By: Max Kelly
From the soulful and intense portrayal of love in “my <3,”to the playful and experimental synth-
pop found in “you & i,” indie-pop artist teenatown has repeatedly proved her ability to exude a
sense of confidence and precision within her work.
teenatown first began her musical endeavors at the age of 18 when she started experimenting
with Garage Band. After realizing her infatuation with upbeat, moving bass lines, she was
inspired to release her first track, “Get Down,” on Soundcloud. She cites her musical influences
as “ranging from the Disco Queen Donna Summer to the pop-punk stylings of Paramore’s
Hayley Williams.” Following a string of other official releases and live performances, teenatown
has started to make a mark in music.
When asked about her main goals as an artist, teenatown said, “My goal is to empower people,
especially women. I want to inspire other female-producers and encourage them to realize their
potential. I’ve been in situations where men made me feel like I always needed their help, until I
took my power back. Now I inspire myself every day.”
Just a few months ago, she dropped a new track titled “boundary boss.” The soft indie-pop
earworm discusses themes of anxiety and the importance of being in control of the boundaries
you set in your life. Inspiration for the track came following her therapist’s recommendation to
read a book titled “boundary boss” by Terri Cole. teenatown describes the book as a how-to
guide on setting boundaries. She had “felt very taken advantage of” which, along with the book,
ultimately inspired her to write the track.
The official “boundary boss’ music video was filmed with Arcane Films: Leslie Cruz, Daisy Torres,
Nick Pearl, and Rosemarie Beamus. teenatown credits Leslie as “a powerhouse and a visionary
behind the video;” being responsible for scenes such as the one where she is standing in the
ocean at sunrise. teenatown continued by saying that “we wanted to tell a story where the
younger version of me is slowly growing up and losing her innocence.” At the end, the older me
realizes she needs to be more of a boundary boss in her life!”
Diving into teenatown’s songwriting process, she said “I will play chords on my guitar and come
up with a melody. Then I’ll go into Logic and start producing, writing hooks, and arranging. For
some songs, I’ll completely self-produce and record all the instruments; but other times, I’ll
collaborate with friends – and they will perform and add stuff onto the songs!”
She was inspired to write the song “my <3” due to missing her girlfriend, who was on vacation
at the time. Sonically speaking, teenatown was “very inspired by glitchy-rock and nu-metal
artists from Brakence and Evanesence” while creating the track.
The song “you & i” was a whole different story. teenatown said, “I was inspired by synth-pop
music at the time” and that “I wanted to make an 80s-styled song.” Lyrically, the track discusses
themes of escapism and love.
teenatown’s releases have all explored various soundscapes while maintaining a sense of
cohesion only a well-developed artist could pull off. When asked how she would best categorize
her music, teenatown said that she likes to call it “indie pop affirmations with some rock
influences.” She continued by stating that “I would say most of my songs are in the indie
category, and most have that “pop” structure. I definitely consider myself to be “anti-genre”
because I can never pick! The next song I have coming out is totally a “surf rock” kind of song.
So random!”
From the catchy melodies of “boundary boss” to the ricocheting instrumentals throughout “my
<3,” teenatown continues to showcase her great artistic ability and up her game with each
release. It’s clear that teenatown is a force to look out for in music and you can check out a few
of her most recent tracks on this week’s Mezz Music Monday playlist on Spotify, YouTube, and
SoundCloud.