Gay&Night Juli 2016

220
Interview / Tegan & Sara
‘Categorizing
our music as
“gay” would
be highly
offensive’
‘We’re
each other’s
backup and
teammate
in all areas’
Which song on the album resonates the most with
you?
‘I’m really loving “White Knuckles” right now. I love
how poetic the lyrics are and how close to home it
hits even though I didn’t write it. I think Sara did a
wonderful job with that one. I love the production.
It feels like a ballad but it’s also so explosive.’
Do you feel like the ‘mainstream’ (i.e. non-LGBT)
media write about you in a different way than LGBTpublications?
‘I denitely think that the divide between
mainstream media and LGBT media has gotten
smaller. I don’t see as big a difference. Certainly
in the past the mainstream media often stayed
away from talking about us being gay and the LGBT
media focused on it solely. I think there’s more
focus on us as people, our career and the music
itself from both sides of the fence now.’
Olly Alexander recently responded on Twitter to
a picture of a fan who saw a German record store
putting his band Years & Years’ music in a separate
‘gay music’ category. How would you respond if that
happened to your new record?
‘I would nd that highly offensive.’
Each of the songs on Love You To Death will have
its own video. Is that challenging to do that when
you’re not, you know, Beyoncé (as in: you don’t have
Beyoncé’s big budget to work with)?
‘We always feel bad that only the singles get videos.
It was a goal of ours to try to create some sort
of video asset for each song on the record. We
denitely don’t have the budget of an artist the size
of Beyoncé, but we’ve been able to nd incredible
artists to collaborate with. The only bad part of
making ten videos that were already so tired of
making videos, haha! It’s been a lot of work. But
we’re so excited about the ones coming up next.’
Greg Kurstin is an amazing pop producer who has
worked on many great singles and albums, including
Heartthrob. He doesn’t usually produce full albums;
how did the collaboration happen and what is it like
when the three of you go into a studio together?
‘We had such an amazing time working on
Heartthrob with Greg. He only did eight of the 10
songs on that record and our goal was to have him
do the entire record this time. And he was game,
thankfully. Our dynamic in the studio is often
very silly and fun. Sara and I demo out the songs
extensively. I think we give Greg a very strong
blueprint to build from. He has deep respect for
our process and our ability and seems to love our
song writing. It’s an honor to be able to work with
someone so talented and sought after. In the studio
creatively there are no boundaries. Greg pushes
things as far as he can answer and I feel complete
comfort to suggest and try everything. It’s a very
collaborative relationship.’
Does the dynamic between the two of you change
from when you’re in the studio to when you’re
performing on stage together?
‘I think there’s a deep respect for each other
as individuals when it comes to writing and
performing live. We are each other’s backup singer
and teammate in all areas of our career. The
dynamic is pretty collaborative in both cases’.
During your last sold out show in Amsterdam, when
you were promoting the Heartthrob album, the
audience seemed to go wild. What are some of the
craziest things to have happen during a Tegan and
Sara gig?
‘I think our audience is very passionate. Especially
in countries where we don’t travel or tour as much.
I don’t know if there’s anything extra wild about
our audience. I feel like I hear way crazier stuff
about other bands than ours. But we denitely
have passionate audience members that will
sleep outside overnight to get into the front row.
There are many fans who have traveled and seen
over thirty shows. It’s pretty wild. At least in our
minds. We have such a great unique and passionate
audience. We feel very lucky.’
You have a relatively young fan base. Do you feel a
responsibility towards them and the inuence you
have with them?
‘Young or old, we absolutely know that people look
to us for advice or experience or as role models and
we take that very seriously. We’ve always modeled
a healthy happy existence. We encourage our
audience to love who they are and be themselves.
And we take that very seriously too.’
As it is currently ‘pride season’ across the globe,
with the Dutch and Belgian prides being held in
early August, can you tell us what pride means to
you?
‘I think we’ve always been very proud of who we
are. We were very lucky in that way. We had a great
family who encouraged us to be ourselves. Although
our career has been peppered with some misogyny
and homophobia in the press or online at us, it’s
been relatively positive. But we do not ever forget or
become apathetic about pride. There is so much to
still be done. And so Pride is even more important
than ever before because we have to continue to
ght for equality around the globe.’
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