Neve from Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers on their latest single, ‘UNSCARRED,’ recording with Catherine Marks, and recent tour with Pearl Jam

Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers. Photo credit: Brianna Da Silva

Jordan Royal (Sonic Alien 4ZZZ) caught up with Neve of Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers to talk about the band’s latest single ‘UNSCARRED,’ recording five intense weeks with legendary producer Catherine Marks, and what it was like touring North America with none other than Pearl Jam. From arena stages to intimate hometown shows, Teen Jesus are showing no signs of slowing down. Read the full chat below.

Interview aired on Sonic Alien 4ZZZ 2 July 2025.

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Jordan: I'm joined by Neve from Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers having a chat about their single UNSCARRED. Another banger! Thank you so much for hopping on the call and having a chat, I really appreciate your time.

Neve: Thank you, thanks for having me!

Jordan: Of course! I want to talk about UNSCARRED. It's written from the perspective of a friend who had a bit of a brutal situationship with a male musician, which is a great meaning behind a song. But it's written from someone else's perspective outside of the band. I was wondering if you could talk me through maybe the feelings swelling in that one and how it was like writing from someone else's perspective outside of the band.

Neve: Yeah, well, I feel like it's unfortunately a bit of a universal experience being in a situationship where you're maybe more attached than the other person is. So, I feel like it's something, even though it's not, you know, a personal experience exactly this song, we all heavily relate to it. I feel like it's always fun writing music and putting it through the lens of a character that you can relate to, but it's also not your direct experience. I feel like that's a really fun way to write music.

So, Scarlett wrote this one with Gab from Japanese Wallpaper. And yeah, I know that she had just gone for coffee with a friend and her friend was sort of talking her through some of the trauma of this male musician situationship. And Scarlett was like, oh my god, like, we've all been there. But yeah, I feel like it's just such a fun way to write music.

Jordan: Yeah, I feel like writing from someone else's perspective is a bit, as you said, a bit fictional, sort of allows you to tap into something that you wouldn't be able to if you were writing about yourself. But it's definitely a universal experience. I'm sure we've all been there. It's something that I love about Teen Jesus in particular, your writing, your songs are full of energy, but sometimes it comes at it in like a whimsical, tongue-in-cheek, fun way. BALCONY, which is another new one from you guys, you described as like a loving ode to being chaos gremlins at the bar, which I love that description.

I was wondering when you're writing songs, how you come at it? Is it like, oh, I want energy or I want fun or like a bit of all of the above?

Neve: I feel like, yeah, it's a bit of all of the above. It's a bit of what we've got going on in our lives currently, what we're listening to is a big thing. Like, I know there's been eras where we're all listening to sadder stuff and then we’ll write Salt or something. Like, yeah, I feel like it's a reflection of what we're going through, but also just like going into a writing session with intentions of what we want to come out with, I think has been a big learning curve with this new body of work, just being like, we want to have more clear messaging, I think, which is really fun.

Jordan: That's so awesome. I feel like going in with like a set direction or end goal in mind would be really helpful.

It takes me to my next question. You guys recorded both tracks during a five-week straight session at the Grove Studios in New South Wales with Catherine Marks, who has worked with boygenius and Wolf Alice, and you called working with her a ‘freaking dream,’ which is really cool. I was wondering how she influenced you guys specifically and maybe shaped the final product. I can imagine five weeks straight of recording would be a bit intense.

Neve: Yeah, well, yeah. Before this recording stint, we usually did it like a couple of days at a time and then weeks off. So, this was such a different experience and we were also staying at Grove Studios. So, we'd wake up and instantly walk into the studio. So, it was really immersive. But Catherine was just, I don't know, it's like when you meet someone and you're like, wow, you actually are a bit of a musical genius, just the way her mind was spinning with ideas. And yeah, she shaped these two songs so much, especially ‘BALCONY’ with the big breakdown in the bridge. She'd just been cooking away for a couple of hours and we were all just chilling, watching TV. And she was like, guys, I want to show you something. And we went into the studio and she’s like, what about something like this? And we were like, oh my god she’s so awesome. So yeah, she had a massive influence and again, just helping us be a bit more intentional with everything.

