Tegan and Sara

Tegan and Sara

Tegan and Sara (Template:PronEng) is an indie rock/indie pop band consisting of Canadian singer-songwriters and identical twins, Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Kiersten Quin (born September 19, 1980).

Biography and musical career

Tegan and Sara were born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada to Sonia Clement and Stephen Quin. They initially played as PLUNK and lacked a drummer and bass player. In 1997, they used their school’s recording studio to record two demo albums: Who's in Your Band? and Play Day. They had three demo albums called Orange Demo, Yellow Demo, and Red Demo. In 1998, they made an early breakthrough by winning Garage Warz Battle of the Bands, a local music competition in Calgary. Since then, the two have toured extensively. They are signed to Neil Young's Vapor Records in Canada and to Sire in the United States as their previous label, Sanctuary Records, is no longer releasing new music in the United States.

When they were competing in Garage Warz, they were known as "Sara and Tegan" because that is how their mother registered them on the competition forms. The competition was held at a local bar/club in Calgary, and since the twins were only 17 at the time, they were actually not able to go inside without adult supervision. Their first album, Under Feet Like Ours, was initially released under the name "Sara and Tegan"; copies are now a sought-after commodity among their fans.

While both twins are similarly involved in vocals and playing instruments, the singing of the lead melody usually goes to whichever twin wrote the particular song.

Their fifth album, The Con, was released on July 24, 2007. It was co-produced by Chris Walla. Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie, Matt Sharp of The Rentals (who was with Weezer during The Blue Album and Pinkerton), Hunter Burgan of AFI, and Kaki King appear on the album.

Tegan and Sara are currently writing a new album, planned to be released in late Summer 2009.

Cover songs and collaborations

In 2003, they covered Prince's When You Were Mine.

In 2004, they covered David Bowie's "Rebel Rebel" in Spiders from Venus: Women Cover David Bowie.

In December 2005, the White Stripes issued an EP entitled "Walking with a Ghost," the title song of which was a cover of Tegan and Sara's song from their album "So Jealous."

In 2006, Tegan and Sara also contributed a cover of Bruce Springsteen's, "Dancing in the Dark", to Australian radio station Triple J's Like a Version radio programme. The track was released on a compilation disc of that programme's songs, Like a Version: Volume Two.

Tegan has contributed backup vocals to "The Alphabet" by Vivek Shraya, "Never Give Up" by Melissa Ferrick, "La Le La La" by Kinnie Starr, "Hey Kids" by David Usher, "Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart" by Against Me! and "Saturday" by Rachael Cantu.

In 2007, Sara contributed backup vocals to The Reason's "We're So Beyond This" and Vivek Shraya's "Your Name".

In 2007, Sara recorded a cover of R.E.M.'s "Sweetness Follows", from the album Automatic for the People, on the Stereogum album Drive XV: A Tribute to Automatic for the People, with previous Tegan and Sara collaborators Ted Gowans and Kaki King providing the music.

In April 2008, Tegan recorded a song entitled "His Love" at the request of Augusten Burroughs as a contribution to the audio version of his book A Wolf at the Table. The two headlined SPIN.com's September 2008 Liner Notes benefit for Housing Works--a New York non-profit. Burroughs read excerpts from his latest novel while Tegan played "His Love" and songs from The Con sans Sara.

In March 2008, Friends of P – Tribute to The Rentals was released, and Tegan and Sara contributed their recording of "Man With Two Brains."

In addition to their own set, Tegan and Sara performed with DJ Tiesto during the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on June 13, 2008. Tegan and Sara appeared as guests, providing live vocals for Tiesto's remix of "Back In Your Head".

Alkaline Trio recorded a live, acoustic cover of 'Wake Up Exhausted' from So Jealous on their 2008 album 'Agony & Irony'.

The song "Creeping Out Sara" from NOFX's 2009 album Coaster is in reference to frontman Fat Mike meeting Sara (or maybe Tegan). In LP ("Frisbee") the song is called "Creeping Out Tegan" and it has slightly different lyrics.

Tegan is featured on Broken Songs, the second track of Jim Ward's 2009 EP In The Valley, On The Shores.

Hunter Burgan (who played bass for all of Tegan's songs on The Con) confirmed in his blog that both he and Tegan are involved in an upcoming electronic side-project.

Television and film

Tegan and Sara have made many television appearances, including Vicki Gabereau's Canadian talk show, CityTV's "Ethnosonic", The Late Show with David Letterman (on more than one occasion), The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, MuchMusic's The New Music and Brad TV, Sonic Temple, Jonovision, Late Night with Conan O'Brien (on more than one occasion), Jimmy Kimmel Live (March 23, 2005) and The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (November 11, 2004). They also played "Monday Monday Monday" on ZeD, and thus the song appeared on the 2003 CD ZeD: Live Off The Floor. The twins have also featured on the hit TV show the L word.

Their songs have appeared on several soundtracks, including those for the films Monster-in-Law and Sweet November. Tracks are also found on the television shows Grey's Anatomy, Being Erica, The Hills, What's New Scooby Doo, Ghost Whisperer, "The L Word", Veronica Mars season 2, One Tree Hill seasons 1 and 2, and jPod. On The N's channel, their song "The Con" was played repeatedly between television programs. Many of their tracks from the CD So Jealous have been used on Grey's Anatomy, particularly in the early seasons.

In 2006, Tegan and Sara appeared in the L Word episode Last Dance (Season 3, Episode 11).

In the spring of 2008 Tegan and Sara appeared on the kids music television show, Pancake Mountain. In addition to acting in a skit they performed the songs "Back In Your Head" and "Hop A Plane", as well as an acoustic version of "Walking With A Ghost".

Accomplishments

Tegan and Sara have been profiled in a number of magazines and their albums have been included on several notable "best of" lists. In the fall of 2003, they graced the cover of ROCKRGRL magazine issue #49, which focused on a tribute to duos. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine named their album So Jealous on their list of the best 50 albums of the year.

Tegan and Sara were nominated for a 2006 Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year alongside Hot Hot Heat, Metric, The New Pornographers and Broken Social Scene. They were also nominated for 2008 Alternative Album of the Year alongside Arcade Fire, Wintersleep, Holy Fuck and Patrick Watson. The 2008 Junos were presented on April 6 in Calgary, Alberta and they lost to Arcade Fire.

More recently, they appeared on the cover of the Summer 2007 issue of Under the Radar, the March 2008 cover of Alternative Press magazine and Spinner.com placed them at #7 on their list of Women Who Rock Right Now.

In January/February 2009, Tegan and Sara graced the cover of WonkaVision's "Women in Rock" issue, also featuring the likes of Feist, Amy Millan and Kate Nash.

Philanthropy

Tegan and Sara were among many to appear in a PETA fur ad. The ad featured both twins sitting with a dog, with the phrase "If You Wouldn't Wear Your Dog, Please Don't Wear Any Fur." They were later featured in a video interview, discussing the same issue.

Peta2.com also interviewed them to discuss their stance on the Kentucky Fried Cruelty Campaign, their vegan shoe, etc. Neither sister is a vegan, but both support efforts to reform industries which use animal products.

Both sisters have been vocally known for bringing interest on the subject of Gay Marriage/Rights. Tegan, along with many others, was seen during California's Proposition 8 Rally after it was passed, trying to get legislature to re-think their option.
They're also known for posting petitions on their site, encouraging others to sign on behalf of same-sex marriage and the effects Prop 8 had on already married couples.

