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Australian punk band Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers have just released their first album and are gearing up to support rock legends Foo Fighters on their upcoming Australian tour. But they’re already learning not to care what people think. And that includes each other.
Their debut album, I Love You, is the culmination of eight years together as a band – and even longer as friends. While they started playing music at 15, while in high school in Canberra, this record is the first time the punk rock band has written songs collaboratively.
“We’re at this point where I know everyone so well, and we’ve been together for so long and touring together for so long that I was like, ‘they’re not gonna think my ideas are shit and even if they do then I don’t really care’,” says Scarlett McKahey, Teen Jesus’ guitarist.
Scarlett McKahey, Neve van Boxsel, Anna Ryan and Jaida Stephenson from Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“I’ve pissed myself in front of you guys before, it’s not gonna be that embarrassing if you don’t like one of my melodies.”
I Love You is Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers’ debut full-length album.
Anna Ryan, the band’s singer, adds: “[In the past] if one of us has written a song, there’s been an element of like, ‘I wonder what they think or if it’s good enough’, but when we were writing together, there was no fear with it.”
The pair laugh often and easily as they talk to this masthead just before the album’s release – The band consists of McKahey, Ryan as well as drummer Neve van Boxell and bassist Jaida Stephenson.
Inspired by watching School of Rock at a sleepover at Ryan’s house, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers decided to start making music in 2015. It didn’t matter that at the time they didn’t all know how to play their instruments.
The intervening years have seen them do much more than simply learn how to play: they released an EP in May 2022, followed by I Love You this month, and have performed at major festivals at home and abroad, including Groovin the Moo, Laneway and The Great Escape in Brighton.
Currently on tour with DMA’s, they’re about to head out again to celebrate the new record, before a support slot for Foo Fighters in Melbourne in December. Then, in January, they’ll head back to Europe and the UK to support The Vaccines.
That people are finally going to be able to listen to their debut feels surreal to McKahey and Ryan. “Anna can’t stop crying,” says McKahey.
“It’s too much. Everything is setting me off,” Ryan adds with a laugh. “Everything” includes reviews, old photos and band montage TikToks made by van Boxsel. “With cheesy songs over the top,” Ryan explains. “I can’t do them any more. I’m too fragile.”
But the band aren’t worried about what the reviews say, McKahey says. “This is the first time ever that I truly just do not care at all if no one likes it because we love it.”
The album, produced by Oscar Dawson of Holy Holy, features riot grrrl-inspired garage-pop songs that tackle friendship, dysfunctional romantic relationships and sexuality. It drops as women-led punk rock is seemingly having a moment in Australia, with bands like Amyl and the Sniffers and Cable Ties making waves at home and overseas.
McKahey recalls how important it was to meet women that she looked up to when she was starting out, including Courtney Barnett. Now, young people approach her at shows to say they’ve started a band, too. “The more that people see non-male artists on big festival line-ups and being played on the radio, the more non-male bands pop up because they realise, ‘oh, I can actually do it’.”
At the same time as the band aims to encourage more women and non-binary people to enter the industry, they also want to make sure their live shows are safe and welcoming environments.
“I’m really proud that we’ve created that at our shows,” says Ryan. “It’s pretty rare for us to see people being dickheads in the crowd.”
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers are known for their high-energy live shows.Credit: Pat Ohara
But it’s harder to control the environment at large festivals. McKahey recalls the young women at the front of their Groovin the Moo set, seemingly pleading for help with their eyes as they were crushed by overzealous moshers.
“When it happens, we just get so angry,” McKahey says. “I was screaming at these guys to go f— themselves, while we’re being projected on these big screens, not even playing guitar any more.”
Ryan adds it was especially disturbing because it happened during Girl Sports, a song about sexist comments and expectations. “I’m literally talking about people like you [those men].”
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers will create that comfortable live space when they embark on their I Love You album tour, but McKahey will join her bandmates only for some shows.
The demands of touring take a toll on any artist, but it’s especially difficult for people living with chronic illness. McKahey has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a condition that can cause fatigue, fainting, chest pain and other symptoms.
“It’s always been really hard for me to play and tour but after we got back from the UK, I had the worst crash I’ve ever had and ended up in hospital,” she wrote on Instagram in August. “It’s clear to me now that trying to tour while having this illness is going to be impossible.”
Lying in hospital in Australia, McKahey says she thought she was going to die.
“Six years of pushing it [by touring] came to a head,” she says. “It wasn’t so much that I came to the conclusion [to stop touring], it’s more like I just don’t really have a choice … Obviously, it sucks, but I would rather continue to be alive than play on stage every day.
“I don’t feel like I’ve missed out. I’ve toured internationally and played every goddamn festival under the sun and now it’s OK to step back for a bit.”
Ryan adds: “As much as I’m gonna miss her when we’re on tour, I’d rather that she’s alive and thriving.”
McKahey deadpans: “I’d rather just be able to call you guys than you have to visit my grave.”
A step back from touring for McKahey does not spell the end of Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, but a band learning to put themselves first.
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers play at The Triffid, Brisbane on October 27; UniBar Adelaide on November 2; 170 Russell, Melbourne on November 3; The River, Margaret River on November 10; Port Beach Brewery, Fremantle on November 11; Metro Theatre, Sydney on November 17; and support Foo Fighters at AAMI Park on December 4.
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