Tegan and Sara Grow Up, Learn to 'Get Along' and Avoid Killing Each Other

Since starting out as teenagers, Tegan and Sara have gone from playing to 10 people in small Canadian clubs to singing for 10,000 people in arenas around the world. Now in their 30s, the Quin twins have taken a look back at their career with their second DVD, 'Get Along,' which features tour footage, a trip to India and recordings from two intimate concerts in front of fans, friends and family.

Spinner recently caught up with Tegan to discuss the band's evolution, the sisters' relationship with their mom, who traveled with the band to India, how she and Sara have learned to coexist more peacefully and how they compare to Kings of Leon.

You're saying goodbye to your 20s with this DVD. Did you dread that birthday?

Honestly, I enjoyed turning 30. I didn't think it was going to be significant at all, but early on in our career, when we first signed our record deal, we were signed by Elliott Roberts, Neil Young's manager, and he said, "Enjoy your 20s, go out, have fun, travel, get some life experience, fall in love, have your heart broken, be disappointed, put out good records, put out bad records, but when you get to your 30s, that's when you'll put out important records, that's when you'll write the best songs of your life." And I remember thinking, "Yeah, whatever. I'm writing a good song right now!"

Looking back, he was right. As we went further along our career, we have written better, we've gotten better. That's a no brainer, but that's something you don't understand probably at 19. At 31, I feel like this DVD is really a great bookender. It feels really great to be starting a new book. We truly are ready to start the next part of our career.

And you're bringing in a younger audience too, which is something not many artists can do in their 30s.

Sometimes it's funny. I had a conversation with an artist who said, "Your fans are cool, though they're a little young. I prefer to have an older audience." And I just thought, "What a stupid, stupid thing to say." Our audience is very mixed, but there is definitely a very young portion of our audience that really respect the work we've done.

I mean, I was awesome as a teenager! And nobody liked teenagers or cared about their opinion. But I do. I think they're interesting. They're for real. They're like babies. They say exactly what they think. They're going through so much and they're so vulnerable and so raw. I think it's a compliment when they like you because they're saying, "Yeah, I'm going through a lot right now, but through all that, I've decided to like you."

Was it weird being in front of the camera so much?

Sara and I are really used to it at this point, because we have this obsession with documenting everything. It's a really weird, awkward thing because we really hate being on camera and we're very awkward when we're on camera, but in turn that makes it very educating at the same time. We're very emotional people and it can be very raw and real. And sometimes when you look back that you're like, "I hate myself, I wish I was dead, who came up with this stupid concept?"

We kind of became a little desensitized to it, which can bite you in the ass. The first edit of the DVD came back and there was like a five-minute scene of Sara and I fighting. The directors were like, "Yeah, this feels kinda weird with you in the [editing] room." And I was like, "Yeah, it's annoying. We look ridiculous. Cut it out!" and they were like, "It has to be there, it tells part of the story!" And I was like, "It doesn't have to be five minutes long, OK? We get it!" We fought over one stupid piano note for 5 minutes. It needs to be like three seconds long.



Do you have a favorite rock documentary?

I just saw a trailer for that Kings of Leon movie ['Talihina Sky'] and it looks amazing because they're fighting the whole time, but I think it's different when you're boys. If you're drunk and you're boys it's really different than when you're just sober and annoying twins.

I feel like there's a bit of sexism in our industry with that. If you're a woman and you're drinking and you're out of control, you're an untalented whorebag. If you're an unshaven, unkempt, drunk mid-20s boy, you're a brilliant genius. And that's fine because I don't want to be any of that.

Do you have a favorite moment from the movies?

For me, I love the India movie because it's not just us. It's extremely overwhelming -- beautiful and stunning and magical, but like really overwhelming in terms of poverty and the divide between men and women. Just being from Canada and having tattoos, we were just stared at and gawked at and bothered and battered. Half the time you're there, you're throwing up and having vicious diarrhea and you're like, "This is amazing!"

Your mom was there with you. How did she handle that?

My mother's a great sport. If we'd gone just as a band, we'd probably have hidden in the hotel and just went in the pool. But the other people that were with us, specifically my mom, were like, "No, we have to go out and see everything." We'd go out for like 16 hours a day. It was crazy! No temple, no historic sight was gone unseen. My mom's a great trouper. She toured with us a lot in the early days. She's been all over the world with us and toured for weeks on end in Australia and sold our merchandise -- and we were at a place where we did not need our mom on tour with us or to sell our merchandise! But she was just like "I'll do it!" I was like, "All right. Free labor!"

Do you notice any change in your relationship with Sara since the last DVD came out?

There's a line in the movie where we say, "For the most part, we get along," and that's why we named the DVD 'Get Along.' Most people think we must be backstage beating the crap out of each other all the time, when, specifically for the last five years, that's happened once. We didn't beat the crap out of each other. We did get into a physical altercation though. It was a significant moment for a lot of people that work for us, because it had always been kept under wraps and was always something that we joked about but nobody saw, and it was the first time that not only did they see it but they had to spend 20 minutes getting us to stop before we basically tried to kill each other.

We were exhausted and on tour in Europe and some other stuff had happened and we were feeling very exhausted and pushed. And often times, when Sara and I feel conflict with other people, we take it out on one another. It's sort of like a relationship. It's safe. Sara won't leave, she's not going anywhere, so we can punish each other and not get mad at the person we're really mad at.

A major shift happened. People around us realized we needed their voices, we needed their support. If you just say, "Oh, it's up to you guys," it's basically like you've created a boxing ring for Sara and I. We have to make hundreds of decisions a week about our organization, our band, our records, our touring schedule and we do it without any issue. But once and a while there is an issue. All of sudden now, if I'm in an argument with Sara, there's nine of us in the argument. We're all in it and it gets resolved really quickly because I would never talk to anyone the way I talk to Sara.

Since the last DVD, in the last five years, there's more of a bond, there's definitely more of an intimacy between Sara and I. We definitely hit a stride in our relationship, so the 'Get Along' title is sort of a joke but it's also true. We really do get along. For the most part.

Tegan and Sara Perform 'Hell' on The Interface

Watch Tegan and Sara's Full Interface Performance

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