“When we sat down and decided that we wanted to make a more poppy record, our idea was to try and find producers who had not only worked with big acts, but also had a foundation in indie rock. Greg Kurstin contributed to more than half of the tracks on the album. Tegan & Sara have reeled in a number of heavyweight producers for this album, including Greg Kurstin (who has produced for P!nk and Lily Allen), Mike Elizondo ( Dr Dre and Regina Spektor) and Justin Meldal-Johnsen ( Nine Inch Nails and Beck). So we decided that we would juxtapose that side of our music with more poppy and upbeat sound, as that was the direction we wanted to go in at the time”. “Although we knew that our fans loved the old sensitive, vulnerable and sad side of Tegan and Sara, Sara wanted to cover new ground. The band believes that this is their most personal record yet. Although its melodies are bright and euphoric, the album’s lyrics have not strayed from the emotional rawness of their older records. Musically, Heartthrob is a departure from past Tegan and Sara records, carrying more of a stadium-ready synth-pop sound. But mainly we are thrilled with the fans, who love the record.” These are things which are certainly relevant to the topic and we definitely have goals and expectations for each record. We try not to be a band that obsesses over the number of records we sell, how many tickets we sell or how many awards we get nominated for.
It’s been great that we’ve been successful with this album. “We were making a load of jokes last week about that. On Heartthrob’s US release, the album soared to Number 3 in the Billboard 200, behind Andrea Bocelli and Justin Bieber.īut Tegan doesn’t seem to be too bothered about coming behind a fellow Canadian in the American charts. A lot of dance music in the ’90s was really relevant to us.” During that time, we listened to a lot of what we listened to in the ’90s – everything from grunge and punk to dance music. “Near the end of the writing period I went through this nostalgic phase, when I was writing the album tracks Closer and Drove Me Wild. I feel pop music right now is actually quite interesting,” she adds. “During the making of Heartthrob, we were listening to a lot of current stuff as well, everything from Alicia Keys to Katy Perry. I had a lot of the older stuff on vinyl and I was so impressed with the interplay between the vocals and the melodies”. I’ve kind of got obsessed with Kate Bush again. “With Heartthrob I was listening to a lot of Cyndi Lauper, but also some early Madonna. Tegan then begins to cite some of her past musical influences. Sometimes I think that our fans know us better than ourselves”. Apparently, there are a lot of famous stories about funny things like our dating lives, our teens, our mums and our cats.
“There’s a whole system of people online who trade stories and create MP3s. “There are fan sites which are purely devoted to our banter,” she continues. Early on in our career, we mainly did it to fill time as we didn’t have enough music to fill in all the time. “Some people kind of think of it as our shtick. We then ask her to give us the back story behind her and Sara’s infamous stage banter. British audiences are extremely enthusiastic, like to get crazy at shows, and generally have a great taste in music.” Tegan starts by highlighting some of the main differences they’ve experienced between American and British music festivals: “UK festivals are just massive – most US festivals such as Bonaroo aren’t nearly as big as Glastonbury or Reading. A set at Coachella is lined up for later this year, and truth be told, their star has never looked brighter the Heartthrob album already going Top 5 in both the US and their native Canada. Supporting The Killers last November on their UK tour was the first time the girls have been back in the UK since 2010, when they played a massive headline show at Camden Roundhouse, as well as a slot at Glastonbury. With their much-anticipated seventh studio effort Heartthrob out in the shops this week, we thought it only right we catch up with Tegan Quinn – one half of Canadian twin-sister duo Tegan and Sara – to quiz her on what’s evidently become a pretty hectic schedule for them of late.