The “Sara” of “Tegan and Sara” On Their New Album & Favorite Collaborations

Tickets for the Tegan and Sara concert for November 11 at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre are still available! Photo by Lindsey Byrnes

Tegan and Sara, the Canadian twin musical duo return to Seattle for a single show tomorrow, November 11th,  at the Paramount Theatre. Sara Quin talked with us about their new album, Heartthrob, plus, spilled the beans about their new Sony ATV contract and their amazing musical career. Don’t miss this show! Get your tickets here.

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ED: How have things changed for you since becoming more well-known in the mainstream?

SQ: The truth is, I don’t feel that different from whom I was at the very beginning of our career. Because we have seen our career grow at a very reasonable pace, it has been easy to adjust to the side effects of increased visibility. Being recognized by strangers feels almost normal.

ED: How did you feel being picked to record “Everything is Awesome” for The Lego Movie?

SQ: We knew that other people had been approached, so we tackled the demo with a lot of enthusiasm. When we received word that we were selected there was a great deal of excitement! It allowed us to reach a very new and cool demographic! We were also excited about working with Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo on the song!

ED: What was it like collaborating with The Lonely Island?

SQ: This was a very modern experience and so we never actually recorded or interacted with the Lonely Island! It was all down from the road or at home studios. The final version with the excellent contribution from the Lonely Island, was the first time we have even heard it!

ED: What has been your favorite collaboration so far?

SQ: I really enjoyed working with Tiesto as well as Matthew Dear. It’s always cool to collaborate with artists or producers whose feedback allows you to expand your skills.

ED: Who would you like to collaborate with?

SQ: I have really enjoyed writing songs for other artists. I would love to work with Alicia Keys or Justin Beiber.

ED: Do you have a favorite cover of one of your songs?

SQ: I really love hearing the remix albums. We recently had a few songs from our 2004 album So Jealous remixed and that was really interesting. Back in the day people weren’t having artists reimagine their songs as frequently, so we didn’t end up with very many remixes. To hear those songs with a new updated modern twist is very cool!

ED: Heartthrob definitely was your most pop driven release to date. What direction will you take with your next recording?

SQ: It’s very difficult to say now what we will do on our future records. I can say that we truly enjoyed the experience of making Heartthrob and I would love to think that we would continue in that vein with the new one

ED: Are you excited about your new contract with Sony/ATV?

SQ: It’s been an interesting experience to sign with a publisher as we have primarily taken care go this part of our business most of our career. I like the idea of our older material being repurposed anew and having opportunities to work with younger up and coming artists. So for us, this is a win-win situation!

ED: What is the most important thing you would like people to know about you?

SQ: I like to think that the public image of Tegan and Sara is fairly in line with who we are in our personal lives. We like to think we are as down to earth as our fans!

ED: Do you have a message for LGBTQ youth?

SQ: It’s been one of the biggest rewards of our career to have access to the queer youth and to be role models for those who are in need or such things! We never tire of supporting and talking about our own experiences as queer people and however that influences our audience, we are happy to oblige!