Melbourne band, Teenage Dads, have spent the year touring Europe and the US with Lime Cordiale, racking up 55 shows in just seven months.

Wollongong gets the chance to see the ‘Hey Diego’ and ‘Speedracer’ boys perform twice this year – this week as part of their headline tour plus at Yours and Owls in October. We spoke to Angus and Vince about their year so far and a memorable performance with legendary singer Colin Hay.

So, how did it all start for the band?

We all went to high school together and naturally we were all just friends in the first place. The band formed initially with Jordy and Connor, and then Angus and me at the end. There were a few other people from school that were playing with Jordy and Connor before us – it was very sought after job, everyone really wanted to play at All Star by Smash Mouth! <laughs>

The current lineup was at the end of 2015. I only remember because I have a video of us playing at school. We would rehearse in the music rooms at lunchtime and in our free periods. We started playing covers and stuff in our last year of school, and in 2017 we started writing our own music and playing our own shows.

In terms of your influences, The Strokes and Phoenix are often mentioned – is that true for you or are there other influences for your songwriting?

It can be very much swayed on the day. I know, speaking on Jordy or Connor’s behalf, there are days where they might discover a new song or a new artist that they are really into. They delve into it and write something from that creative space. It can vary a lot just depending on the day or who they’re listening to. The Strokes and Phoenix is a solid reference for us, but it can fluctuate a lot.

You’ve toured across Europe and the US with Lime Cordiale this year, has there been a memorable gig?

Not necessarily a venue or crowd, but in Los Angeles [in early August] we got to jump up on stage and sing Down Under with Colin Hay. That was pretty nuts.

Colin and Lime Cordiale have known each other for a little bit now. Every time Ollie and Louis went [to LA] they would link up and eventually they wrote a song together.

And then while we were over in the UK, Ollie contacted Colin and said ‘hey, in LA would you come down and sing our song?’ And Colin said, only if we can play Down Under. The Lime guys said that we should come on stage, sing along and have fun. So yeah, that’s what happened!

What have you discovered about each other, quirks or otherwise, after touring together for such a long time?

I feel like we’ve pretty much discovered everything there is to discover between the four of us! We got even closer with the Lime Cordiale guys this tour – so that was kind of exciting as well.

We’ve gotten to know each other better. In Germany and we were all in the same hotel room with our sound guy, and Connor went to have a shower and he took whatever towel was closest to him, which happened to be mine because he couldn’t find his. We’ve been getting into him over it – he stole my towel!

Tell us about your debut this year at Splendor In the Grass. Did it live up to all your expectations?

Totally! It exceeded them because there was no mud. It was sunny the whole time. It made no sense! It absolutely blew our expectations based on last year, as an attendee.

It was seriously so great. I was just catching up with a friend and she asked me about it, and it was hard to speak about it. Basically, it was unreal. Yeah.

What are you looking forward to about the Aus/NZ tour?

I’m looking mainly the getting to play some great venues that we never thought we would play. For me personally as well, just hanging out with all the support bands that we’ve got on the lineup. I’m keen to see them play and I hope they get a good response from our audience.

We’ve always been treated well by bigger bands, and I want to help our friends’ bands as well in any way we can.

How have you selected your support acts for this tour?

We played with Moving Stills in 2018. They had been touring a lot and had more experience than us. We didn’t expect them to jump on, but we did some shows together and became friends. When they said yes to the shows we were stoked.

Our first show together was in Wagga Wagga, and long story short, if there was ever a band we’d want to play to no one with, it’s them! <laughs>

We’ve all shared experiences and have fun together making the best out of funny situations. We’re super stoked that we can do a big tour like this with them.

We also pick bands that we like and who we believe are giving everything a good crack and working hard, you know?

Wollongong gets to see you twice over the next couple of months – solo tour and at Yours and Owls. What are the pros and cons of festivals versus your own tour?

This is the first year we’ve been playing the major festival slots – so it was more daunting at festivals. I feel a lot more comfortable with standalone shows in that there are people that have supported us for years, and we want to put on a great show for them and make sure everyone’s having fun. It’s exciting where we’ve gotten to and how many people want to come and see us play.

But festivals, it’s exciting in that there’s a whole new audience that you haven’t been able to play to yet. So, it’s very exciting and daunting at the same time.

I remember the very first show at Groovin The Moo and looked over and Ball Park Music were watching us. We hadn’t spoken to them yet and thought “oh God, there’s a big band here watching us. This is crazy.”  We still feel like small fish in a big pond!

Teenage Dads with support acts The Moving Stills and Lola Scott will play the UniBar, Thurs 17 August – get your tickets from Moshtix.

Pre-save their latest single ‘I Like It’.