A spotlight interview with Teagan, the vocalist of The Pingers, ahead of their appearance at LOUD WOMEN Fest Gadigal/Sydney on 7 December.
What’s the story behind your your band name?
The first 2 songs we wrote were ‘Miss Pingers’ and ‘Let’s Get a Bag’. We chose the name koz we went to see Guns n Roses together and it was raining in November 2023. So naturally we started singing the song ‘November Rain’ song as we were leaving the show. Nobody cared but when our drunk guitarist starting chanting “BRING PINGERS BACK” we had a massive chant yelling that along with us. Pingers are more popular than gunners so we chose to name our band and theme about Pingers!
[Ed – for the benefit of our non-Australian readers, pingers are Es … we’re still googling ‘gunners’ …]
Who’s in the band, and what do you all play?
Teagan (vocals), Steeno (drums and vocals), Casey (guitar and vocals), Ollie (Bass and vocals)
Where do you call home?
Snowy Mountains in NSW. NOT THE BLUE MOUNTAINS!!!!
Describe your sound in three words.
Fun, Simple, Silly
Tell us about your music.
Our latest release is Green Apple and it’s a party album to sing along to with ya mates!
‘Shit My Pants’ is a true story about our guitarist (Casey) shitting two beds in one night. This happened in front of a new partner so trying to be hot and cool after you’ve pooped yourself is not easy. We love how many stories of people shitting themselves get shared at our shows. We all shit our pants sometimes.
‘Foreskins and Buttholes’ came about very organically once we realised we all have buttholes but not all males have foreskins, IT IS A STUPID SONG about a stupid medical procedure!
What’s your local scene like — and how do you fit in, or stir it up?
We are a regional band from a small town. We have a good country music scene here but we are making it heavier and more alternate koz not everyone living in the country listens to that noise!! We play locally as much as we can and we started the band to diversify and improve our local scene. It’s slowly happening!! We have had some great bands come to our home and have put on some really fun local shows since we have been a band.
If you could rip up the rulebook of the music industry, what’s the first thing you’d rewrite?
There’s a perception that heavier music encourages violence and anger and yet the heavy shows are the most inclusive environments ever. I would love to capture the energy and friendliness of a live show and spread that out into the world. Also I would get the artists and bands paid appropriately for doing what they love every single gig!
What’s the wildest/strangest thing that’s ever happened at one of your gigs?
One of our mates dressed as a cyclist and literally sucked my fist on stage during the song – Suck My Fist!!
What’s the biggest hurdle you’ve faced and how did you overcome it?
The biggest hurdle for us is balancing real life, jobs and bills while trying to spend as much time as we can on the road and writing music. We sleep on floors and drink as much free beer as we can find!
What’s the proudest moment you’ve had so far as a band?
Proudest moment would be when we played our first show and our whole small town community came out and packed out the local pub. We didn’t know how it would be received. It was such a fun supportive show and it was our first one ever, it blew our minds. We spent almost a year writing and getting that set together. Once we did the first show we knew we were hooked and it was worth all the work and sacrifices.
What’s the strangest gig you’ve ever played?
When our bass player had a mental breakdown on stage. She got dumped a few hours before the show. She drank wayy too much red wine and thought she would enjoy playing. She broke down in tears and was not in a good way so the show was strange as hell.
What’s a dream gig or collaboration you must make happen before you die?
We are lucky that we have played with lots of my fav aussie punks already but theres always room for more. I would love to collaborate with Ratsalad and finally play a show with them!!
Dream lineup: you + three other acts (alive, dead, or imaginary). Who’s on the bill?
The Pingers with Rancid, The Interrupters and Ratsalad!
What’s next for you?
We are playing LOUD WOMEN in Sydney then heading to QLD and doing some shows and more recording. Then we are off to tour Japan early next year so lots happening in the world of pingers!
Anything else you’d like to add?
Life is hard and music is fun. Start a band with some good mates and you will never look back!