Tegan and Sara
Interview with Sara Quin
Words: Michael Rabinowitz
Photo: Autumn de Wilde

Appearing:
November 13, 2007
The Culture Room, Ft. Lauderdale

November 14, 2007
Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg

If you search YouTube for interviews of Tegan and Sara you will find numerous instances of Tegan Quin, the “outward” twin, giving answers as the mouthpiece for the Canadian folk/pop duo.  With the recent release of their outstanding, new wav-ish LP, The Con, Tegan stands out even more during the frenetic North American tour and accompanying press junkets.  So, it was with great curiosity to have been assigned the “quiet” twin, Sara Quin, to interview.  Yet, even without Tegan to overshadow her, the 24-year-old was no shrinking violet, managing to squeeze in 45 minutes of answers into a 15-minute interview.  Perhaps this is what is so appealing about the Quins.  They are anxious, creative dual fountains frothing over with ideas.  It’s a wonder how their youthful exuberance can focus their energy into such tightly constructed pop songs.  Sara Quin answered this by placing importance on the initial creative spark found in the song’s demos, as well as the fine line between writing about love and lust; not to mention the ubiquitousness of Tegan and Sara in the ringtone market.

REAX:  On your website, you emphasize the importance of keeping the tracks on “The Con” as close to the demos as possible.  Why was it important?
Sara Quin:  I always really like our demos.  There is this moment you capture, at least with our style of writing.  I wont write a song, play it a thousand times and then record it.  I will look for the song as I’m writing it.  What is usually captured on the demo are those first moments when you’re figuring out a melody or figuring out a harmony.  When we took time off, we spent so many months working on these demos it seemed like such a waste to throw it all away and start from scratch.  There was a lot of stuff that was perfect and didn’t need to be redone.  I was totally happy the way it came out, just in terms of using the demos as blueprints, it really helped keep the song, kind of like I could hear them.  Instead of just doing drums and bass and really looking at as something square or linear. 

REAX:  The new album lyrics focuses on a lot of the heartache encountered in relationships but limited on the lust portion.  Was that to keep the focus on innocence or is that just a boundary you don’t want to cross?
SQ:  Tegan and I are sort of self-deprecating in terms of we always say we are naïve or earnest.  I am not sure how far you have to go to touch on the lust part of the relationship.  I am thinking of artists like Bruce Springsteen or The Police or whatever artist I am listening to and how they handled sex or lust.  When you are writing for a lot of different people, different demographics, and you are also writing for yourself and your sister, there is a line in what is comfortable to say and singing about.  On the other hand, I’ve been thinking a lot about what our songs actually are and who the lyrics are actually meant for.  So often you write a song and you think, “I wrote this song for that person.”  But really, it’s not for that person, but how that person makes you feel. 

REAX:  You and Tegan wrote your own songs on “The Con” separately.  Would you ever consider performing solo work?
SQ:  Yeah, I think so.  Because we write separately, we obviously have a ton of confidence about our abilities to write songs.  I don’t feel like Tegan is the key to my songwriting.  I’ll always write music and songs but, biologically, its fascinating that we can recreate what we do recording wise because we have the same voice.  We also recognize that we have this natural stage presence and charisma with one another where we tell stories and riff off each other.  It’s a huge part of what we do now because we are touring.  Having one another makes what we do special.  In terms of making music, I think at some point we will both be doing other projects.  Tegan has a side project.  I’ve written some stuff that I have no intention of releasing as “Tegan and Sara.” 

REAX:  On iTunes, all of the tracks on “The Con” are available for ringtones and “Back In Your Head” is the top Tegan and Sara ringtone.  Which of your tracks would you prefer to be the top ringtones? 
SQ:   (Laughs) I don’t understand ringtones.  I tried to download “Jesus Walks” by Kanye West for my ringtone and I can’t get my fucking phone to ring.  (Laughs)  We make a lot of jokes about ringtones in our band because I feel old fashioned.  I know it sounds weird, but we really hung out in older circles for a long time.  I mean, our first American tour was with Neil Young.  A lot of techniques that our friends were supporting were old-style.  You tour and build a fan base like blocks, one by one.  We tried to use the Internet, but ultimately we didn’t use big media.  We couldn’t count on those things and those people couldn’t have given a shit about us.  Its now funny to be in a band that is on Myspace and getting radio play, has ringtones.  It’s kind of obnoxious.  People always request “Where Does The Good Go” and we joke, “Oh my god, they’re playing my ringtone!”  (Laughs) It’s like we’re covering their ringtone.  It is strange when you’ve gone so many years when it is literally about your music, to all of sudden it’s about these dangly things that happen when you are hitting with a certain audience or media or technology. 

www.teganandsara.com