| Tegan Quin and Sara Quin | |
|---|---|
Tegan and Sara performing at the 2010 Polaris Music Prize Ceremony |
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| Background information | |
| Born | September 19, 1980 Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Genres | Indie rock, New Wave,[1] indie pop, indie folk |
| Years active | 1995–present[2][3] |
| Labels | Vapor, Sanctuary, Sire |
| Website | teganandsara.com |
| Members | |
| Tegan Quin Sara Quin Ted Gowans |
|
Tegan and Sara are a Canadian indie band[1] composed of identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin[4] (born September 19, 1980). Both Tegan and Sara play guitar and keyboard and write songs.[5]
Contents |
Tegan and Sara Quin were born September 19, 1980 in Calgary, Alberta. They began playing guitar and writing songs at age 15.[3] They initially played as Plunk without a drummer or bass player. In 1997, they used their school’s recording studio to record two demo albums: Who's in Your Band? and Play Day. In 1998, they won Calgary's Garage Warz competition, using the studio time they won to record their first professional demo, Yellow tape, which was followed by Orange tape and Red tape.
Two songs from Red tape appeared on their first album, Under Feet Like Ours, which they released independently in 1999 under the name "Sara and Tegan". They later changed their name to "Tegan and Sara" because it was easier to pronounce[6] and reprinted the album using that name. They also wanted their name to stand out amongst the other 'Sara' musicians at the time such as Sarah McLachlan and Sarah Slean. Tegan was easier to remember. Neil Young's manager signed them to Young's Vapor Records label, and they released This Business of Art through Vapor in 2000. They have toured extensively since then.
In 2002, the band released their third album If It Was You. Their fourth album, So Jealous, was released in 2004 and led to wider success. This album was released through both Vapor and Sanctuary. One track on the album, "Walking with a Ghost", was covered by The White Stripes, who released it on their Walking with a Ghost EP.[7]
Their 2007 album The Con was released by Vapor and Sire because Sanctuary chose to no longer release new music in the United States. The album was co-produced by Chris Walla. Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie, Matt Sharp of The Rentals and previously Weezer, Hunter Burgan of AFI, and Kaki King all appear on the album.[8]
On October 27, 2009, Tegan and Sara released their sixth album Sainthood, produced by Chris Walla and Howard Redekopp, as well as a three-volume book set titled ON, IN, AT, which is a collection of stories, essays, journals, and photos of the band on tour in America in the fall of 2008, writing together in New Orleans, and touring Australia. The photographs in the book are by Lindsey Byrnes and Ryan Russell.[9] While recording Sainthood, Tegan and Sara spent a week writing songs together in New Orleans. The song "Paperback Head" appeared on the album, making it the first song on any Tegan and Sara album that they wrote together.[10] Spin magazine gave Sainthood four out of five stars and wrote, "Tegan and Sara's music may no longer be the stuff of teens, but its strength remains in how much it feels like two people talking."[11]
In 2011, they launched 2011: A Merch Odyssey, which sees the launch of at least one new item in the official online stores every month, all year long. A live CD/DVD combination package titled Get Along was released on November 15 and contains three films titled 'States', 'India' and 'For The Most Part'.
Both twins are openly gay. Tegan lives in Vancouver, BC and Los Angeles, CA. Sara lives in Montreal, QC and New York, NY.[5] Sara was the first to come out, at age 15.[12] Sara was in a common law marriage with the art director of their band, Emy Storey, but they separated in 2007.[13]
Tegan and Sara began touring after graduating from high school in 1998, traveling by car or Greyhound bus.[14] In 2000, they toured with Neil Young and The Pretenders. Other notable touring mates include Ryan Adams, Ben Folds, Gogol Bordello, Cake, City and Colour, Communiqué, Death Cab for Cutie, Hot Hot Heat, Kadawatha, The Killers, New Found Glory, Paramore, Rufus Wainwright, and Weezer.
Their onstage banter, including stories and commentary about their childhood, politics, and life on the road, have become an indispensable part of their live shows.
They have performed at festivals including Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair 1999, Coachella, Lollapalooza, SXSW 2005, Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo, Falls Festival, Sasquatch!, Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Tour 2008; Southbound 2009, Glastonbury, Lilith Fair, Sasquatch! 2010,Winnipeg Folk Festival 2011,[15] Newport Folk Festival 2011, and Sasktel Saskatchewan Jazz Fest 2011.
In December 2010 Tegan and Sara supported Jack Johnson in New Zealand and Australia.
In 2009, both Tegan and Sara worked as producers for the first time. Tegan worked with char2d2 on the 2009 Small Vampires EP, while Sara worked on 2010 debut albums for Fences and Hesta Prynn.[16]
Tegan sang backing vocals on Rachael Cantu's "Saturday" from her Run All Night album, and in 2007 sang in Against Me!'s song "Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart." Sara sang in The Reason's song "We're So Beyond This", as well as appearing in the music video.
In April 2008, Tegan wrote and recorded a song titled "His Love" at the request of Augusten Burroughs as a contribution to the audio version of his book A Wolf at the Table. The two headlined Spin's September 2008 Liner Notes benefit for Housing Works, a New York non-profit.[17]
In addition to their own set, Tegan and Sara performed with DJ Tiësto during the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on June 13, 2008. Tegan and Sara appeared as guests, providing live vocals for Tiësto's remix of "Back in Your Head".[18] Tegan and Sara also collaborated with Tiësto on the song "Feel It in My Bones" from his 2009 album Kaleidoscope and appeared in the music video for this song.
