Tegan and Sara: A Heart Throbbing Interview
by Stephan Hume
Photo Credit: T&S Website
With a busy tour schedule, I am excited to say that the highly celebrated indie rock group, Tegan and Sara was still able to entertain an interview. By the nature of their travels and aided by the beauty of technology, we were able to spare expense by doing this interview electronically. In the spirit of good, honest musical journalism, you should know that these are their mutual words, despite most of the answers coming directly from Tegan. That being said, enjoy reading the true-life adventures of some amazing musicians out there on the red carpet. And grab their next album…your heart will be happy.
CMB: How does it feel to be on tour with the Killers?
T & S: We are enjoying it very much. It was unbelievable luck to get such a big tour on the eve of our release of Heartthrob! They are lovely guys, a wildly talented band, and one of our favorite groups ever! Seeing the show each night makes it feel like we aren’t even on tour! Plus the catering is fantastic!
CMB: On this tour, what are some show dates that really stick out or may even “go down in history” thus far?
T & S: Ha! Well, that is tough to say while we’re still “in it” if you will. But in between the Killers shows, we’ve been playing our own shows, and we visited Cambridge for the first time, and the show was absolutely “brilliant” as they say here!
CMB: By the time people read this, you will have played on David Letterman, (November 20). How does a show like this stack up in the grand scheme of things? I mean, did you both ever see this sort of thing coming in your early touring days?
Tegan: The first time we played Letterman was in 2001. It was absolutely terrifying. I was so nervous. Paul Shaffer and his band backed us up. I wore a Tim Hortons shirt (famous Canadian coffee chain), and Sara wore a headband. I look back and laugh at least once a year, we were 21. We’ve obviously played the show a few times since then, but each time it is still nerve wracking. It’s not really about how many people are watching, (which is scary), it’s more about being a part of that history of the show. It comes with great responsibility.
CMB: When fans go to your website they can see the video to “Closer,” one of your new singles. A lot of our readers are musicians. Can you talk about your songwriting process, particularly for this tune?
Tegan: Our first single from Heartthrob is “Closer.” It’s by far the most dance/pop/catchy tune on the record. When I sat down to write this song in particular, Sara’s voice was echoing in my head. She demanded I write something less depressing, self deprecating and sad on this record. Someone in our artistic community had suggested being more obvious with my lyrics, and also that I write about something that scares me. Nothing seemed more scary than being romantic. Laying my feelings on the line, for the world to see. So I wrote my first love song. Sara calls it our “Let’s Get It On”…I wrote the bulk of it very quickly, mainly on a Micro Korg in Logic. I sent it to Sara and we went back and forth simplifying the message for a few days. I re-recorded it six times before we got into the studio. Once we started building the track, it was obvious it needed to be rearranged and a new chorus needed to be written. So Sara and I, for the first time ever, spent two days in the studio rewriting the chorus with Greg Kurstin. It was a challenge, but well worth it. Now that we are playing it live, I feel awkward, but also so energized singing about the first time you feel genuine, heart-pounding anticipation of being near someone you like. I feel 16 all over again.
CMB: Like many of your tunes, “Closer” is quite catchy! How do you find a way to write such ear-pleasing songs while still including such an artistic, genuine flavor?
T & S: We don’t over think our writing process. We just do what we do naturally. We listen to a lot of music, and definitely look at what we do as a job, and so I feel like it’s my job to get better with each year. We hate to be repetitive (although we often are), and so we really challenge ourselves with each new song to do something totally different than the time before.
CMB: Of course a highly celebrated item of discussion is your new album, Heartthrob. With a January release date in the states, and February releases overseas, what are you hoping to achieve with your audiences this time around?
T & S: We’re just hoping to grow our audience, tour more new countries, build an exciting and fun show for our fans and creatively challenge ourselves to create different versions (full band, acoustic versions) of each song from the record! Heartthrob is an ambitious record, and the challenge of playing it live is very exciting to us!
Catch Tegan and Sara at the 1st Bank Center on November 29.
Online: www.teganandsara.com
Category: National News
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