1 Tegan, Sara, and the crowd at the Bagdad Theater in Portland, Oregon, on July 20
Megan Holmes
Tegan and Sara
Despite sold-out shows, a devoutly loyal fan base, and drool-inducing record sales, the indie folk-pop duo confesses, 'We’ll never be cool, and we’re OK with that'
By Cortney Harding
Published: August 13th, 2007 | 12:19pm
Interviewing Tegan and Sara together is akin to watching a tennis match, as the sisters volley comments back and forth before finally arriving at a final answer. The Canadian duo, whose new record, The Con, hit stores July 24, 2007, spent most of the conversation bickering playfully. When asked about the most annoying aspect of giving interviews as a team, Tegan responded with a smirk, “It’s frustrating to have to sit back while Sara gives a crappy answer.”
Sibling frustrations aside, the sisters have clearly figured out a scheme for working together. They’ve been recording and writing songs as a team since high school, and they’ve managed to release five full albums and three cassette-only demos.
So far, the biggest hurdle they’ve had to overcome is the difference in their songwriting speeds. Tegan tends to move at a quicker gait than Sara most of the time. “I’m getting faster,” Sara says. “I get fixated on making the songs complete, and I have a tough time with lyrics. My partner made a pretty helpful comment by saying that I’m not slow, I just have a great editing process.”
Tegan laughs and jumps in with her own girlfriend-related songwriting story. “I dated a girl who said I wasn’t a poet,” she says, and then quickly clarifies, “and I think she was right. I don’t write my songs as poems. They’re written to be sung, not read.”
When it comes to picking which of the songs make the final cut, Sara says they have a democratic process. “It’s not really territorial at all,” she says. “We send out the tracks to a bunch of people we trust and get their input. Those songs usually wind up being the same ones we wanted on the record anyway. This is the first record where it’s been 50-50 in terms of songwriting credits.”
The Con was recorded during a rainy winter in Portland, Oregon. “Chris Walla [who also works with Death Cab for Cutie, the Decemberists, and the Thermals], who produced the record, didn’t pressure us to come down to Portland, but we figured it would be good to get out of our comfort zone,” says Tegan. “We spent most of the time recording at his house. We loved the vibe; it was really laid back. It was also kind of nice to be isolated. We had a little group of people with us, including a filmmaker who was working on an upcoming documentary. We just hung out with our little posse all the time.”
The rainy winter recording sessions might have impacted the tone of the record, which is more lyrically downbeat than previous efforts. “It’s definitely a sadder record,” says Sara. “It’s a heavy record,” Tegan interrupts. “And it’s ironic, because we’re both really happy right now.” The twins’ joy is expressed in the music of the record, which is more upbeat than the lyrics.
For Sara, the songwriting process allowed her to reflect on the emotional lows of a hectic couple of years. “I just kept asking myself, ‘is this what happiness feels like?’” she says. “We both went through periods where we lost people we loved and started to feel like we were turning in to responsible adults. There was a definite feeling of ‘wow, I’m not a kid anymore.’”
Will Tegan and Sara’s mostly underage audience relate to their musical exploration of their quarter-life crises? “We have a huge teenage fan base,” says Tegan. “At our Atlanta show, there were four tables of people who were clearly parents bringing their kids.” Despite being so young, Sara says, “most of our fans are pretty normal and mature. We don’t get a lot of strange comments,” she laughs. “Most of the time, they just say ‘I love you’ or ‘I want your hair.’”
It makes sense that the sisters would attract such a young fan base; after all, they were teens when they started playing music. “I was 15 or 16 when I discovered Bikini Kill and Ani DiFranco, and they were so inspiring,” says Tegan. “I hope that we can be like that for kids.”
Another reason why teens might dig the duo is that people tend to think that the pair is much younger than their 26 years. “When we did the Killers’ tour, Brandon [Flowers, the Killers’ front man] thought we were really young and had just put out our first record,” says Sara.
That tour turned out to be a huge opportunity for the ladies. “We were treated like gold,” says Tegan, “and our record sales just blew up because of the exposure. We had been doing OK with college radio airplay prior to the tour, but this gave us the opportunity to connect with a whole new audience.”
It’s not like Tegan and Sara were strangers to playing big arena shows, either. The pair signed to Neil Young’s Vapor label in 2000, and he quickly took them on the road. “We were opening for the opening act, the Pretenders,” says Sara. “After we played, we would get driven in a golf cart over to the beer garden and play for that crowd.”
“It was a great introduction to touring and the music business,” says Tegan. “Neil has been a huge influence on me, because he’s been working with the same people forever and it’s almost like a family. He’s nice to everyone, from rock stars to the kid at the catering table. We try to be the same way on tour.”
“Yeah, we’re always nice to our coke dealers and hookers,” Sara deadpans, as Tegan rolls her eyes. “Seriously, our backstage area is like a Mickey Mouse birthday party. Dudes can be skuzzy and gross, but it’s not cool for girls to be out of control. We also have to worry about our image, because we don’t want to set a bad example for our fans.”
The genuine concern Tegan and Sara feel for their fans is refreshing, especially in an age when ironic distance is the norm for musicians. “We’ll never be cool, and we’re OK with that,” says Sara. “We’re honest and sincere, and we sing about bad relationships, and kids feel comfortable with us. Even though we don’t play punk rock music, we still try to have that inclusive ethic.” That method seems to have paid off, and if record sales, consistently sold-out shows, and loyal fans are any indication, Tegan and Sara are the nicest girls who’ve ever finished first.
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Photography of Tegan and Sara at the Bagdad Theater in Portland, Oregon, on July 20 by Megan Holmes
Photo 01: Tegan, Sara, and the crowd
Photo 02: Sara
Photo 03: Tegan
Issue #32
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