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An interview with Tegan Quin

Tegan and Sara have just finished their U.S. tour in support of Sainthood and are about to embark on an opening slot for the female-fronted pop punk band Paramore, which will likely bring them some fans of the new Warped Tour era. Last month, they released Alligator Remix LP, which includes 17 remixes of their second single, “Alligator,” from the likes of Passion Pit, Four Tet, Dave Sitek and Ra Ra Riot.

On a day off, Tegan took some time to answer a few questions about her style in comparison to her sister’s, why she loves Justin Bieber and what fans can expect from them in the next year.

On working with Tiesto on the track “Feel it in My Bones”:

Tegan Quin: Tiesto asked us to collaborate on his record and when I saw the list of artists, I was just besides myself excited. I’m a big fan of Metric and I remember getting Nelly Furtado‘s first record the year I was to graduate high school, so I was really excited at the prospect of being on a CD with all of these amazing artists. It was really cool and I really like Tiesto a lot and he really supports a lot of female artists. I really liked the album a lot. And just the teenager raver in me was excited to be on a Tiesto record.

On working with only male DJs for the Alligator Remix LP:

TQ: The “Alligator” remix thing, I mean, we sent it to about 30 different people and we got about that many remixes back and there just wasn’t that many women. There were a few remixes that came back from female DJs but there wasn’t a ton of stuff that came back that we loved or felt like was totally what we were looking for.

Just like when you look at the rock and alternative charts, there’s not that many women who actually play guitar or are fronting bands that would be considered rock. There’s a lot of women in music but it’s all pop music, really, and just like there’s not a lot of women in rock, there’s not a lot of women engineers, not a lot of women sound people, not a lot of women tour managers, there’s not a lot of women presidents or vice presidents of record companies. We’re still living, really, in a male-dominated world and Sara and I do our best to always pick female openers for us like An Horse, Holly Miranda, Girl in a Coma, Northern State and we really try our best to bring on as many women as we can. That’s why I’m so excited about Lilith Fair being back. Everywhere we go, we’re on these rock and alternative festivals and we’re the only women. Sometimes that’s good because you stand out, but sometimes I am really surprised by the shortage of female anything.

On picking the song “Alligator” to remix:

TQ: “Hell” was the first single from the record and the record company decided they wanted to go with “Alligator” for the second single. Sara and I are oftentimes highly involved with picking singles but we always seem to pick the wrong ones so we sort of left it up to the label on this record and they felt really comfortable going to more poppy stations who have a little more of a – this stuff seems so boring to talk about, but so many alternative stations are aimed at men. The other stations like AC and top 40 stations are aimed at women, so we’re trying to find a single that can work for those formats and so “Hell” and “Northshore” and some of the rock songs just don’t work in that format so “Alligator” was the song we thought maybe would cross over better.

On having less stage banter between the two of them on the current tour:

TQ:As we put out more records, to be perfectly honest, we’re just trying to figure out how to play more songs. At the beginning of this record, we were playing over two hours every night because we were talking so much. That is really awesome for some fans. For a lot of fans, they were like “Wow, two hours is a really long show. We’d rather hear more music.”

We have a really good dialogue with our audience. We’re always trying to find a balance between what they want and what we want artistically, as artists. Sara and I have always really enjoyed talking on stage. As the years wore on, playing two hours every night is impossible. It’s exhausting but also, a lot of these theaters have formats and curfews so we kind of decided to cut some of the talking out but keep the music. People who are paying to see us, the majority of them are paying to see the whole Tegan and Sara experience, and that’s talking and music, but if all of a sudden we got up and talked for an hour and a half and played four songs, they might be disappointed.

Sara’s really in a space right now where she just feels like playing music and she’s not feeling like standing and talking. As we play bigger venues, it creates a tug-of-war with the audience because they’re rocking out and having fun and we want them to be silent and listen to us and that’s hard to do. Some nights it really works. Every single night it’s different. It’s sort of tough to get up on stage … every night, Sara and I have to get up and figure out quickly is this a talking audience? Is this a talkative audience? Is this a drunk audience? Is this a low-energy audience? I know for some of our fans, they’d love to have a three hour show and have us talk, but a lot of people want to rock out. We’re filling the time with what we think is appropriate.

On Justin Bieber and his lesbian-style stealing:

TQ: I have no comment really specifically about that because I don’t want to be quoted as saying he’s emulating our style, but I have a lot of friends he reminds me of. I haven’t listened to his record, so when I say I love him, I mean I just think he’s so funny. I have to give full credit to Chelsea Handler on Chelsea Lately for when she did that interview with him and I watched it like seven times in a row. It just killed me. That’s when I decided we should change our name to Bieber and Sara. I think it’s very fascinating.

On their style evolution:

TQ: Sara and I are still only dressing ourselves. Sara and I’s style has evolved over the last 10 years, but so has the world’s. We’re dressing very similarly to anyone else in our demographic and age group. I don’t look at our audience and think they’re all dressing like me. We’re all dressing like each other. We’re being influenced by the same bands and same artists and designers. I’m shopping at H&M just like most people.

I think Sara’s style is a little bit different. In Montreal, it’s definitely a little more European, liek they have skinny pants and straight sweaters and pointy boots long before they hit the west coast. They’re a little more progressive so Sara, sometimes, is wearing some stuff that I’m like “Really?” and six months later it’ll be cool. She also spends half the year in New York so she’s definitely dressing in a more sense of progressive stuff than what’s happening for me on the west coast – but I have a shopping addiction and I can’t go shopping or I will spend all my money and broke. So I will literally go to Target for cleaning supplies and come home with two shirts from the clothing section. I will never wear them again but I needed to buy them!

On the oddest place she’s gotten songwriting inspiration from:

TQ: There’s definitely been times where not necessarily my relationship has been the song, initially at least – especially for Sainthood. I was just amazed at how everyone around me, whether they were getting into a relationship of out of one, everyone was just so like, constantly obsessed with their own relationship. Like, “This is so special and so important! Nobody can understand that my love is so much cooler and bigger and better and more intense.” Everybody thinks that. We all share this commonality.

When I was writing these songs, I was in a new relationship and it was with someone I’d been obsessed with for year so I was over the “my love is the most important and more special than everybody’s” so I really tried to go back there because that’s what brings us all together. It’s the most organic feeling we have. It’s the one time we’re having an experience that we think nobody can understand.

On who she is looking forward to seeing at Lilith Fair:

TQ: The whole thing really. … Cat Power is playing, Kelly Clarkson, Eryka Badu – it’s just going to be such a cool festival. Lot’s of really cool artists to see for sure.

On what’s next for Tegan and Sara:

TQ: After we finish the Paramore tour this summer, our goal in the fall is a trip to India and South America and also Mexico, and then hitting major markets in America and Canada for a second time. Definitely more touring in the fall and winter and wrap up by next December to start working on the new record.

Tegan and Sara’s “Alligator Remix LP” is available now.

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