Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Kiersten Quin (born September 19, 1980, identical twins) are Canadian singer-songwriters, performing as Tegan and Sara.
Born in Calgary, Alberta, they got their start winning Garage Warz, a local music competition in that city. Since then, the two have toured extensively with many artists, including Neil Young, Rufus Wainwright, Ryan Adams, Ben Folds, The Pretenders, The Killers, Little Birdy, Hot Hot Heat, Bryan Adams and Weezer and on Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair. They are signed to Neil Young's Vapor Records in the U.S. and to the Universal Music Group in Canada. Tegan currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia and Sara in Montreal, Quebec.
Originally, as when they were competing in Garage Warz, the duo was known as "Sara and Tegan." They decided to change their band's name to "Tegan and Sara" because "Tegan" is a more unusual name and, they felt, "Sara" was a common name among female artists. Early copies of their album Under Feet Like Ours were printed under the band name "Sara and Tegan", and are now a sought-after commodity among their fans.
The twins tell comic stories on stage, a throwback to when they didn't have a lot of material but still wanted to give people a full show. Their sisterly bickering is part of the show and endears them greatly to their fans.citation needed]
While both twins are similarly involved in vocals and playing instruments, the singing of the lead melody often goes to whichever twin wrote the particular song. Sara has been quoted saying that Tegan writes songs prolifically, "like a fish lays eggs", eventually discarding most of them. Sara's songs, on the other hand, evolve slowly and methodically and almost always make it onto the record.citation needed]
Tegan and Sara both identify as lesbian. [1]
TV and Film
They have made many television appearances, including Vicki Gabereau's Canadian talk show, The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live (March 23, 2005) and The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (November 11, 2004).
Their songs have also appeared on the movie soundtrack for Sweet November, the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack, The L Word Season 3 soundtrack, and the Veronica Mars soundtrack.
Most recently, Tegan and Sara had a guest appearance on the hit Showtime series, The L Word, which aired on March, 19, 2006.
They were the first featured artists on WNYE-TV's live music program Summer in the City, which shows outdoor concerts and interviews with band members taped in New York City. It was first broadcast on September 29, 2005, but has been in heavy rotation ever since (most recently re-broadcast on June 8, 2006). One in-between-song tidbit from the show: They appreciate "good steak" from "a fancy French restaurant" their record company treated them to.
Cover songs
In 2004, Matt Sharp and Maya Rudolph of The Rentals recorded a cover version of Tegan and Sara's song "Not Tonight", and released it for free on the World Wide Web. [2] Sharp also played moog on "So Jealous."
In 2005, The White Stripes did a cover of Tegan and Sara's song "Walking With A Ghost," which was released on the "Walking With A Ghost" EP by the group. "Walking With A Ghost" was also used in a mashed-up Dance remix bootleg by Party Ben
http://partyben.com/downloads/ with a song by Mylo, "Paris Four Hundred" under the title "Walking With A Ghost In Paris", which became a sought after club track after an influential dance radio station in the United States, KNHC/Seattle, Washington, started playing the song. [3]
Accomplishments
In late 2004, Rolling Stone magazine named their album So Jealous on their list of the best 50 albums of the year.
Tegan and Sara were nominated for a 2006 Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year alongside Hot Hot Heat, Metric, The New Pornographers and Broken Social Scene.
Band members
Tegan Quin – vocals and guitar
Sara Quin – vocals and guitar
Johnny Five – drums
Rob Chursinoff - drums (up until 2005)
Chris Carlson – bass guitar
Ted Gowans – guitar and keyboard
Albums
Yellow Demo [pre-1999, cassette only]
Red Demo [pre-1999, cassette only]
Orange Demo [pre-1999, cassette only]
Under Feet Like Ours (1999) (Initially Sara and Tegan but re-released as Tegan and Sara and again with the bonus track "Frozen" off of "This Business of Art")
This Business of Art (2000)
If It Was You (2002)
So Jealous (2004)
Singles
Time Running (2003)
I Hear Noises (2003)
Monday Monday Monday (2003)
Walking With A Ghost (2004)
Speak Slow (2004)
Music videos
The First (2000)
Monday Monday Monday (2003)
Living Room (2003)
I Hear Noises (2003)
Walking With A Ghost (2004)
Speak Slow (2005)
Awards & Nominations
2000
YTV Achievement Award
Band/Musical Group - Won
2003
Western Canadian Music Awards
Outstanding Pop Recording (If It Was You) - Won
2006
Juno Awards
Alternative Album Of The Year (So Jealous) - Nominated (lost to Broken Social Scene)
