Photograph courtesy of Dustin Rabin Photography
The Canadian pop-rock band Tegan and Sara play the Pageant 8 p.m. Sunday, March 10 on tour for their seventh studio record, Heartthrob. Fronted by identical twin sisters, Tegan Quin and Sara Quin, the band swerves toward pop on the new record, which is dominated by plush synths and computerized beats. But at the heart of Heartthrob is catchy, heartfelt songwriting, mainly about relationships, often failed or failing ones. “I’m a Fool” and “Now I’m All Messed Up” are characteristic titles.
Sara Quin says that her writing about heartbreak was strengthened, ironically, by being happy.
“It was the first time when I was writing that I was happy and interested in life, though I was writing about being distraught,” she says. “Writing from a happy place, I was actually able to be more intense and emotional because the pain wasn’t right there on the surface. I was feeling happy, so I was able to write about darker places.”
She and her twin, Tegan Quin, live on opposite coasts of Canada and write separately, which helps give identical twins different perspectives.
“It gives us some autonomy,” she says. “We’re experiencing different cities, different social circles, different scenes. But we find ways of collaborating.”
Their bi-coastal collaborative process is made much easier by the increasing portability of media, where data-rich recording sessions can be shared digitally. That same portability of media is draining many recording artists of income from record sales, as more and more media is streamed online rather than purchased. This is no crisis for Tegan and Sara.
“At the beginning of our career, when some artists were still selling a lot of records, we didn’t really sell a lot. We were an underground band,” she says. “We have always known we are going to sell a certain number of records, a certain number of tickets, a certain number of T-shirts, so we should not spend more money than that. We have a very streamlined, frugal business.”
The twins—who turned 32 last September—have been touring musicians since they graduated from high school. Tegan Quin, who maintains the band’s strong Twitter presence, has mused that she sometimes wishes she had a day job. Not so for Sara.
“I do a little glorified moonlighting, I do some A&R for a record label, but right now I could not find time to find another job,” she says. “I’m lucky to make a great living off our band.”
As a touring musician, she spends a lot of time on the road, where she often indulges in a passion: reading. In 2011 Sara was a panelist on the national Canadian show Canada Reads, where Canadian celebrities each defend a book by a Canadian author in a competition where one book is voted out each round. Sara defended Jeff Lemire’s Essex County, the first graphic novel to make it onto Canada Reads. It bit the dust on round one.
Has she read any good books lately?
“I keep a book blog where I share recommended readings. It’s kind of a one-way pseduo book club,” she says. “Recently I read and loved The Tenth of December by George Saunders and Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon, a massive, fantastic book.”
On her blog, she noted of The Tenth of December: “I read this poolside and felt afraid that people nearby me thought I was laughing at unfortunate bathing suits or near drownings.”
While she has not written any songs based on books, reading does get her in the songwriting mood. “Sometimes when I read something amazing, it leaves me in this creative place,” she said, “which helps me segue back into my creative process.”
