Tegan and Sara

Tegan and Sara

Tegan and Sara (Template:PronEng) 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, Northern State, An Horse, 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, Death Cab for Cutie and Weezer. They also 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 did 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. Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie, Matt Sharp of The Rentals (who was with Weezer during The Blue Album and Pinkerton), Hunter Burgan of AFI, and Kaki King appear on the album.

The duo are currently writing a new album, planned to be released in late 2009..

Cover songs and collaborations

In 2003, Ryan Adams played a live cover of "Monday Monday Monday" while Tegan and Sara opened for him.

In 2004, they covered David Bowie's "Rebel Rebel" in Spiders from Venus: Women Cover David Bowie.

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".

Tegan and Sara have performed covers of Flock of Seagulls' "I Ran (So Far Away)".

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".

In 2008, Tegan wrote and performed "His Love" as a companion piece to the Augusten Burroughs novel A Wolf at the Table.

In March 2008, Friends of P – Tribute to The Rentals was released, and Tegan and Sara contributed their recording of "Man With Two Brains."

In addition to their own set, Tegan and Sara performed with DJ Tiesto during the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on June 13, 2008. Tegan and Sara appeared as guests, providing live vocals for Tiesto's remix of "Back In Your Head".

Hunter Burgan (who played bass for all of Tegan's songs on The Con) confirmed in his blog that both he and Tegan will be involved in an upcoming electronic side-project.

In 2008, Alkaline Trio recorded a cover of Tegan and Sara's "Wake Up Exhausted", with Dan Andriano on vocals.

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, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 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. Tracks are also found on the television shows Grey's Anatomy,Ghost Whisperer, The L Word season 3, Veronica Mars season 2, One Tree Hill seasons 1 and 2, and jPod. 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.

They also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on April 23, 2008.

Their song "Time Running" was used in the A Pup Named Scooby-Doo episode "Mummies Scare Best"

Tegan was on This Just Out with Liz Feldman.

Accomplishments

Tegan and Sara have been profiled in a number of magazines and their albums have been 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 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 were also nominated for 2008 Alternative Album of the Year alongside Arcade Fire, Wintersleep, Holy Fuck and Patrick Watson. The 2008 Junos were presented on April 6 in Calgary, Alberta and they lost to Arcade Fire. 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.

Personal lives

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. Jancy Richardson-Dawes has said to have been romantically involved with Sara Quin.

Band members

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

Current

• Tegan Quin – vocals, guitar, keyboard, piano, MalletKAT, and various percussion
• Sara Quin – vocals, guitar, keyboard, piano, and various percussion
• Edward "Ted" Gowans – guitar, keyboard, and MalletKAT
• Shaun Huberts – bass guitar, synth bass, keyboards, and various percussion
• Johnny "Five" Andrews – drums, and various percussion

Previous

• 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 (iTunes exclusive, 2008)
• The Con Demos (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)
• "Call It Off" (2008)

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)
• "Call It Off" (2008, directed by Angela Kendall)

DVDs

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

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	For	Result
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
• Template:Myspace
• Tegan and Sara SPAIN
• Tegan and Sara BANTER
• Tegan and Sara.ca
• Tegan and Sara Landsalmon.com Interview 2007
• Video Interview: "What is really important to you?"
• Tegan and Sara Interview at REDEFINE Magazine, August 2007
• 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