Jordan: That's so awesome. It sounds like she really shaped the final product, like what happened in the end. And I can imagine, as you said, being like living there essentially for five weeks and waking up and being in that space constantly would be a bit of like, oh, towards the end.

You guys have also been touring a bit nonstop across Australia, overseas, supporting some legendary bands along the way as well. I was wondering if being on the road with such amazing artists and being on the road in general, if you brought any of those experiences back into the studio with you?

Neve: Well, yeah, I mean probably subconsciously. It's been the most inspiring thing, being able to tour with Pearl Jam and even just touring Australia and going overseas and all of us just being able to play shows. I don't know, it makes us all tighter as a group. And yeah, I feel like it's more just subconscious influences that we don't even realise until we're listening back and we're like, oh wait. Yeah, like, I don't know. And it's just like every band that we play with so many incredible bands that support us that we're really inspired by. I feel like it's just constant inspiration, which is great.

Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers. Photo credit: Brianna Da Silva

Jordan: That's so awesome. I feel like that time on the road, you'd also pick up on different places, different music that comes from different places, different influences from different scenes as well. That's so awesome.

You guys also, as you mentioned, finished your tour with Pearl Jam across North America, playing like six arena shows and some headline shows too. Huge congratulations. I read that Eddie Vedder at the last performance got up and gave you guys a shout out and congratulated you on your ARIA win and was just like, you know, you guys need to go down and see Teen Jesus. That must have been a next-level out-of-body experience. How was it listening to that?

Neve: So insane. Yeah. So, when we played with them in Australia, he came up on stage to introduce us both times without us knowing he was going to do this. And so we were going through the same reactions as the audience being like, oh my god, what's happening? But we're up on stage being like, oh my god, this is insane. And then yeah, in America, every single night he invited us to either play a song or yeah, we got up on stage every show I think, just dancing around. Like, I don't know. He's just so supportive. He made such an effort to make us feel welcomed. And he's just, yeah, he's so awesome. He's really amazing.

Jordan: That's so amazing, because I can imagine you guys would be big Pearl Jam fans as well. So, seeing someone who you've looked up to for such a long time have that love and connection and bringing you guys, making you very much a part of the show, not just an opener. So awesome.

You guys are also doing an Australia East Coast tour: Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne. Sydney is sold out, huge congratulations. You guys are in Brisbane on July 19th. Very, very excited. And I feel like hometown shows are a bit more chaotic, can sometimes be a bit more connection-filled, a bit more special. What are you excited for this run of shows?

Neve: I am so excited to play these new songs, of course. I also am so excited to play in these venues where it's a bit more intimate like obviously playing arena shows with Pearl Jam is insane. But I also just love going back to playing more intimate shows with people that have been supporting us for ages and ages and everyone singing all the words and everything. I'm so excited for that. And I've just recently moved to Melbourne, so I'm excited for Melbourne to now be my hometown show. Yeah. And hometown shows are always so fun because you've got family and friends there. And yeah, I'm just really excited to tour Australia again.

Jordan: Oh, that's so exciting. It's so special. Like I've seen you guys a couple of times now. It's just always so much fun. Like everyone always gets so into it. It's so great.

I have one last question, which is a bit of a fun one. You guys have amazing style like you guys have such cool clothes. I was wondering if you could dress either BALCONY or UNSCARRED in an outfit, what it would look like?

Neve: OK, that's a great question. I feel like they're really different. Like I feel like ‘BALCONY’ is messy, like fishnets, tartan, smudged lipstick and messy eyeliner sort of vibe. And then ‘UNSCARRED’ is like kitten heels, bright tights, little mini skirt. Like I feel like ‘UNSCARRED’ is put together and ‘BALCONY’ is like you've been at the club for too many hours. It's like six a.m. and ‘BALCONY’ is walking home from the club and ‘UNSCARRED’ is walking to work.

Jordan: That's so good. I love how you created it into a scenario. That's awesome. If I could raid any band's wardrobe ever for always, it'd be you guys. Teen Jesus - best clothes.

Well, thank you so much for your time and huge congratulations again on this release. It's so amazing. So, thank you so much.

Neve: Thank you so much.

Listen to ‘UNSCARRED’ below.