No one in the The Regrettes is even legally old enough to drink, but you wouldn't know you were listening to a band of high school-aged performers based on their music, a smart and catchy combination of old (1950s and '60s beach-rock riffs) and new (fierce, unapologetic feminist rallying cries and tributes).

You also wouldn't know they were so young – frontwoman Lydia Night, 16, is barely old enough to drive – hearing them speak their minds in interviews either.

For instance: this interview, where we chatted with Night before the group takes the Johnson Controls World Sound Stage Thursday night at 6:45 p.m. as part of the Emerging Artists Series, vying for votes in the hopes of scoring a care package of gear and merch worth almost $3,000 from Summerfest.

OnMilwaukee: I read in an interview that one of the things that inspired you to go into music was seeing a concert with your dad. What was the concert?

Lydia Night: It was this band called The Donnas, an all-girl band. I think I had just never seen women in that way. I had never seen women doing something like that ever – well, because, I was 5, so that’s not that surprising. Just seeing how many people were there – there was just something about it that I was just, "I have to do that."

Your music is such an interesting time warp of ‘50s, ’60s doo-wop style. Where did you find that?

My family. That’s something we can all agree on liking, that kind of music. I’ve just grown up on it, and it’s the only style that I’ve never gotten sick of.

What was the process and the mindset of making this debut, this first big statement of an album? And it’s definitely a statement. It’s not shy.

I had already written about 50 songs before even forming the band, so we went into it with a very large catalog to choose from. So we picked our favorites and modified them, and then I wrote a few songs also during the recording process. And yeah, I don’t think we thought of it as a big statement. It just was. We didn’t pick songs that we were like, "Oh yeah, this is going to be a big statement." It was more just we picked our favorite songs and that’s what it turned into.

From the name of the album and past interviews, you talk a lot about putting genuine feelings out there. What’s it like trying to put those out there in a public form, especially in this 21st-century, Snapchat/Twitter world?

For me, it’s honestly very healing. It’s so rewarding to talk about things that are very personal to you and then have other people come up to you and say, "I feel that," or "This helped me get through my situation." Because it makes me feel not alone, and it makes them feel not alone, and it’s a win-win. So it’s been super healing for me.

Where did you learn or pick up your feminism from?

I actually learned about what feminism meant when I was I seventh grade, and I met my best friend Grace. She moved to Santa Monica where I was living, and we became friends right away. She was just so much cooler than me. I grew up in Santa Monica; I just didn’t know I was so sheltered my entire life – not by my parents; they’re pretty open with me. But growing up and going to school with a class of maybe 30 kids in my grade for nine years is very sheltering. I think that’s good for a lot of things – but also I didn’t know about a lot of stuff.

And she came into my life and just completely changed my music taste – I don’t want to say changed, but opened my eyes to a lot of things. The first time we ever hung out, she told me about Rookie Mag. It’s like an online magazine created by Tavi Gevinson pretty much for girls, and it’s amazing. I started reading Rookie all the time, and then she taught me about feminism. And I was like, "Well, of course, duh, I’m a feminist." I was so baffled by the fact that so many people don’t identify themselves as feminists because the definition is that you believe in equal rights for all genders. You believe in the equality of the sexes, not that you’re a man-hater or I don’t know. So that’s how I really discovered my feminism.

Do you find people struggle to take you seriously because of your age?

I think people have a problem with, first of all, a woman in general speaking her mind. Like, its scary for people – especially if they’re angry. I hate how normal it is to call women crazy when she’s angry. Because when a dude is angry, he’s just standing up for himself or he’s a boss or a badass, but when a women is angry, it’s like, "Oh my gosh, stay clear of that." And I don’t like that, obviously. (laughs) But I’m surrounded by people who don’t make me feel bad for being angry or for having feelings that any gender can have. So why would I not say how I feel?

You were recently named in an article about bands that would fit in "Twin Peaks."

Oh yeah! I love "Twin Peaks." "Twin Peaks" is one of my favorite shows ever. It’s so good, and I’m not completely caught up with the new season because I’ve been on tour and I’m waiting until I get home. But I saw the first three or four episodes, I think, and it’s so good. I’m so pleasantly surprised. I think David Lynch did the most perfect job of carrying on old storylines and old characters and plots, but also bringing in a lot of new characters and plots. And it’s so dark and scary and f*cked up and so good. I love it, and to be included on that list.

This is your first visit to Milwaukee. Do you know anything of Milwaukee coming in?

I seriously have no idea what to expect! I’m going into it with a blindfold, and that’s kind of exciting.