Everybody has had that experience of really wanting to do something and being afraid.
Teddy Geiger
I was terrified of girls until sophomore year of high school. I couldn't even borrow pencils from them. I'd have to wait until the teacher called me out on it, like, 'Does anybody have a pencil for Teddy?' because I'd be too scared to ask the girl next to me.
People have their image of you or their ideas about who you are, and it can be frustrating.
I threw away all my boys' clothes and started wearing makeup.
I was on 'In Search of the Partridge Family,' MTV'S 'Miss Seventeen,' and the comedy 'Love Monkey.'
Music has been more a solitary, creative thing. The acting side of things and working in movies has helped me collaboratively with music in terms of helping me get ideas across to other people and making it more of a team efforts.
Painting my nails was one of the things I liked to do, and I was so terrified of, like, ever letting anybody see my nails painted.
I used to be extremely shy.
I started painting my nails and started wearing some women's clothing, but that whole side of me always caused problems in my intimate relationships. There was a lot of shame attached to it. I'd talk to people I was dating about it but still feel ashamed.
I told a couple friends about it... I was like, 'Hey, might be trans, might want to look at doing hormone therapy, just letting you know'... and they were like, 'Yeah cool. Who cares? Like, whatever, awesome.'
I went to my junior prom. It wasn't that fun... And I don't dance.
Things kind of have their arc: you get signed, and your first thought is, 'Oh my God, I made it!' But you never really make it.
I've done a lot of writing for other people, other projects, and what I tried to do with the music I'm putting out for myself is kind of keep it where I'm doing everything.
I want people to see just who I am.
I can remember back to being 5 and looking in the mirror, feeling like a girl and wanting that. But growing up in Rochester, there were limited resources. I'd never met a trans person before.
I think you can tour the country and collectively reach fewer people than just being on television one time.
I'm just kind of trying to make the best stuff I can make.
A lot of animals are finding themselves in positions where their habitats are being destroyed.
I'm not a big tennis fan.
I'm not really a huge team player guy; I wasn't really into sports or anything.
Movies affecting music has caused me to collaborate a little bit better.
My goal is to make music and be a part of cool projects.
It's not a cis-man becoming a cis-woman. It's a trans person just being who they want to be. This is how I've always felt, and this is who I've always been. But so much focus is put on the transition or the change because it's so visible. But that's not even what it is... That's who that person's been and who they are now.
A lot of what's happened with my career has been because of the Internet. It's a way for me to reach fans directly, especially with music.
I'm extremely bad at not missing TV shows, but I'd like not to miss '24.'
I think the music that I'm writing and the stuff I'm going to do as I age will age.
If there was something that I took an interest in that I'd go to college to learn about, I'd go.
It's very, very exciting for me to hear my songs on the radio and to play shows and have people know the words.
The song 'Try Too Hard' I wrote when I was 10 or 11.
I try not to write two songs about the same thing, although, on occasion, it happens, so I guess it kinda helps to change stuff up.
I definitely have always been interested in film and working in that, and I never actually thought that I'd be able to do it.
When I was growing up, I didn't know of anybody who was trans. There was always, like, this shame, anxiety thing around all of that, even if I wasn't actively expressing it.
It's hard to feel like a teen idol.
You're always kind of having to 'make it' over and over again, which is cool and makes it fun. But I remember thinking, when I first did it, I was like, 'Cool. I made it. It happened.' And I did not. That's not how it works.
It's funny. Some people now are like, 'Why would you transition? Why can't you just be comfortable how you were born?' That was my logic, but at a certain point, I realized that I was born uncomfortable.
My mother makes marvelous meals.
That image of who I was publicly was so solidified. You're that person. And it wasn't even close to a true representation of where I was in my life.
A lot of times, I'd be styled and, like, wearing a t-shirt I wouldn't ever wear. All the sudden, there's this image of you, and you're like, 'Hold on, wait.'
Having a hit is fine, but doing the work is what I want. I get more excited the day of creation than once it's big.
I'm not ashamed of myself.
I started out as an artist, but I've always wanted to be a writer and producer.
One of the things that I loved about working on that first album was working with Billy Mann, who produced the album, and all the people who worked to finish it. Just seeing how they did things and learning.
I don't ever want to let anyone down. That's my worst fear.
I got No Doubt on cassette, 'Tragic Kingdom.' And I just remember being so psyched about all those songs and, like, the songwriting and just her voice, and her vibe was amazing.
