Fresh from their dynamic performance at Music Matters Live this year, Teenage Joans are proving themselves as one of Australia's most captivating up-and-coming acts. The Adelaide duo's infectious, pop/punk sounds have found a home well beyond their hometown.

On stage, vocalist-guitarist Cahli Blakers and drummer-vocalist Tahlia Borg are forces, exuding equal parts chaos and charm.

Teenage Joans in Singapore | Credit: Yasmin Affandy (@yyayayyasmin)

Since starting out together in 2018, their journey has been as much about growing together as it has been about making music. Now, as they prepare to hit the road for their My Heart’s Dead tour—kicking off October 31 in Adelaide, with stops in Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney — the girls show no signs of slowing down.

Between bites at Lau Pa Sat and the bustle of Chinatown, we spent an afternoon with the duo — braving Singapore’s blistering heat for a shoot — talking music, and everything in between. Later, they took some time to answer a few questions for us. Here’s what they shared:

Teenage Joans in Singapore | Credit: Yasmin Affandy (@yyayayyasmin)

For those who might be new to your music — who are Teenage Joans, and how did the name come about?

We are a pop punk two piece from Adelaide South Australia! Our name came about when a friend of ours (who is also in a band) misheard “TV shows” for Teenage Joans on stage, and the crowd started chanting “Teenage Joans” over and over. We needed a band name and thought it was cool and the rest was history!

I know you both first linked up through a mutual friend, and your first hang was basically a jam session. What was the chemistry like in that first meeting — do you remember that moment of realizing, ‘yep, this works, this is my person to make music with’?

We hit it off instantly - it was at Tahlia’s house, and I (Cahli) was only supposed to be there for a couple of hours. I ended up staying for dinner! We talked about 5sos mostly, and from then on when we played shows it felt like we had to be a band and write music together.

What was the first song you ever wrote/played as Teenage Joans?

It was our debut single called By The Way. It’s not too bad, considering we were 15!

Your music has this nostalgic early-2000s pop punk feel (kind of like Avril Lavigne and Paramore) but still fresh. Was that sound intentional, or did it just happen naturally?

We grew up listening to a lot of 2000s/2010s emo and pop punk, so it’s probably natural to sound like that for us! Truthfully we only ever write out of intuition, we’re never trying to chase a trend. We always go off vibes and gut feelings. We love all types of music so whatever comes out is completely natural!

How do you balance that throwback influence with keeping things current and uniquely “Teenage Joans”?

To be honest we just write whatever we feel like writing and it’s always going to be Teenage Joans because it’s us writing the songs. Whether it works with modern times or not, it doesn’t really bother us because nowadays people love nostalgia anyway! We know our fans are happy with what we make because it’s Cahli and Tahlia.

For a first-time listener, which song do you feel captures the essence of Teenage Joans best?

Probably Ruby Doomsday - it really shows off our skills instrumentally, vocally, lyrically, and songwriting wise. It’s definitely one of our favorites and a fan favorite too, we’re super proud of it!

I was reading some of your Reddit replies from a while back and loved how they felt like full-blown stories. Do you approach songwriting the same way, like each track is its own narrative?

In some ways yes, we really hone in on a storyline or metaphor for some songs, for example “My Dentist Hates Me!” has a lot of teeth and dental metaphors, or “moneymoneymoney” has a lot of metaphors about money. But in our debut album “The Rot That Grows Inside My Chest” there’s a greater narrative, using the metaphor of something rotting as the concept for the love story throughout the album. We love creating conceptual bodies of work, but also love following smaller stories within songs.

Teenage Joans in Singapore | Credit: Yasmin Affandy (@yyayayyasmin)

Okay, if Teenage Joans was a movie, what crazy plot would we all be watching?

Funny you ask, because we actually have a Teenage Joans short film called “The Rot That Grows Inside My Chest (The Film)”. It’s on YouTube and it’s basically like a really messed up Alice In Wonderland. Go watch it!

So much of the album (The Rot That Grows Inside My Chest) felt like flipping through a teenage diary — teenage angst, heartbreak, friendship, growing pains. Did you set out to capture that coming-of-age energy, or did it just naturally come through in the writing?

A bit of both to be honest - again, most of our writing is incredibly natural, and we wrote this album between the ages of 16-19, so it makes sense it feels like you’re flipping through a teenage diary! Sonically we really wanted to feel like this album could feel like a movie, as there was the loose “rotten love” concept throughout, so we intended on adding strings and synths to elevate the listening experience. We’re album truthers in this house, we love a full body of work.

You’ve been making music together since 2018. Looking back, how has that journey felt for you both — starting out so young and now growing up in the band? What’s been the hardest thing to navigate, and how has that growth shaped Teenage Joans’ trajectory?

It’s been pretty wild to be honest - we’ve done a lot of travelling and seen so many places we might not have seen otherwise! We’ve really had to learn to navigate what’s pretty much a sisterly bond at this point in time, as we spend so much time together, but we love it and wouldn’t change a thing! We hope you can really hear our growth in the next record we’re making, as we feel like the last few years have really shaped us into the adults we are now.

What do you think 2018-Teenage Joans would say if they saw where you are now?

They would be absolutely mind blown. An album, a short film, touring overseas, those were on our end goal bucket list and we did them in the first few years!

What are a couple of songs you’ve been loving lately — or even some all-time favorites you keep coming back to?

NOT OK - 5 Seconds Of Summer

Parachute - Hayley Williams

Grow Up - Toob Scoots

Pay Per View - Georgia Maq

We’ve turned Teenage Joans’ recent picks into a Side Stage Selects playlist so you can listen to their favorites— check it out here!

Looking ahead, what’s next for Teenage Joans? Any dream collabs or projects?

We’re taking our time but trying to write a banging second album, we just want to make sure it’s perfect before we rush it! Our dream would be to play a show with 5sos, everyone manifest for us! Hopefully we can tour Asia soon, that’s definitely on the bucket list. We loved Singapore so much, it was such a great experience and we’d love to come back!