Culture
Showing Teeth on finding her voice, recording in her car, and launching ‘Labyrinth’
By: Bradley Cunningham
Posted on:
ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Showing Teeth knew she wanted to be a vocalist.
What began as recording sessions in her car became proof of that ambition. She didn’t stumble into deathcore; she lives it, building her way in one scream at a time. Through raw, unfiltered clips on social media, her blend of ferocity and vulnerability struck a chord with thousands of viewers. Still recording in her car, her studio of choice, Showing Teeth into its debut era of relentless bark and bite.
Fresh off the release of her debut single, Labyrinth, Showing Teeth spoke with WOUB’s Bradley Cunningham. Find a transcript of their conversation, edited for length and clarity, below.
Bradley Cunningham: Let’s start with your origin story. Where are you from, and how has that shaped your identity?
Showing Teeth: I’m from Kentucky. My family’s from Eastern Kentucky—Appalachia. I’ve lived here my whole life. I wasn’t raised on metal, really, quite the opposite. I was raised in the Christian church. There was an alternative scene in my area that I caught onto early, but I wasn’t really allowed to hang out with those kids. That didn’t stop me, though. The church was a good way to start singing. I began as early as I can remember— I think I was pretty bad at first—so it’s good I started early.
Tell me about when you first started screaming. You started singing as a kid—how did that evolve?
Showing Teeth: Screaming was something I had zero understanding of. I didn’t know the full anatomical process of how to do it correctly. I’d just scream along in the car—it sounded horrible, but I was having fun. I didn’t really try to learn properly until maybe a year before I started Showing Teeth. I basically learned by trial by fire. I started posting videos online and got bullied. That made me learn fast. A lot of ‘this sucks,’ and ‘this is horrible’ comments. Honestly, some of it was deserved. I don’t think I was the best, so. I think everyone’s allowed to speak their mind.
At what point did you say, “This is my voice”?
Showing Teeth: From the beginning, I knew I wanted to be a vocalist. I just never thought I had what it took—but that didn’t stop me from annoying everyone with it. I was making TikToks and having fun, but I realized I needed to commit. Like peer pressure or something. I decided every video would include me screaming. I wanted to surround myself with it completely—if it’s all I post, it’s all I’ll do. The voice for Showing Teeth came together immediately. I knew what I wanted to do, and the songs started flowing quickly. I’d record full vocal takes in my car—one take, usually—and that would be the demo. I immediately knew what I wanted each song to be.
Creating in that kind of space just feels right. When you told me that, I thought, ‘there it is.’
Showing Teeth: Exactly. Plus, I live in an apartment, so I definitely can’t record there. My car just became my studio. Especially at night—it’s like a dark box where there’s nothing else to focus on but the music.
Where do you usually drive to record vocals?
Showing Teeth: It’s either in a church parking lot or a secluded park no one visits. I always drive kind of far, park it, record everything, and head home. If I didn’t get the take, I didn’t get it.
Have the police ever shown up? Something about a woman screaming in a car sounds like a call to dispatch.
Showing Teeth: Once! At the park. They were really nice and one of them said, “I hope your demo’s fire.” I haven’t been back since, but they were really nice.
Your first single, Labyrinth, came out November 14. Tell me about it.
Showing Teeth: It was super off the cuff. I wasn’t sure I even liked the concept at first. I did a full one-take demo in the car, hated it, but threw it in anyway—and realized it was actually really fun. We rewrote the guitars, and I loved it.
So that’s when you knew, “This is the one. This is how the story begins for Showing Teeth.”
Showing Teeth: The lyrics aren’t fun—it’s not a happy song—but it has this fun, bouncy energy. The verses have a kind of rap-like cadence. It’s a fun song, even though it’s spiritually not fun at all.
I love that contrast—heavy lyrics, upbeat rhythm. So there’s a physicality to it.
Showing Teeth: Yeah, there’s definitely a contrast and a dance to it.
Who are your biggest influences—both in and outside of metal?
Showing Teeth: I grew up listening to a lot of progressive metal—Periphery, Veil of Maya, Born of Osiris, Corelia, Animals as Leaders. Then I got into Knocked Loose and Bring Me the Horizon. My favorite band ever is Whitechapel. I love deathcore and death metal, but every subgenre has something captivating about it. With Showing Teeth, I try to pull my favorite aspects from each. It leads to some questionable demos—but also some really fun songs.
With how accessible music is today, I feel like genres are blending and that’s exciting.
Showing Teeth: I love Deathcore. I think more people would like it if they listened to it more.
Right. You just have to drag your friends to a show.
Showing Teeth: Exactly. I brought my most “normal” friend to a death metal show—she said it was the most fun she’d ever had at a show.
Outside of music, are you inspired by nature? Your artist page features a lot of deer.
Showing Teeth: The name sort of originated from the theme of a song that never ended up happening. I’ve always been inspired by animal psychology–and animals’ response to fear compared to humans. Deer, in particular, are symbolic of prey. I love them and I think they’re beautiful. It makes me sad that people kill them. Being from Appalachia, hunting’s kind of a necessity since deer can overpopulate, mess with crops, and create an imbalance in the ecosystem. But I just think they’re beautiful, and symbolic of what I write about— that feeling of being cornered, having no choice but to show your teeth. Plus, I just genuinely love deer, so I love to post them.
When I first read the name Showing Teeth, I wondered if it meant smiling or snarling. Which do you think fits your sound—smile or snarl?
Showing Teeth: Probably a snarl. I wish I could say a smile. I try to write fun songs, but they always end up so evil. I don’t know where the rage comes from—well, I do—but that’s another conversation. All the songs usually end up angry. I think it’s a positive thing, though. Personally, I feel happy listening to angry songs. I hope other people do too.
There’s an odd comfort in heavy music for happy people, and I have no idea why.
Showing Teeth: Yeah, it’s the one time you can say the quiet part out loud. You can’t say “I’m gonna kill someone” in normal conversation—but you can in a metal song. [laughs]
So—is Showing Teeth more bark or bite?
Showing Teeth: That’s funny, because I actually write about that concept a lot. I’d say probably more bark earnestly. I’m rageful lyrically, but in reality, I’m not at all. I wouldn’t even tell a waiter if my order was wrong. I’m very polite, unfortunately, to a detriment.
Fair enough. We all have to be nice sometimes. Okay, last question: if Labyrinth was featured on a movie soundtrack, what movie would it be?
Showing Teeth: Oh, I feel like it would be like the intro to like a group fight scene and it would be the good guys. I’m picturing something like Kung Fu Panda—the sequence where they introduce each fighter. That’s exactly what I see in my head when the riff kicks in.