18th and Addison

2013–14: Formation

18th & Addison formed in November 2013 as an acoustic duo by Tom Kunzman and Kait DiBenedetto. Kunzman was formerly in the punk band A Criminal Risk and DiBenedetto was one of MTV’s first recording artists with her band Just Kait. She is also the guitarist in the band What’s Eating Gilbert, the side project of Chad Gilbert of seminal pop/punk band New Found Glory. The duo met through playing local shows at a youth center. Realizing over time how much they have in common, they started hanging out more and writing songs during their downtime. After the dissolution of their respective bands, the transition was seamless and inevitable. When the band transitioned from acoustic to live, first they would cover songs and then started writing their own songs acoustically. According to DiBenedetto, "What was so cool about the recording process was being able to plug in electric guitars, drums, and figure out bass lines. Bringing it to life for us was a little bit different than other bands where they do write all the songs electric maybe at a band practice or something and then bring them to life. For us, it was a totally different way of bringing the songs to life because we were writing them on acoustic guitars, so then it made the songs sound bigger and better than we thought they would. It’s been awesome to see how energetic the songs are live.”

The band name came to the duo "one day hanging out at Kait’s house. 'Addison' references where Kait grew up, then adding 18, Tom's house number. "We didn’t want the name to just be one word, so we thought if we added my house number, it would fill it out nicely and it stuck. 18th & Addison sounds more like a destination or something to me. Plus, that name really represents us as a duo which was and is a big deal to us," said Kunzman. The meaning behind the name is the band's homes, families, and "where we were when this all started for us meaning our relationship as well as our music."

The first song the band wrote together was "Running" which was later used on their debut extended play. DiBenedetto said the song was, "So old that it was a song before we even thought to take this band serious."

2015-present: Debut EP and Makeshift Monster

18th & Addison's debut was their EP, Little Parasites, which was released on January 20, 2015 and contained 7 tracks. “The both of us feel really, really good about this being our first release together” says Kunzman. “'Little Parasites’ is pretty much a culmination of everything we've learned in our past with our old bands, and a lot of self-realization outside of music. It's probably really corny to call it "honest" but that's exactly what it is. We're always learning about ourselves, the world we live in, and life in general and this EP captures where we are, and who we are as people at this time and it's exactly how we want it. I definitely speak for the both of us when I say we haven't been more excited or proud of anything in our entire lives.” The EP's lead single was, "Jealousy."

After promoting their EP through shows around the U.S., in June 2016, 18th & Addison announced they were releasing their first studio album in July through their own label. Makeshift Monster was released on July 15, 2016 and included 11 tracks; the record's lead single was, "War."

Musical style and influences

18th & Addison's music style has generally been regarded as alternative rock and pop punk.

18th & Addison has expressed appreciation for Chuck Ragan The Clash, Elvis Presley, Alkaline Trio, New Found Glory and Panic! At The Disco.

Kunzman cited Hot Water Music as a, "huge inspiration," to the band and Dibenedetto cited Mest as what brought her and Kunzman together. DiBenedetto's personal influences are Gwen Stefani, No Doubt, The Everly Brothers, Green Day, New Found Glory, and Good Charlotte. Kunzman's are Green Day, The Clash, Rancid, Alkaline Trio, Social Distortion and Blink-182.

Discography