Start Listening To: Teether & Kuya Neil

Teether & Kuya Neil talk YEARN IV, artistic freedom, and making noise on their own terms.

From their home base in Naarm (Melbourne), rapper Teether and producer Kuya Neil have built a sound that’s hard to pin down but instantly recognisable, lo-fi and off-kilter, but deeply intentional. Their latest project YEARN IV, recorded largely in an Airbnb with minimal gear, is a raw and richly textured blend of rap, punk, noise, and club music that wears its imperfections proudly. In conversation, they’re warm, funny, and self-aware just as likely to shout out Guitar Pro as they are to reflect on community, collaboration, and making music in a city in flux.

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

Teether: We are Teether & Kuya Neil from Naarm, Australia. First and foremost we are friends and fans of music. Our goal has always been to make music that feels true to us, is fun for us to make and perform,  and represents who we are. Something like that.

"YEARN IV" was recorded in an Airbnb lounge with fairly minimal gear. How did working with those limitations shape the album’s sound and approach?

Neil: We relied on instruments, and developing ideas through jamming together on guitar, keys and drum machine, as opposed to working in the box. I think this gave everything an organic and ‘band’ feel. It felt more intuitive and took us back to our formative years of playing guitar alone in our bedrooms. Shout out to PowerTab and Guitar Pro!

Your music blends lo-fi, club, metal, and rap in a way that feels entirely your own. How do you navigate these influences without falling into any one genre?

Neil: I think it is about having trust in each other’s input and taste. Nothing feels out of bounds when creating, so there’s a freedom to be curious and blend in influences from different styles and experiences, which makes the music feel quite personal rather than rooted in genre. There’s definitely a line to tow in being respectful to the history of genres, but we ultimately are interested in making something new and personal to us.

Teether: We listen to whatever we connect with, regardless of genre or whatever. Often when we link, we’ll spend the first part of the session showing each other new music we’ve found or old stuff we’ve rediscovered. Like Neil said, we have trust in each others taste and musical instinct. We react to each other in real time and things kind of just fall into place. Everything is quite easy and organic, I don’t like to overthink the creation part of things. The songs turn out however they turn out.

Footscray has played a huge role in your creative and personal lives. How do you see its music and arts scene evolving, especially with ongoing gentrification?

Neil: I think there are pockets of the community who are feeling these shifts and making conscious efforts to foster underground spaces and keep the DIY spirit alive. There is also an awareness of how dire the situation is for music venues in the city overall, and how important it is for people to support eachother, especially other musicians. Despite gentrification, Footscray has managed to maintain its identity through these smaller community spaces and older businesses, but we are definitely seeing the influence of state government investment, real estate development and new businesses. As artists, I think we find ourselves somewhere in the middle.

Teether: I love that place, man. The whole city is constantly in the throes of gentrification and is becoming increasingly unaffordable, but it’s heartening to see people adapt and maintain community and creativity. I’m thankful for everyone’s combined efforts to keep the momentum going despite it all. I don’t know what will happen, I never really anticipated anything that has happened so far.

You’ve spoken about embracing imperfection in your music. Is there a specific moment on "YEARN IV" where a supposed ‘flaw’ ended up making a track better?

Neil: In the track ‘Hotel’, we embraced the ‘funky bassline’. At first we found it really funny, but after leaning in to the nostalgic sound it became one of our favourite tracks on the album. Teether started playing some guitar chords and I asked if he could play it in a reggae style and the rest followed suit. Though it’s a more somber track on the project, it was one of the most fun to play and record. We like to incorporate humour in music, and I’m definitely interested in flipping our ideas of what may be considered unserious or cringe into something emotive.

Teether: I hear many imperfections across the record but it’s nothing I would change. I really think it’s important to keep the human elements in there. I don’t really enunciate properly in general, sometimes it’s like “I wasn’t trying to say that but it sounds good so let’s keep it”. Or hitting a strange note that works.

"ZOO" captures themes of alienation and chaos. Can you talk about what inspired the song and how it sets the tone for the rest of the album?

Neil: We were trying to make a 2000s swag era hip-hop track after binging a lot of Soulja Boy and Tisakorean tracks on YouTube. I think the chaos was felt a lot this year, juggling pressures of work, family and music. We struggle to perfectly recreate a sound – it always ends up more anxious and heavy but that makes sense.

Teether: Yeah, it was pretty quick. I don’t think we had a lot of time that day but I think that was for the best in this instance.

Both of you have deep connections to community arts outreach. How has working in those spaces influenced your approach to music?

