A Chat with TE/MO (10.05.24)
With over a decade of training in classical singing, singer-songwriter TE/MO (also known as Teagan Earley) wanted to bring personal stories to others instead of just singing something in musical theatre. Inspired by acts like Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers, Earley offers what she calls “spooky pop” to audiences brimming with haunting and comforting pop tones. We speak with TE/MO about her debut EP MOTHER, useful skills, upcoming plans and much more.
OSR: What drew you to music? Why did you want to pursue a music career?
TE/MO: So my parents swear that I’ve been singing since before I could talk! But the first moment I remember thinking that I loved music and wanted to sing all the time was in the church choir. It wasn’t until years later, when I was around 12, that I realized that singing could actually be a career – I saw a production of Phantom of the Opera and was so on the edge of my seat the whole time that I was like “Whoa, I want to tell stories and make people feel like this! And these performers are doing it, so why can’t I?”. I was studying voice before then in a recreational way, but after that day, I started treating lessons a lot more seriously.
OSR: You describe your sound as “spooky pop”. Can you explain what spooky pop is?
TE/MO: 😄 It’s a name my producers JP Warner, Joey Chelius and I coined up because I love writing pop music, but also can’t resist returning to my classical roots (I was training to be an opera singer for almost a decade, so classical music really holds a place in my heart) with things like strings sections, dramatic imagery, and cinematic soundscapes. I also love writing about spiritual elements in my work, so lyrically, things tend to lean towards the mythic and fantastical. For me, you mix all of that together and you get a very timeless sound at the core of a very modern genre, in a way that feels almost ghostly at times. Hence, spooky pop!
OSR: You recently released your debut EP MOTHER, what can you tell us about it? Is there a particular theme or message?
TE/MO: MOTHER was my lighthouse during a very, very dark period of my life. It’s entirely based on my experience of being misdiagnosed with total infertility at the age of 24. While that diagnosis was eventually proven to be less severe than it was originally framed to me, the consequences of the diseases and disorders I do have – endometriosis chief among them – are going to affect me for the rest of my life. My identity was rocked by that diagnosis, and I had to figure out why that was. So I did that through music.
Writing this EP helped me to piece through what parts of my grief were because of a very innate desire to be a mom, and what parts of it were as a result of some weird, learned shame I had programmed into me about what a “mom” and what a woman is supposed to look like. So if there’s a message behind it, it’s that anyone who is going through a similar unlearning is not alone so long as I’m around.
OSR: Your EP MOTHER is a very personal one delving into personal struggles and experiences, how do you think your experiences influenced the music and similarly has the music influenced your place in and perspective of life?
TE/MO: Like I said above, I don’t know if I would have gotten through this experience without writing and music. It certainly helped me to realize that there is no one way to be a “mother”, or a woman, or a human being experiencing struggle and creation. And that then became kind of the thesis of the album. So they really are engaged in a symbiotic relationship – art informing life, and life informing art. There is something about music that reaches the unspeakable corners of your heart, and there is something about the profundity of the human heart that fuels the creative process. Now that I’ve started writing songs, it feels like the floodgates have opened and I can’t stop! My writing is the pulse of my perspective on the world around me – and I think that from here on out my experiences will always be the first thing to inform my artistry.
OSR: You are a classically trained vocalist. How does the classical training influence your modern pop style?
TE/MO: Honey, if you can sing classical, you can sing anythinnnnng, ha! No, but it absolutely influences my music. On the technical side of things, it makes me a better performer, because my vocal endurance is so high from those years spent training. But on the artistic side, everything innovative in music started with the rules that were established in classical music. So being aware of those rules not only helps me structure my musical storytelling, and add in details like motifs or word painting, but… what do they always say? You have to know the rules in order to break them and create something innovative, right?
OSR: What do you hope people take from MOTHER?
TE/MO: My main goal with any and all of my music, but especially this EP, is to make my listeners feel less alone. If I do that for even one person, then the release is a success, in my book. And this EP is especially important in that sense because so many people are experiencing invisible illnesses – especially women with reproductive health struggles – and yet no one is talking about it. So I hope that this EP serves as a fun but firm demand for more conversations surrounding that.
OSR: Random questions: What do you think is the most useful skill to know?
TE/MO: OOH I love this question! I think in a practical sense, languages. Being able to communicate with people is kinda what makes the world go around. But a random special skill of mine that I’ve found weirdly helpful over the years is being able to hold your breath for a long time! I love freediving in my spare time, and I found that when I started doing breath training for that, I oddly enough found a lot more applicable uses for it over the years, ha!
OSR: What was the best thing you learned in the past year?
TE/MO: That closure is a construct. Closure is something we create for ourselves. And that a lot of peace comes from realizing that.
OSR: I can’t help but cry when I hear Whitney Houston’s ‘The Greatest Love of All’. Is there any one song that always makes you very emotional?
TE/MO: That is such an amazing pick. Whitney’s one of the greatest voices of all time. Hm… I cry a lot so I have many answers to this question 😄. Recent additions? ‘Wendy’ by Maisie Peters, ‘Sidelines’ by Phoebe Bridgers, ‘Her’ by Alanis Morrisette, ‘You’re On Your Own Kid’ by Taylor Swift… but one that has gotten me since I was a kid is ‘You’ll Be In My Heart’ from Tarzan.
OSR: What can we expect from TE/MO in the future?
TE/MO: don’T worry… A lot moRe spOoky pop Tracks. 😄
OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?
TE/MO: Yes! If you’re able to donate to EndoFound, they’re an incredible organization that raises money and awareness for endometriosis research. Purchasing my singles, ‘Mother III’ or ‘Mother III (Radio Edit)’ also sends proceeds to them! But otherwise, thank you so much for tuning in and remember that you are still here, still breathing, and still and ever on the verge of miraculous and beautiful growth!
Many thanks to TE/MO for speaking with us. For more from TE/MO check out her Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
Listen to more indie-pop tunes on The Other Side Reviews Indie Pop playlist:
