Tegan and Sara (pronounced /tiːɡɨn ænd sɛɹə/) is an indie rock/indie pop2 band consisting of Canadian singer-songwriters and identical twins,4 Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Kiersten Quin2 (born September 19, 1980).5
Biography and musical career
Tegan and Sara were born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.1 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.6 In 1998, they made an early breakthrough by winning Garage Warz Battle of the Bands, a local music competition in Calgary.7 Since then, the two have toured with Neil Young, Rufus Wainwright, Kaki King, Northern State, An Horse, The Pretenders,7 Ben Folds, The Killers, Rachael Cantu, Vivek Shraya, Cake, Gogol Bordello, Hot Hot Heat, Ryan Adams,8 Veda Hille, Little Birdy, Iron On, Little Brazil, Death Cab for Cutie and Weezer. They also performed a show at Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair. 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. Their first album, Under Feet Like Ours, was initially released under the name "Sara and Tegan";5 copies are now a sought-after commodity among their fans.citation needed
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. The two usually did not sing together on their early albums, however, they do on their later albums and in concert.
They are known 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.
Their fifth album, The Con, was released on July 24, 2007.3 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.9
The duo are currently writing a new album, planned to be released in late 2009.10
Cover songs and collaborations
In 2004, they covered David Bowie's "Rebel Rebel" in Spiders from Venus: Women Cover David Bowie.
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 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".11
Hunter Burgan (who played bass for all of Tegan's songs on The Con) confirmed in his blog that both he and Tegan will be involved in an upcoming electronic side-project.12
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, 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.13
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, The Hills, Ghost Whisperer, The L Word season 3, 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.
Tegan and Sara also had a guest appearance as themselves on the The L Word, playing the song "Love Type Thing". The episode was entitled "Last Dance" and aired on March 19, 2006.
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.14 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.
Personal lives
Although their sexuality is rarely overtly the subject of their songs, the fact that both sisters are lesbians has been the subject of some interest to the music press. 15
Band members
Current
- Tegan Quin – vocals, guitar, keyboard, piano, MalletKAT, and various percussion
- Sara Quin – vocals, guitar, keyboard, piano, and various percussion
- Edward "Ted" Gowans – guitar, keyboard, and MalletKAT
- Shaun Huberts – bass guitar, synth bass, keyboards, and various percussion
- Johnny "Five" Andrews – drums, and various percussion
Previous
- Dan Kelly – bass guitar (until Fall 2007)
- Chris Carlson – bass guitar (until 2006)
- Rob Chursinoff – drums (until 2005)
Discography
Albums
EPs and Demos
Singles
Music videos
- "The First" (2000)
- "I Hear Noises" (2002, directed by Sean Michael Turrell)
- "Monday Monday Monday" (2003, directed by Christopher Mills)
- "Living Room" (2003, directed by Kaare Andrews)
- "Walking with a Ghost" (2004, directed by Troy Nixey)
- "Speak Slow" (2005, directed by Tegan Quin/Angela Kendall/Brian Dutkewich)
- "This is Everything" (Angela Kendall)17
- "Back in Your Head" (2007, directed by Jamie Travis)
- "The Con" (2007, directed by Suzie Vlcek)
- "Call It Off" (2008, directed by Angela Kendall)
DVDs
- It's Not Fun, Don't Do It! (2006)
- The Con - The Movie (2007)18
Awards and nominations
References
- ^ a b Nixon, Chris (October 25, 2007). "SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Features -- 'We knew instinctually how to make music':". SignOnSanDiego.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-05.
- ^ a b c "Columbus Arts Briefs - Arts". Columbus Arts. Retrieved on 2008-10-04.
- ^ a b "Tegan and Sara's official MySpace".
- ^ Ross, Mike (1999-11-16). "The Mighty Quins". torontosun.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
- ^ a b Nichols, Natalie (April 28, 2005). "Nervous Breakthroughs", Los Angeles City Beat. Retrieved on 12 September 2006.
- ^ "Tegan and Sara biography". AskMen.
- ^ a b "Tegan and Sara". Sanctuary Records. Retrieved on 2006-09-11.
- ^ "Tegan and Sara: SO JEALOUS". Press kit on official website. Retrieved on 2006-09-11.
- ^ "Tegan & Sara Update - News Article - AbsolutePunk.net".
- ^ a b Vogel, Marleen (2008-05-25). "Im Gespräch mit Sara Quin von Tegan and Sara". Mainstage Musikmagazin. Retrieved on 2008-08-20. (German)
- ^ Bonnaroo 2008: Day 3 - Festivus
- ^ Tegan and Sara's Tegan Quin Launches Side Project - Spinner.com
- ^ "ZeD: Live off the Floor," CBC Shop Online, URL accessed March 13, 2007.
- ^ "Records of the Year", Rolling Stone (December 15, 2004). Retrieved on 11 September 2006.
- ^ spinner.com=http://www.spinner.com/2007/06/11/rockin-out-interview-tegan-and-saras-tegan-quin/
- ^ initially released under Sara and Tegan, re-released under Tegan and Sara in 2001
- ^ hidden video on It's Not Fun, Don't Do It dvd. Officially a music video as discussed on the commentary
- ^ On the DVD portion of the CD/DVD The Con
External links
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