This year has been one hell of an eventful year for me, exploring the music scene in Cape Town, and one of my earliest highlights of the year was attending the return of the legendary Up The Creek music festival out in the scorching hot Swellendam hills.

I kid you not, the heat was my biggest enemy. I remember having to find myself an ice-cold beverage and pizza on the Sunday morning (to cure the hangover of course) and stumbling across the Kaya stage at the food court.

I’d spent the whole weekend seeing brilliant live acts, however, this one set was the highlight of my entire experience. I was introduced to a whole new roster of talented musicians, seeing the likes of Luukhanyo, The Hii Rollers, Mila Smith, Tyler Page, and the enchanting Teagan.

Fast forward a couple of months later, we were able to catch Teagan unexpectedly and pounced at an opportunity to have a chat about her journey and experience as a musician. She wasted no time getting it done with us while also expanding on her new upcoming single, titled “Lock You Down”.

So, first things first, can you tell us a bit more about who Teagan is?

“Uh, sho! Teagan is a busy, busy woman.”

“I am obviously a singer/songwriter busy making music, and I have a song coming out that I’m trying to be a content creator for at the moment, which if you follow on my Instagram, it’s so annoying. But I’m trying to make a piece of content every single day until the 29th for “Lock You Down.”

“It’s a really fun song. I made it with my producer Ben Reid and Blessing from The Hii Rollers and Theo from Kloudink. We got together in the studio making this Pop song like we usually do and all of a sudden Blessing does this Amapiano thing on the beat and I was like “Oh my god, we have to do that”. So, it’s like some sort of Pop-Piano.”

“So yah, I have like a normal 9 to 5 job to make money in the day and then pretty much grafting the music at the point that I can. Whether that’s making content, posting on TikTok, posting on Instagram, organizing a show, doing rehearsal, being in the studio which is probably the most fun out of all of it, and actually playing the shows.”

How long have you been in the music world and how are you finding it?

“I love it, and if I could do it full time I would. But, we need to make money.”

“I’ve been writing music since 2020. I think that’s when my first song, called “Like You Do”, came out, and yah it’s pretty much been game changing.”

“To be able to have an idea for a song and write it and release it and have people come up to you and be like “I heard your song and really liked it”, that’s like unmatched.”

You mentioned you only started in 2020. Before that did you have any musical background that helped you pursue a music career?

“Yeah, I was pretty much just doing covers and cover gigs in bars. I was always writing in my little notebook, writing little song snippets.”

“I mean before then I was in high school, so I was pretty much just singing in school and not always thinking I’d want to make my own music. It was at that point when you do and you’re like “Oh my god, this is life-changing”. But yah.”

“With every piece of work that you do, you build on the skill. And you just get better and better at it. I went to Erin Elliot’s songwriting camp which she hosted a couple of weeks ago, and I was so nervous. I didn’t see myself as a songwriter because I’m always doing it from my experiences from what I’ve gone through and writing with a producer is also very different to like sitting down and writing words and then putting them into music. 

“I went to this songwriting camp because I didn’t think I could write songs for other people and it was literally the coolest thing I’ve done in a very long time. It was so awesome to sit down with a group of people and write a song for somebody else. That for me was almost more satisfying than any song that I’ve written for myself.”

Do you feel like those are the best parts about being a musician?

“Yah, because it’s like you have an idea and you put in an hour's work into just writing a song, putting it out, and your producer is helping to put a melody to it, and all of a sudden you’re singing it and that is such a release. It’s something that's feasible that you can actually listen to and relisten to.”

“It’s very therapeutic in a way. I think it’s such a blessing to be able to do that. And yah, you can go on about how shows are so much fun, being a musician is so much fun, being within those vibes, and being around musicians is so much fun. But, those special moments I think are some of the most valuable ones.”

Can you tell us a bit more on your upcoming single, “Lock You Down”?

“Well like I said, it’s a Pop-Piano vibe and I’m really excited about it because it’s like this whole other different sound.”

“I’ve got all this music that I haven’t released and some of it is really Rock, and others are very Pop, so it’s different. I’m a bit worried that it’s going to come across like just a big mess, but I plan to basically release them, and I have enough to make two EP’s.”

“It’s been four years of writing songs and releasing one every couple of months. So, the next release is “Lock You Down” and then two months later I’ll drop another one and then the EP. And then again until I have two EP’s and obviously work on other music. It’s getting to a point where everything is churning and churning. But, I like it!”

“But yeah I’m very excited for it. I think it’s probably the best one yet. I’ve been holding onto it since March because it’s a summer song. It’s meant for summer. And I’m also excited about it because I want to make like a DJ thing. I just feel like it can do really well.”

“It’s a song about wanting to lock someone down and just being interested in someone. It’s just a happy vibe, not that deep of a message, but yeah, I think it’ll do very well. Like doing the content is putting the horns into it and like trying to get it going which is cool.”

How are you finding the content creation part of it?

“Well, I studied advertising so it kind of all goes together. Making content has been really fun, it’s been even more interesting to see what does and what doesn’t do well.”

“The things I put the most effort into, don’t do that well. And then the things that I put the least effort into does so well. Like, I was walking around my kitchen yesterday and the song goes “I just want your love”, but I was singing “I just want a snack” and I just started recording that and I just decided to post that, and it did so well man!”

“To me, it was like I didn’t have to be so precious about what goes online, which has been pretty fun. I’m not going to lie, every morning I wake up and think about what the post is going to be for the day. But yah, I'm still trying to figure out today's post.”

You’ve mentioned Pop, Rock, and now even Pop-Piano. According to you, how would you describe your sound?

“I’m trying to figure it out. I think it’s definitely Pop-centric but the thing about Pop music is that it’s the clearest way to convey an idea.”

“Like, when you have an idea for a song it’s the most clean vessel to push through your idea.”

“It’s popular music. So, that’s like my sound for sure. But, there are external elements that come and make it like a subgenre like Pop-Rock, Afro-Pop, and Pop-Dance. So I think I’m definitely a Pop-Girlie.”

In the sense of music and content creation, how would you describe your creativity?

“I guess it’s sort of quirky and I want it to be relaxed. It’s so different because the music is definitely quirky, cheeky, and sassy while the content creation is sort of similar but some of it is silly and some of it is a bit more serious.”

“Actually nah, maybe not. I actually wouldn’t say it’s very serious. I feel like if I take it too seriously it’s not going to do well because then it’s just putting too much on it and myself and it puts too much pressure and whatever.”

“I don’t know. I feel like I’d be nothing without creative outlets. I think I’d say mine is the thing that brings me joy at the end of the day.”

To close off the interview, what is your opinion on the current cultural landscape in Cape Town and where do you see it going?

“Oh my god, it is growing exponentially at such a fast rate. I don’t see why anyone, in the music industry specifically, would want to up and leave to like America or LA at this point.”

“The amount of talent that we have here is crazy. It blows my mind constantly. I’m at the cafe a lot and I attend the shows a lot. Even seeing an open mic with people that aren’t even trying to be in the music industry is unbelievable.”

“I think it’s growing at a rate that I think we can’t actually fathom. I don’t even know if we’re prepared for it, as creatives. I think we can handle it, I think we will, it’s very positive.”

“There’s so much that is good happening here and we’re all just lifting each other up which is great.”

Being a part of VERVE has been such an incredible journey, going from admiring an artist to eventually getting to meet them and understanding a bit more about their world.

Having this chat with Teagan was an awesome experience and we can’t wait for her newest single, titled “Lock You Down”, scheduled to release this Friday.

For now, check out her discography and keep an eye out for that new release.