Neil: Community work keeps me grounded and gives me a lot of perspective on what a music practise is about. Seeing people feel excited, build confidence and make connections and friendships through art is really important and reminds me of why I do it.

Teether: I think it’s important to stay in touch with community and the real world. So much of our music is influenced by our day to day experiences outside. I think juggling day jobs that don’t always pay very well with music which similarly doesn’t always pay very well gives you that drive to keep going. And having a reason outside of yourself to be active. As much as I love music, I’m grateful to be a youth worker as it can be a lot more fulfilling and feels more important. Music is just a thing that I need to do as an outlet, really. I think it’s nice also to be around people so you realise you’re not the main character and you’re not necessarily owed anything by people.

You’ve collaborated with a range of artists, from Billy Woods to Alice Skye. What do you look for in a collaborator, and what have been some of your most surprising creative partnerships?

Neil: I think I gravitate towards folks who are more quiet or introverted, but still bring a strong confident energy with their work. I generally feel more comfortable with those folks, and find the creative process a lot easier. An aversion to the music industry is also generally a good sign for us.

Teether: I think if you get along as people, you will be somewhat compatible as artists. As long as you stay open to doing something different. I’m genuinely a huge fan of everyone we’ve worked with.

Teether, your cadence is truly unique within the Australian rap scene. Have you consciously worked to develop your vocal style, or has it been an organic evolution?

Teether: I’ve just been trying to sound as much like myself as possible. It’s taken some time to learn who I am and how I want to put myself out into the world. As time goes on I know myself more and care less about how I’m perceived, I think this has resulted in the musical growth I aspired to. But I’m just trying to have a chat on these songs, mostly. I never wanted to be a vocalist initially, I was just a producer and guitar player that couldn’t find someone to vocalise how I heard it in my head.

Kuya Neil, your production choices are often unconventional. What draws you to the textures and rhythms you use, and do you have a particular philosophy when approaching a beat?

Neil: I take a lot from Chicago Footwork production, in which every sound is in service of the overall rhythm. It can be vocals, instruments, memes whatever it takes to create the tension and battle-like feeling. I love tension and release in music. I also try to go off instincts - I will cycle through samples and instruments at a very fast rate until something hits me. Once I find it, I will immediately throw it in and manipulate it until it works. Teether writes quickly too, so I try to match his pace.

You’ve played with artists like Shabazz Palaces and RP Boo. How have those experiences influenced your perspective on live performance?

Neil: Seeing artists in their 40s and 50s perform with so much love and passion is hugely inspiring, and keeps me focused on longevity over short term gains. I hope to still be making music or involved in the music community when I am in my 40s and 50s. 

Teether: Getting to meet, perform alongside and even just watch artists that we have loved for a long time is crazy. It’s mad inspiring and also nice to know they’re all music nerds like us at the end of the day. People say don’t meet your heroes but I reckon you should.

Who do you love right now?

Neil: My girlfriend.

Teether: My wife and cats.

What do you hate right now?

Neil: Israel

Teether: Yeah, Israel and bootlickers. White Australia and billionaires. Assorted dickheads.

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?

Neil: At the Drive-In's ‘Relationship of Command’. It’s so abrasive and atonal in parts, but super poppy at the same time. I love that it’s musically technical, but never feels indulgent. There’s a nice mix of chaos (Omar and Cedric) and order (Jim, Tony and Paul) on the rhythm section. Their story as a band is also really interesting, coming up from the punk scene and trying to hold onto ethos and values under the pressure of a major label release and intense hype. I think these opposing forces created the magic, but also led to the group’s implosion.

Teether: I love Metallica so much and always revisit the first five records. As a kid, I always wanted to be on a stage doing that shit. They still inspire me a lot. There’s a million albums I could name but hearing Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets when I was 8 or 9 started it all for me.

Looking ahead, where do you see Teether & Kuya Neil in five years? Do you have any dream projects or directions you’d love to explore?

Neil: Finance. I see myself on a yacht sipping on a Teether & Kuya Neil branded liquor funded by my newly acquired Fortune 500 company. I think once the album drops, YEARN IV stocks will skyrocket, so now is a good time to invest.

Honestly though, probably doing the same shit but with more back pain. I’d like to make a Teether & Kuya Neil guitar record and further explore theatre performance, fashion and product design. We love performing, so hopefully we can play overseas more!

Teether: I have no idea but I hope we are making way better music and have a bit more access to resources. I just don’t want to be stressed about money anymore and I’d like to be able to perform around the world. Maybe have a kid or something. Whatever happens I’m here for it.