27th September 2022

Celebrating 75 Years with Teen Jesus & The Jean Teasers

We sat down with Teen Jesus & The Jean Teasers to chat about their new EP, how they like to travel and why they love jeans.

“Maybe you should try sticking to girl sports” and “don't get me wrong, you're pretty good for a girl band” are just some of the honest verbatim sung in Teen Jesus & The Jean Teasers’ song ‘Girl Sports’. It’s the sort of comments that non-male identifying individuals are unfortunately used to hearing, and it’s time to get angry. The Canberra based four-piece have created an anthem that expresses the fact they’re over the way they’re being treated by society. It leads them into their debut EP which is appropriately titled ‘Pretty Good For A Girl Band’ which is a collection of honest, and upbeat rock tracks. ‘AHHHH!’ and ‘Miss Your Birthday’ are two of the other songs you may already be acquainted with, thanks to their undeniably strong hooks.

1. Your debut EP ‘Pretty Good For A Girl Band’ is out now. What is something people are going to get to know about you as a band that they might not expect when listening to this EP?
I feel like we have a very recognisable band name, but most people would recognise the name before our music. Staying true to the EP title, this collection of songs sums us up as a band and makes you see that we actually are “pretty good for a girl band”.

2. What song took you the longest sonically to get it to where it is now on the EP?
Probably ‘Girl Sports’. We had been playing and tinkering with it for quite a while before recording, and in the studio we completely changed the arrangement and instrument parts. We cut out half a verse, added an actual chorus and fine tuned the heck out of it until it became the song we know today.

3. ‘Girl Sports’ is a really important song that tells your story of being underestimated and discriminated against as a woman. How has it been hearing people’s reactions to this song and hearing their personal stories?
It’s not surprising that this song was pretty relatable for a lot of non-males. It’s obviously sad to hear, but we thought it’s about time that we said something about it. We have been copping comments like those for years now and it feels really good to let it out.

4. ‘Miss Your Birthday’ hear’s your apologizing for missing someone’s birthday while being on the road. But when has been a time where you completely forgot about someone’s birthday?
Because we are all tiny little Gen Z babies, I don’t think we have actually forgotten birthdays thanks to Facebook. But if Facebook doesn’t tell me then I’d genuinely have no idea when anybodies birthday is.

5. Let’s chat about touring because you spent the first half of the year doing quite a bit of it. What has been one of the funniest or weirdest things you’ve seen when you’ve looked out into a crowd?
At Unify somebody had a toy baby tied to a long stick and was holding it up from the crowd. Very peculiar, yet a highlight of the day!

6. When you’re on the road are you the sort of person who packs everything in case you change your mind on the day, or do you travel lightly?
We absolutely do not travel light, with the exception of Anna and their trusty backpack. We have huge suitcases every time because the wardrobe is the #1 most stressful part about playing live.

7. What is your go-to winter wardrobe styling for a night out?
Back before we all had leg tattoos I (Scarlett) would put two pairs of flesh coloured tights on, then my fishnets over it. Nobody could tell the difference back in the day, but now I think it’d look pretty bad. I’ve actually been wearing the heck out of my Wrangler blue denim jacket with a big ol’ jumper and a scarf underneath it. Also fingerless gloves are a must!

8. Why are jeans the best?
They’re like staffies - trusty, thick, warm, long-lasting and loveable.

9. You’ve just shared with us a day in the life of video diary. But what was something you didn’t allow us to see from that day?
We left it all out on the table for you! No secrets here, other than jaida’s twerking which is best left off-camera.