Personal lives

Although their sexuality is rarely the subject of their songs, the fact that both sisters are lesbians has been the subject of some interest to the press. Both of the twins have repeatedly expressed disappointment that their sexuality is so often focused upon in reviews of their music. Sara Quin was quoted in a 2005 interview, "It's always, 'Tegan and Sara's new record, they're gay, gay, gay, gay, gay, big fat gay, gay, gay, gay...If it's an interview or an article in the gay press, that's OK. But why, in a review of a record, does it have to talk about us being gay? It's a music magazine; write about the goddamn music. We're proud to be gay. But I believe that our music does not have sexuality. I don't think you have to be straight to identify with Bono or Chrissie Hynde."

Tegan currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia and California.

Sara currently resides in Montreal, Quebec.

Material on their new record (to be released in late 2009) will be the first in their career that Tegan and Sara have written together.

Touring

Tegan and Sara have been touring since 2000 (the first being with Neil Young), and have just finished their latest 2009 tour to record their latest album.

They are famous for their onstage banter; their stories and commentary about their childhood, politics, life on the road, etc. have become an indispensable part of their live shows.

Although they are passionate about their music and fans, Tegan and Sara are known to have frequent 'mess ups' during their live shows. Like their banter, this has also become a fan favorite during their tours.

Opening bands like Northern State and An Horse have become household names among Tegan and Sara fans.

Notable touring mates include Neil Young, Rufus Wainwright, The Pretenders, Ben Folds, The Killers, Cake, Gogol Bordello, Hot Hot Heat, Ryan Adams, Death Cab for Cutie, and Weezer. They also performed a show at Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair.

They've also been seen on numerous festival lists, including the 2008 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Austin City Limits, Southbound Festival, Coachella, and Cyndi Lauper's recent True Colors Tour.

Band members

Tegan Quin at a concert in Detroit, Michigan

Current members

• Tegan Quin – vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Sara Quin – vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Edward "Ted" Gowans – guitar, keyboards
• Shaun Huberts – bass
• Johnny "Five" Andrews - drums

Former members

• Dan Kelly - bass
• Chris Carlson - bass
• Rob Chursinoff - drums

Discography

Albums

Name	Year
Under Feet Like Ours	1999
This Business of Art	2000
If It Was You	2002
So Jealous	2004
The Con	2007
Title not yet released (produced by Chris Walla)	Fall 2009

Singles

Song	Year
The First	2000
Time Running	2003
I Hear Noises	2003
Monday Monday Monday	2003
Walking with a Ghost	2004
Speak Slow	2004
Back in Your Head	2007
The Con	2007
Call It Off	2008

DVDs

Name	Year
It's Not Fun, Don't Do It!	2006
The Con - The Movie	2007

Demos

Name	Year
Yellow Demo	1998
Orange Demo	1998
Red Demo	1998
The Con Demos	2008

EPs

Name	Year
I'll Take the Blame	2007
Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) - EP	2008

Music videos

Music videos

Name	Year	Director
The First	2000	Unknown
I Hear Noises	2002	Sean Michael Turrell
Monday Monday Monday	2003	Christopher Mills
Living Room	2003	Kaare Andrews
Walking With A Ghost	2004	Troy Nixey
Speak Slow	2005	Tegan Quin/Angela Kendall/Brian Dutkewich
This Is Everything	200?	Angela Kendall
Back In Your Head	2007	Jamie Travis
The Con	2007	Suzie Vlcek
Call It Off	2008	Angela Kendall

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	For	Result
2000	YTV Achievement Award	Band/Musical Group	Won
2003	Western Canadian Music Awards	Outstanding Pop Recording (If It Was You)	Won
2006	Juno Awards	Alternative Album of the Year (So Jealous)	Nominated (lost to Broken Social Scene)
2007	Juno Awards	DVD of the Year (It's Not Fun Don't Do It)	Nominated (lost to Sarah Harmer)
2008	Juno Awards	Alternative Album of the Year (The Con)	Nominated (lost to Arcade Fire)

External links

• Official website
• Template:Myspace
• Tegan and Sara Fansite and Videoblog - tegan-sara.com
• Tegan and Sara forum
• Tegan and Sara Banter
• Tegan Quin on Twitter
• Tegan and Sara Store