Weighing the Pros and 'The Con'

An Interview with Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara

With the release of last year’s dark-themed album, The Con, Canadian-born duo Tegan and Sara have evolved into a true force to be reckoned with on the indie scene. Having friends like Neil Young and the New Pornographers in their corner doesn’t hurt, either. This summer, Tegan and Sara have been invited to join Cyndi Lauper’s ever-growing True Colors tour, adding a touch of youth to a mature line-up of mainstream talent. As Tegan Quin discusses, be it in her music or the tour, there is always somewhere that you can find individuality and hope.

Listening to The Con, it sounds like there was a conscious breakaway from the polished sound of So Jealous. Was there an effort on your part to do so or was that the way the sound of the album naturally progressed?

Sara and I did all of our [demos] prior to the record and mapped out what we wanted in terms of parts and what we wanted to sound like. Chris Walla [the producer] was really influenced by our demos, as well. After spending a couple of weeks [listening to] them, he said he wanted to stay as close as possible to [the sound of the demos]. We kind of liked the more “indie” feel to it all. In the past our demos were so rough, we were going into [the studio] with our own clean slate, and the record just transformed as we recorded it.

Seeing how well the end product turned out, and, of course with his Death Cab for Cutie duties still going strong, is collaborating with Chris Walla something you would both look at doing again?

Absolutely! We’ve already questioned Chris about his availability for the next record. I love working with [the same] producers a couple times in a row. Working with Chris again would be amazing, because even with the stuff that Sara and I are recording now is sounding like [material] that he would want to work with. He is a great producer because he is not just slapping his gloss all over everything.

Lyrically, The Con is overall melancholy in its assessment of love. Is it safe to say that this is one of the most brutally honest albums you have made?

In this case, I was in a very happy relationship for a long time [that had just ended]. I was writing about my anxiety and the anxiety of other people around me, so it was the first time that I really tried to write in the present tense. I was alone for the first time in five years, living in this big house [with] a year off, and I didn’t really know what to do with myself. I just felt like I wasn’t making really good choices at the time, so I had a lot of material to write from. Sara was writing about the relation ship that she is in now. We also suffered from the loss of our grandmother while we were out touring for ‘So Jealous’. She was like a second mom to us, so it was a huge loss that we felt we didn’t have time to properly grieve over. There are a lot of melancholy themes on the record, but I think the record also has a lot of hope. Songs like “Call It Off” speak of change, and change is always a positive thing, I think.

Does the sound of Tegan and Sara find influences from other artists in the indie scene?

I think the most exciting thing, at this moment, is that over the past few years, I have been more inspired by us. It’s getting to the point where I don’t necessarily go to other artists or music to get inspired like I used to. I used to need that inspiration; I used to need that record to love and turn into my own inspiration, whereas now I’m inspired when Sara sends me a new song that she has written. I think it is giving us our own sound; we are beginning to sound like us, instead of sounding like a bunch of records [we’ve heard].

This year, you’ve joined the lineup for the second annual True Colors tour, along with Cyndi Lauper, the B-52’s and the Indigo Girls. There are so many aspects of this tour in regards not only to the lineup’s diversity, but to the cause as well. What are you looking forward to going into this tour and the continuing accomplishments in the fight for human rights?

I think there is so much attention brought upon gay rights when we talk about moving forward and change. Marriage is important but it’s not just about [gay marriage]. It’s about [the process] of adoption and partners’ rights. Personally, I’m not looking to get married, but I do want the same rights as my heterosexual friends who are living comfortably with their partner. [This tour] sheds light on a demographic; our audience, for the most part, is a little younger and is a little more progressive. With the True Colors tour, there is a chance to [be exposed] to an older audience, past generations that may have not had the same perspective or insight as to how things should be.

Is there inspiration drawn from the fact that the fight for human rights is taking center stage in what will certainly be an important election year in the U.S.?

Absolutely. Even as Canadians, the election is extremely important. It is time for change in the U.S., [as it has been] for a long time. [The election] is upon us now, and it is [important] that people know what needs to change. What is great about this True Colors tour is that it sheds light on so many important things. There are so many important issues, [beyond gay rights]. This tour [heralds] a season of change and artists talking about what they believe, which is exciting.