-related worlds that compliment one another — his visibility in "The Rocker” will help feed interest in his next, as-yet-untitled disc when it arrives this fall. And in his live performances, Geiger plays "Tomorrow Never Comes,” his "Rocker” band's single. In Geiger's world, one hand definitely knows what the other's doing.

And while his acting interacts with his rocking, Geiger's recording career is being partly guided by his ongoing connection with his fans. Geiger's "TG33 4 U” summer tour hit 33 venues across North America with the mission of familiarizing fans with 33 new songs he wrote. The fans, known affectionately as "Ted-Heads,” were then encouraged to vote at TeddyGeiger.com for their favorite 11 songs from that batch. The winning 11 will be the songs that show up on his new disc.

"You know, it sounds like ‘Underage Thinking,' but it also ... I've been growing a lot in the last couple of years since I recorded ‘Underage Thinking' and a lot has happened,” Geiger said. "It's just me trying to figure out how I'm going to see things as I'm coming into my life.”

Geiger said he enjoyed his time working on "The Rocker,” but there is clearly one side of the singer-actor's double life that's winning out.

"While I worked on this movie, in the process of doing that, I found a lot more creative space in acting,” Geiger said. "In terms of how I balance them, when there's an opportunity to do something with music, I think I'm going to choose that over acting, but if I have the time to spend doing whatever ... getting into (more) acting would be very cool.”

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