GenQ - For the not so straight individual

Tegan and Sara have an astounding list of accomplishments; their album So Jealous was named one of the top fifty albums of the year by Rolling Stone, they have appeared on the cover of ROCKRGIRL magazine, and they were also nominated for a Juno Award in 2006 for Alternative Album of the Year. GenQ's Amanda spoke one-on-one with Sarah Quin on touring, growth in music and being 'not so straight'.

Amanda: Hey Sara, how are you?
Sara: Good thanks, how are you?

Amanda: Good thanks! Congratulations on your new album “The Con�. I’ve also noticed that you have nearly sold out all your November and December concerts! That’s fantastic!
Sara: Thankyou.

Amanda: It must be great to see how much more popular your music is becoming at the moment..
Sara: Well obviously its exciting and feels good, especially when the tours are successful it certainly brings a lot of relief and some stability because you don’t have to be worried that you are going to go and loose a bunch of money. We don’t take tour support so when we go to places like Australia we have to pay for it ourselves.

Amanda: Absolutely. Well, your fan base in Australia is certainly expanding, do you think it could have something to do with the fact that your songs are now being featured on shows like Greys Anatomy, L word and Veronica Mars?
Sara: To be on a tv show that has like 20 million viewers per night its huge and to have that in tandem with a big tour or a bit of radio play, or visibility on MTV all of a sudden you start to see things developing and changing. We’re very hands on and we like to make sure there is a connection to the audience and I definitely feel like there has been a huge impact because of the television stuff that’s been happening for us and I’m extremely greatful.

Amanda: Now that you are becoming more famous you are starting to have more packed out concerts, but do you prefer the intimate concerts?
Sara: On this tour we have played shows to 600 people, we have played shows to 2,500 people and it still feels quite intimate. We always like to play in venues where we feel like we can connect to the audience and talk a lot so I don’t feel that we have lost the intimacy just yet. It could happen, but right now I feel really happy with being able to perform and communicate with people.

Amanda: How much of the year are you spending travelling at the moment?
Sara: Well after the Australian tour we are off for about 5 1/2 weeks and then we are going to be in Europe for a month and then we are about to put another tour in the US on sale for the spring. I think we will be touring for another year at least I am sure we will come back to Australia.

Amanda: Hopefully plenty more times!
Sara: That’s the thing, we are thinking about doing another Australian tour and package it with Japan and New Zealand and maybe spend a month in that part of the world. But yeah we love to tour and thats what we do and that the only thing that gets us through.

Amanda: To help you stay off the dole..
Sara: Well yeah, we are trying to stay off the dole.. yeah exactly!

Amanda: Do you have the same banter for each gig on your tours or does it change from night to night?
Sara: It changes totally. We just say what comes into our minds. It could be simple, it could be deep, it could be a childhood thing, what the song is about, it could be something that’s happening in the audience, we just ramble!

Amanda: Do you get much crazy fan mail?
Sara: We don’t get a tonne of crazy fan mail, but there is always a cluster of crazies. You know u go somewhere and u are like “and those are the crazy people�...

Amanda: What is the worst gig that you have performed or worst place that you have been to?
Sara: Oh god I mean in 9 years? Too many to even mention. But the good news is the majority of them now are awesome. So that’s cool.

Amanda: With all the travelling that you do, is it hard to have a normal life with Emy?
Sara: I don’t have a normal life and I used to say that I did, but I don’t. And it is challenging to have relationships and not even like romantic relationships but even my friendships have a strange suspension to them. But on the other hand I like love being a musician and touring and travelling so there is give and take when you are in a relationship, any kind of relationship with me and so I am trying really hard.. at some point I would really want to have a family and kids.

Amanda: How does Tegan meet girls, because she is so famous and finding someone who is interested in her and not just her fame must be difficult?
Sara: Tegan is now not single. We’re so funny, when I was married basically in my relationship with Emy, Tegan was single and struggling and now she is in a relationship again. You worry that if people like find out that you are successful that they only want to know you because its cool and that they don’t really care about who YOU are. That’s always going to be a challenge because there is such an obsession with famous people. People think that their lives are somehow better or more special, but I think that we are the same, we just have a weird job.

