And young Australians agree, these two inspiring musicians are being nationally recognised for bringing all those feel-good music vibes. Cahli Blakers and Tahlia Borg make up the duo Teenage Joans, who took out triple j’s Unearthed High in 2020. The pair took out the top spot against 1,700 submissions from across Australia with their song Three Leaf Clover.

“It has been amazing, insane and we are just over the moon,” Cahli said. “It was so hectic, I had just finished my pyschology trial exam and then this video popped up on screen saying we had won and two hours later I was still in shock,” Tahlia said.

Both Cahli and Tahlia have been part of the Northern Sound System (NSS) community for several years through work experience opportunities and programs such as N1 Records. The pair met thanks to NSS’ Creative Cultural Facilitator, Nick O’Connor, who connected the two artists when Cahli was in search for a drummer.

“I owe all of the starting of Teenage Joans career to NSS, we learnt and did everything here at the start,” Cahli said. “NSS is good because it provides young kids in the community access to things they may not have at school or at home, and you feel safe and are able to express yourself without judgement.”

These are two faces to watch out for as they take the juice box punk-pop genre by storm. “We are working on new music and we’ve have been writing a lot, new recordings and beautiful visual content,” the pair said.

If you, or someone you know, is a young creative find out what the Northern Sound System has to offer at northernsoundsystem.com.au or call 8255 5560.