Teenage Halloween

Teenage Halloween is touring the American West for the first time ever, and they’ve tried to hit a few scenic, interesting and/or important spots along the way: The Pacific Ocean. Yellowstone National Park. The Daniel Johnston mural in Austin, Texas.

And in the Bay Area?

“Right now we’re driving to San Francisco to go to Haight-Ashbury and get burritos,” said Luke Henderiks, who formed the band in high school.

Teenage Halloween is from New Jersey, where they started out as a folk-punk project influenced by bands like Bomb the Music Industry! and AJJ. Over the past several years, however, they’ve evolved into a killer power-pop-punk band, and in 2020, they released their self-titled debut album, which boasts more hooks than a well-stocked tackle box. Back then, Stereogum praised its “huge, driving, extremely catchy sound,” while American Songwriter declared Teenage Halloween “a force for queer life.”

The band’s tour stops in Redmond on Friday night for a show at High Desert Music Hall, and Henderiks was kind enough to answer a few questions on the way to the burrito place. Here’s that conversation, edited for space and clarity.

GO!: Tell me, if you would, about how Teenage Halloween came together.

Luke Henderiks: Well, we started in 2014 and over the next couple of years, we started touring more and more. I kind of found myself through the music scene and punk, and it evolved very quickly from a band into a very queer-forward band. As I grew into my identity, so did the band.

GO!: Were there a lot of bands like Teenage Halloween in your scene back home?

LH: There kind of was. I really liked a lot of the pop-punk in New Jersey, but I was actually more into folk-punk and hardcore. We kind of just did our own thing and played with whoever we could. But the community as a whole, regardless of genre, was very strong and that’s what I came up in.

GO!: Did you find acceptance in that scene that you hadn’t found elsewhere?

LH: I would say I had to do a lot of work to advocate for myself to feel accepted. In my life, I definitely faced a lot of hardships for being a very weird, out-there person, and I feel like music was one of the only places where it felt OK to be that way and people would accept you for who you are. It’s a better community than a lot of communities.

GO!: I know the band’s sound has evolved over the years. How would you describe that evolution?

LH: A complete 180. I feel like we’ve been going toward the sound we have now for a while, but it was a lot less polished than it has been the past couple of years. We put a lot of time into dynamics and songwriting, and it definitely changed a lot of the trajectory of our music. I feel like the goal of the band has always been pretty set, but the way it comes out now is a lot better just because we’ve grown a lot, we’re better communicators among ourselves and we really thrive off the creativity of all the members of the band. It’s much more collaborative now, and I love that.

GO!: You said the goal of the band has always been set. What has been the goal?

LH: An extravagant rock band. That’s always been the goal, it just wasn’t always implemented in the right way until the last few years it has felt exactly how I wanted it to sound the whole time.

GO!: On your Bandcamp profile, you clearly state, “These songs are about mental health and queer struggles.” Many bands don’t like to talk about what a song is about. Why is it important to you to be so forthcoming about the meaning behind your music?

LH: On top of finding topics that other people can relate to, it’s also very important to me to have the catharsis of being able to yell about the things that have been bothering me. I feel like that has always helped me in a very therapeutic way.

GO!: Do you hear from fans that hearing you yell those things helps them too?

LH: Yeah, it’s super humbling, especially when it makes them feel like they’re not alone. But it also makes me feel like I’m not alone when I hear from other people who can relate to something I said. That’s just an indescribable feeling.

What: Teenage Halloween, with Helga and Good Grief 

When: 8 p.m. Friday

Where: High Desert Music Hall, 818 SW Forest Ave., Redmond

Cost: $10

Contact: highdesertmusichall.com.