On their sparkling sixth album, Canadian twins Tegan and Sara finally got around to writing together. Tegan tells ANNA CAREYhow their relationship has survived years of touring, rails against rampant sexism in music and talks about the importance of being openly gay
'I LIKE THIS part of touring a record," says Tegan Quin. Her band, Tegan and Sara, which she formed with her twin sister more than a decade ago, released their sparkling sixth album, Sainthood, last year. Now they're embarking on a European tour with a full band, including shows in Belfast and Dublin next week.
“People really took to the record, which is awesome,” says Tegan. “All the songs don’t feel so new any more, and when we play them people get really excited. It’s like when you break in a new pair of jeans – the songs are starting to feel really good.”
Surprisingly for a band featuring two songwriters who grew up in the same house and have been touring and recording together since the 1990s, Sainthoodmarked the first time the Quin sisters ever actually wrote songs together. What took them so long? "When we started writing songs we were in high school," says Tegan. "We had bedrooms next to each other, and we'd each write [on our own] and then play to each other. Then we'd sing on each other's songs. And as time went by and we ended up living in different cities, we never bothered to try and write together."
As Tegan points out, writing their own songs was a way of asserting their independence. “[When we started the band] we were at the age where most people go off to college and leave the family home,” she says. “We kind of remained kids in a weird way, because we were still together all the time, so we each had a struggle to become our own person while still attached to each other. I think that kept us from writing together, because we felt the need to be individual and autonomous, and to present the world with our own work.”
Now, however, they’re enjoying collaborating. “Last year Sara suggested we try to write a song together, and we ended up writing 10. It was definitely strange at first, because we’d been approaching music in one way for so long, but it was a lot easier than we thought it would be, and I’m really glad we did it. And I think we’ll do more of it, for sure.”
The twins’ close relationship has survived years of touring with their band – although it hasn’t always been sisterly love. “There have been fights between us on and off the road that I’d never have with another human being,” says Quin. “There’s a sense of safety with a family member – especially a twin. You can say or do things you wouldn’t say or do to anyone else because you know you’re not going anywhere.”
The family ties are part of the reason the band has lasted so long. “Most bands don’t tour and write and hang out as much as we do after this long.”
The Quin sisters grew up in the Canadian town of Calgary. These days Tegan lives in Vancouver (though she spends a lot of time in Los Angeles, where her girlfriend lives), while Sara lives on the other side of the country, in Montreal.
The last decade has seen many Canadian artists, from Arcade Fire to Broken Social Scene, achieve international critical and commercial success – does Quin feel like part of a specifically Canadian scene? “I definitely feel like an international artist,” she says. “But I think what holds Canadians together is the idea that music is culturally important. It’s so well loved and taken care of – our government gives out grants to musicians and music producers, and anyone can apply for them. Nearly every Canadian band has got one of those grants.”
Over years of touring in Canada and around the world, the sisters have developed a close relationship with their fans. “We spent so many years on our own independent label, playing to 50 people and selling our own merchandise,” recalls Tegan. “There was so much interaction with our audiences that as we got bigger it seemed natural to stay in touch – sometimes through making online videos, sometimes though blogging. We try to find new ways. The most obvious way is telling stories on stage, trying to make the show feel more personal. We want to stay on a level that feels intimate so our audience stays connected.”
Tegan is particularly aware of the sisters’ importance to their young gay fans. Both of the twins are gay, and although Tegan is “fine with people not coming out and saying who they like to sleep with – it’s really no one else’s business”, she believes that “the more people who come out and identify in the public eye as queer makes a difference. The more normal it seems to people, the better it’ll be for all of us. I think it’s really important.”
She is aware that she and her sister are role models for many young gay women. “There’s still a long way to go in terms of equality, and there is a shortage of role models my age and younger,” she says. “There are a lot of out female stars, but most of them are older. And I definitely feel responsible, because I meet lots of kids, parents and even older gay people all the time who say it’s really important to them that we are out.”
Of course, even in the supposedly progressive indie-rock world, homophobia hasn’t been eradicated. And neither has sexism. “Sexism is still running pretty rampant in pop radio and music magazines,” says Tegan. “You don’t see women on the cover of guitar mags or Rolling Stone unless they’re wearing lycra. That’s tough. I know I’m cute and I could be more sexual, but I don’t want to be. I just want to be me.”
She believes music industry sexism has become more subtle. “It’s not explicit sexism, like ‘You can’t play your instrument’,” she says. “Now it’s ‘Why don’t you just put down your instrument and dance around?’ But no one suggests that Win Butler from Arcade Fire put down his guitar and dance around and take his shirt off for Nylon magazine. Being a cool indie rock hipster is only cool if you’re a guy, but if you’re a girl it’s only cool up to a point and then we need you to sell yourself.”
So for Tegan, being a professional musician is both personal and political. “I’m not just making music to make music any more,” she says. “I want to show the world that there are women in music who aren’t just pop stars. I want to show that I’m a very accomplished musician and guitar player. It’s become bigger than ‘I want to write songs about my broken heart’. Now I want to write songs because I’m good at it.”
And she’ll continue to be a role model. “I want to show girls you don’t just have to get married and have kids and give up your dreams. You can conquer the world.”
She laughs. “You can play in front of 20,000 people, and you can own that shit.”
- Tegan and Sara play Mandela Hall, Belfast, on Monday and the Olympia Theatre, Dublin, on Tuesday