Tegan and Sara are featured on Margaret Cho's 2009 album Cho Dependent on the track "Intervention". They are also featured in Margaret's video for the song.
Tegan and Sara released an "Alligator" remix album on iTunes in 2010. Contributors included Doveman, Four Tet, Passion Pit, Ra Ra Riot, and VHS or Beta.
Sara is featured on rapper/songwriter/producer Theophilus London's track "Why Even Try" from his 2011 Lover's Holiday EP.
Both Tegan and Sara appear in Sara Bareilles' star-studded music video for her song "Uncharted". The video premiered in March 2011 and also features, amongst others, Josh Groban, Laura Jansen, Ingrid Michaelson, Pharell Williams, Adam Levine, Ben Folds, Keenan Cahill, Jennifer Nettles, and Vanessa Carlton.
Tegan sings with Jim Ward on his "Broken Songs."
Sara appeared on Jonathan Coulton's 2011 album Artificial Heart, providing vocals for the album's remake of the song Coulton wrote for Valve's game Portal, "Still Alive".
NOFX's song "Creeping Out Sara" is about the two sisters. During a live Q&A when asked what they thought of the song Sara answered, 'The song is called "Creeping Out Sara"; I am Sara, and I was creeped out.'
Sara appears in Kaki King's music video for "Pull Me out Alive."
Tegan sang on "Contrails" by rapper Astronautalis on his 2011 album This Is Our Science. She also appears in the music video.
| List of joint and solo collaborations | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member(s) | Year | Collaborator(s) | Song | Album |
| Tegan & Sara | 2009 | Tiësto | "Feel It in My Bones"[19] | Kaleidoscope |
| Fucked Up | "Do They Know It's Christmas?"[20] | |||
| Margaret Cho | "Intervention" | Cho Dependent | ||
| Tegan | 2005 | Vivek Shraya | "The Alphabet" | A Composite of Straight Lines |
| David Usher | "Hey Kids" | If God Had Curves | ||
| 2006 | Melissa Ferrick | "Never Give Up" | In the Eyes of Strangers | |
| Kinnie Starr | "La Le La La" | In the Eyes of Strangers | ||
| Rachael Cantu | "Saturday" | Run All Night | ||
| 2007 | Against Me! | "Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart" | New Wave | |
| 2008 | Alkaline Trio | "Wake Up Exhausted" | Agony & Irony | |
| 2009 | Jim Ward | "Broken Songs" | In The Valley, On The Shores EP | |
| Rachael Cantu | "Saturday" | Far And Wide | ||
| "Thieves and Their Hands" | ||||
| "Blue House Baby" | ||||
| 2011 | Astronautalis | "Contrails" | This Is Our Science | |
| Sara | 2007 | The Reason | "We're So Beyond This" | Things Couldn't Be Better |
| Ted Gowans and Kaki King | "Sweetness Follows" (R.E.M. cover) | Drive XV: A Tribute to Automatic for the People | ||
| Vivek Shraya | "Your Name" | If We're Not Talking | ||
| 2009 | Dragonette | "Okay Dolore" | Fixin to Thrill | |
| 2010 | Emm Gryner | "Top Speed" | Gem and I | |
| 2011 | Theophilus London | "Why Even Try" | Lovers Holiday | |
| Jonathan Coulton | "Still Alive" | Artificial Heart | ||
Tegan and Sara have appeared on American, Canadian, and European television shows, including Jimmy Kimmel Live (2005), Jonovision, The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (2004), Late Night with Conan O'Brien (2005, 2007, 2009), The Late Show with David Letterman (2000, 2008), The NewMusic, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2008), and ZeD.[15]
Tegan and Sara songs have been featured in the films Monster-in-Law, Sweet November, and These Girls, and in the television shows 90210, Being Erica, Ghost Whisperer, Grey's Anatomy, The Hills, Hollyoaks, jPod, The L Word, Life Unexpected, Melrose Place (2009 series), One Tree Hill, Parenthood, Rookie Blue, Vampire Diaries, Veronica Mars, Waterloo Road (2011) and What's New, Scooby-Doo?.
In 2006, Tegan and Sara performed in The L Word episode "Last Dance" (season 3, episode 11). In 2008, they appeared on the kids music television show Pancake Mountain where they acted in a skit and performed their songs "Back in Your Head", "Hop a Plane", and an acoustic version of "Walking with a Ghost".[21] In 2010, they appeared on CBC's Mamma Yamma, revising their single "Alligator" into a children's song.
In 2011, Sara Quin was a panelist on Canada Reads defending Jeff Lemire's graphic novel Essex County. The book, the first graphic novel to be featured as part of Canada Reads, was voted off after the first round.
Backing Band
Former Members
| Book: Tegan and Sara | |
| Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print. | |
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | — | YTV Band/Musical Group Achievement Award | Won |
| 2003 | If It Was You | Western Canadian Music Awards, Outstanding Pop Recording | Won |
| 2006 | So Jealous | Juno Awards Alternative Album of the Year | Nominated |
| 2007 | It's Not Fun Don't Do It | Juno Awards Music DVD of the Year | Nominated |
| 2008 | The Con | Juno Awards Alternative Album of the Year | Nominated |
| 2009 | "The Con" | Studio8 Song of August 2009 | Won |
| 2010 | Sainthood | Juno Awards Alternative Album of the Year | Nominated |
| 2010 | Sainthood | Polaris Music Prize | Nominated |
| 2010 | — | Western Canadian Music Awards, International Achievement Award | Won |
| 2011 | — | Indie Awards, Group or Duo of the Year | Nominated |
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