In 2008, long-time pals Adam Fuller (guitars), Mike Wheeler (keys, vocals), and Kevin Bell (drums) began making music together in Montpelier, Vermont under the name Year’s Best. In mid 2009, Sean Martin (bass), a band member from many years past, returned from a hiatus in New York to rejoin the band and thus, Teleport was born.
The name change was a result of a love they all shared – gaming. “It’s a Diablo II reference,” Sean said. Teleport is a skill used by the sorceress character within the game. The spell, which allows the character to travel instantly to a new location, makes her a difficult target to hit, just Teleport’s music is hard to categorize. After some deliberation, Adam settled on specifically progressive rock, while Sean insisted that their music is rock “and everything that that label encompasses”.
Teleport’s songs, which Adam describes as being in “standard format,” including verses and choruses, come from the band as a whole, with one member bringing an idea to the table and everyone else adding their own portions until they have something they enjoy. “But the lyrics sometimes come much later,” Sean adds. Mike Wheeler, the lead vocalist, writes almost all of their lyrics. “They’re usually about women…lady-folk, I should say,” Sean recalled after softly singing a few lines to himself. “They’re not sappy though. They’re not love songs.”
Teleport’s music-making process is very laid back. Their rehearsals are “frequent, then infrequent, then frequent again,” Sean said. “There are a lot of laughs, instrument switching, video games, and whiskey involved.” Despite the casual atmosphere, Teleport’s sound has continued to develop. “It’s been an extreme evolution in the music and our playing. It’s amazing to see each other’s progress with our instruments,” Adam said.
The members of Teleport agree that making music will always be their hobby. “It’s unrealistic as a job for us,” Sean asserted, “but I would love to see a little more promotion”. Recently, Teleport was featured on the front page of Reddit, a social news and entertainment site. That’s the extent of recognition they were hoping for. “Reddit is anonymous, so many people aren’t afraid to say really terrible things. But we received a lot of genuine interest and praise,” Sean said. He chuckled and continued: “it’s one of my greatest achievements!”
Teleport plays venues all over Vermont, from the Bellows Falls radio station in southern Vermont, to Charlie-O’s in Montpelier (their favorite venue), and to Higher Ground and Nectar’s in the greater Burlington area. “We’ve hit every venue in Burlington, multiple times. Trust us,” Sean and Adam laughed. Teleport will be playing at the Magic Hat Brewery on May 18th as part of Big Heavy World’s Heavy Fest 3. If you can’t wait until then, their newest album Bad For Business is available for “choose your price” download on their bandcamp site: http://teleport.bandcamp.com/. Happy listening!