Amanda: And you're really sarcastic and fun!
Sara: I know, I think I am totally fun and sometimes I cant tell whether people actually think I am fun or they like me, or they just kinda want to hang out with me 'cos its cool.

Amanda: Has Tegan ever written a song that you have just disliked and not wanted on the album?
Sara: Sure, yes of course, we are very honest with each other. If I write something that Tegan isn’t into it doesn’t bother me, if I really love the song and she doesn’t get it I will ask her to listen to it more and then get back to me. But for the most part  we have been writing music since we were 14, and there is only a handful of songs that I have ever really hated that Tegan has written. For the most part I am a huge fan of what she does and I think that she would say the same thing about me so we are quite lucky.

Amanda: What's your favourite song on the The Con?
Sara: Of Tegan's I love “Dark Come Soon� I think that its amazing and I love to play it live on stage. Of my own it changes, it really does, night to night at the moment I really love playing “Relief Next To Me� its been turning out really cool as a band on stage each night.

Amanda: So GenerationQ is basically it’s a website that contains mainstream information and news that is catered towards the queer community..
Sara: Oh cool!

Amanda: One of Australia's own artists missy Higgins has come out as “not so straight� a month after our interview with her, which is our slogan. We figure that if the majority of the population are not 100% straight and we use “not so straight� to define them, the majority of people will fall into that continuim. Do you that slogan could catch on?
Sara: I definitely do. I think there is always going to be people resistant to opening their mind that sexuality is on a spectrum, gender is on a spectrum, that you are not one or the other, that you probably fit somewhere in between. Even within our own communities/ queer communities/ feminist communities I think that when you are that person and that forward thinking that those people need to expand their minds aswell. I know lots of gay people that are the most close minded people and I think sometimes it’s important that even within our own communities to expand our minds a little.

Amanda: Would you have any advice for Missy? She is getting a lot of press about the whole situation and must be overwhelming for her..
Sara: I know that she is huge in Australia and I mean I cant even imagine. Tegan and I never really had an outing, we were just kinda gay and that’s all there was too it, so I feel very comfortable and I would need to put myself in her shoes. I know that she is very successful in Australia and a very recognisable person so I can imagine it would be a very challenging time for her and I know that she is very private. Its going to be a tough go, but as a queer artist who is out and visible internationally, my own experience is that its very rewarding. If you want to be an authentic musician and performer and person its difficult to reconcile if you feel that you have to shield your sexual preference. Most of us walk around in a world of people that presume you are heterosexual, so to stand up and say “no I am not heterosexual� its such a huge thing but once you do it its starts to become who you are and its not the end of the world.

Amanda: Who came out first out of you and Tegan?
Sara: I actually came out first. I was in a relationship when I came out of school and it became quite obvious to my parents. I maybe got a little bit forced probably before I was ready to admit it, which was not a bad thing I was glad once it happened, I was glad that my parents knew and that it was what it was... and then Tegan pretty soon after she started a relationship with a woman and it came out aswell.

Amanda: Have you ever done the identical twin thing and tried to get with your sisters girlfriend?
Sara: Um, no gross.. we never have. I think that people who know us, even for 5 minutes would be able to bust us if we were pretending to be the other one.

Amanda: Do you have any messages for the GenerationQ readers?
Sara: ooh.. um.. I don’t know.. um.. I am single! Haha I am totally kidding.

Amanda: And you are in the country next month!
Sara: Yeah its terrifying, maybe I will get some marriage proposals!!

Amanda: Should I take you out clubbing?
Sara: Yeah maybe, what city are you in?

Amanda: Melbourne
Sara: yeah I like Melbourne, maybe..

Amanda: Thankyou Sara it was such a pleasure talking to you, and cant wait for your concert on the 13th Dec.

Tegan and Sara begin a tour of Australia in Fremantle, Western Australia on 10 December.


Video: Tegan and Sara - The Con