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Tegan and Sara
Origin	Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Genres	Indie rock, indie pop, powerpop, folk pop
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, synth
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Vapor, Sanctuary, Sire
Members	Tegan Rain Quin Sara Kiersten Quin
Website	www.teganandsara.com

Tegan and Sara is a 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. They initially played as PLUNK, and lacked a drummer and bass player. In 1997, they both used their school’s recording studio to record two demo albums: Who's in Your Band? and Play Day. 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 with Neil Young, Rufus Wainwright, Kaki King, The Pretenders, Ben Folds, The Killers, Rachael Cantu, Vivek Shraya, Cake, Gogol Bordello, Hot Hot Heat, Ryan Adams, Veda Hille, Little Birdy, Iron On, Little Brazil, Bryan Adams, and Weezer, and they 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. Currently, Tegan lives in Vancouver and Sara lives in Montreal.

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"; 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. The two usually do not sing together on their early albums, however, they do on their later albums and in concert.

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

Cover songs and collaborations

In 2005, The White Stripes performed a cover of Tegan and Sara's song "Walking with a Ghost", which was released on that band's Walking with a Ghost EP. "Walking with a Ghost" was also used in a mashup dance remix bootleg by Party Ben with a song by Mylo, "Paris Four Hundred," under the title "Walking with a Ghost In Paris", which became a sought-after club track after an influential dance radio station in the United States, C-89.5/KNHC/Seattle, Washington, started playing the song.

In 2005, the two performed a cover of Cyndi Lauper's version of Prince's "When You Were Mine".

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 2007, Tegan and Sara performed a cover of Rihanna's Umbrella.

In 2008, Sara had an appearance in Kaki King's music video for "Pull Me Out Alive".

Their song "Hop A Plane" is featured on Austin City Limits Music Festival 2008 Lineup Mashup by Car Stereo (Wars).

In 2008 Tegan wrote & performed "His Love" as a companion piece to the Augusten Burrough's novel A Wolf At The Table.

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, 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.

Their songs have appeared on several soundtracks, including those for the films Monster-in-Law and Sweet November, and television shows Grey's Anatomy, The L Word Season 3, and Veronica Mars Season 2, One Tree Hill Season 1 and 2. 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.

Accomplishments

Tegan and Sara have been profiled in a number of magazines and had their albums 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 also 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 are also nominated for 2008 Alternative Album of the Year alongside Arcade Fire, Wintersleep, Holy Fuck and Patrick Watson. The 2008 Juno's will be presented on April 6 in Calgary, Alberta. 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. They performed on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno (April 23, 2008).

Personal Life

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.

Sara was in a long-term relationship with Emy Storey, which became legal in 2007 via common law marriage. Although the song "I Was Married" was written about their experiences, the relationship has since dissolved.

Tegan is currently not in a relationship.

It has been rumored that one of the Quins (most say Sara) is dating Kaki King

Although they were raised in Calgary, Tegan currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia while Sara resides in Montreal, Quebec.

Band members

Tegan Quin (above) and Sara Quin at a concert in Detroit, Michigan.

• Tegan Quin – vocals, guitar, keyboard and piano
• Sara Quin – vocals, guitar, keyboard and piano
• Edward "Ted" Gowans – guitar and keyboard
• Shaun Huberts – bass guitar
• Johnny "Five" Andrews – drums
• Dan Kelly – bass guitar (until Fall 2007)
• Chris Carlson – bass guitar (until 2006)
• Rob Chursinoff – drums (until 2005)

Discography

Albums

• Yellow Demo (1998)
• Orange Demo (1998)
• Red Demo (1998)
• Under Feet Like Ours (1999)
• This Business of Art (2000)
• If It Was You (2002)
• So Jealous (2004)
• The Con (2007)
• I'll Take the Blame EP (2007)
• Live Session EP: Tegan and Sara (2008)

Singles

• "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)

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)
• "Back in Your Head" (2007, directed by Jamie Travis)
• "The Con" (2007, directed by Suzie Vlcek)

DVDs

• It's Not Fun, Don't Do It! (2006)
• The Con - The Movie (2007)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	For	Position
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
• Tegan and Sara on Myspace
• teganandsara.org -Official Tegan and Sara Fan Page
• Tegan and Sara SPAIN - En español
• Tegan and Sara at Rolling Stone
• [1] Tegan and Sara Interview 2007]
• Video Interview: "What is really important to you?"
• Tegan and Sara Interview at REDEFINE Magazine, August 2007
• Tegan and Sara Fans
• the tegan and sara blog
• Kevchino Interview with Tegan and Sara by JW 2004
• Audiojunkies Interview with Tegan and Sara
• Blast Magazine interview with Sara
• YeboTV.com Interview With Tegan & Sara
• German Interview with Sara Quin at SMASH-MAG

References

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