Tegan and Sara Speak Out (Video)

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


I first met indie darlings Tegan and Sara in a dressing room. The Canadian identical twins, who first burst onto the music scene as teens, have risen to alt fame over the last decade with rock-pop hits like “Walking With A Ghost” (later covered by the White Stripes) and “Where Does The Good Go” (recently featured on the Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack). 

We all sat down for a backstage interview at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California (watch it above!). In the video, they speak candidly about their new album, Sainthood, get fired up over the controversy surrounding Lilith Fair (where they’ll be performing this summer), and explain their love for an Adam Lambert single. In person, Tegan and Sara are down-to-earth, thoughtful, and unfailingly polite (even apologizing repeatedly for being less than 10 minutes late).

 

So it was somewhat surreal to see them take the stage that night as bona fide stars, rocking a full house of rowdy fans who sang along, cheered, and threw various items of clothing onstage. In performance mode, the duo delivered a nearly two-hour set that was punchy, spunky, and full of energy—spanning both new material and old hits like “Back In Your Head” and “So Jealous.” Their impressive musicianship was also on full display; both play guitar and keys, and their self-penned songs are harmony-laden blasts of pop tunefulness.

The Tegan and Sara I met earlier were evident, too, despite the glaring lights and screaming crowds. Their stage banter was casual and accessible, and at the end of the show, they walked to the edge of the stage and humbly applauded their audience. That may be the pair’s greatest charm: They’re cool, but not so cool that you think you couldn’t one day hit up a bar with them—or if you’re lucky, have a chat in a dressing room.

Interview by Nikki Gloudeman. Video by Alexandra Bezdikian.

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate