Tegan and Sara:

So there we were, entered ~ freshly into the dark and cluttered atmosphere of Melon's on a Thursday night. I turn to my friend Savy B with an air of hopelessness over what to do if I can't score an interview. That's when she points behind me and says, "Um, they just walked in the door."

I check over my shoulder and watch as they walk right by me. And there they were, petite, stylish, and sit- ting leisure-like in the back booth. Sara and Tegan. Undisturbed.

So, a little flustered, I hesitat- ingly walked over to them, said who I was and what I wanted, and they agreed without a fight. There was a good 45 minutes before they had to go on, anyway. A bit of discussion was had in regards as to where to hold the interview; the final decision came down to "the van."

We left the bar, me pulling Savy B along for the ride, and headed to their vehicle.We considered doing ~ the interview outside, but Sara was cold so we opted once more for the van. The twins crawled into the back- est-most seats, while Savy et moi were in the middle. Once settled, the inter- view began...

“Hopes and dreams? What the fuck? How hokey is that? What are you saying, ‘Hopes and dreams'?” -Sara

Mariéve: So, Sara, how's the rash? (It was mentioned in her travel journal on their web page.)

Sara: Oh, it's all better now, there's no more rash.

M: Well, that's good to hear.

S: Yeah, well, now it's hives, so...

M: Oh dear, well, that's not much bet- ter

S: Maybe not, but at least now I know it's not something I picked up along the road, during a stay in a hotel or anything. M: At least you know it's not West Nile Virus either, right? (Sympathy laugh from girls over my lame joke.)

30 a a a a eae aaa ee

M: Oh, and I almost forgot, happy 22nd birthday.

Tegan: Well, thank you. (Bashful smirks all around.)

M: Is there anything special that you guys want for your birthdays?

T: We aren't really into the celebrating thing when it comes to our birthdays. It doesn't even feel like our birthday. We usually end up fighting with each other anyway. Also, we're not with our family, we're not at home, and it's hard to celebrate like that. I think we're more excited over the tour and the new record than over our birthday.

M: Are you guys excited about touring with Ryan Adams? Are you guys fans of his, familiar with his music?

T: Oh, I'm a big Ryan Adams fan. We actually got his CD through the record label and I listen to it a lot. As for the tour, I think our hopes and dreams are that-

S: Hopes and dreams? What the fuck? How hokey is that? What are you say- ing, ‘Hopes and dreams'?

T: Well, from the record company's point of view. The hopes and dreams of the management and label are for us to get a foothold in the U.S. I think

- this is a really great gig for us, since

our music is a lot like (Ryan's). People will be into our music since it's our style that they will be coming to see. They won't be uninterested in us while waiting to hear Ryan play. I also think

AL @A2A2LR2

Try to guess which one has the horrible rash

that another hope is that this will lead to our own U.S. tour, that we could hold our own.

M: Now, you guys had been compared to Anni Difranko, as you well know,, on your last album. You probably heard that more times than you can count. Who do you think people will compare you to this time, if anyone? T: Man, I dunno. I think this time we're being told that we are the anti- Anni Difranko, that's who we're being compared to. How about you, who do you think we sound like?

M: Oh, I hear a different sound come . out of every song. The whole album is

amazing, really guys, I love it. In you guys I hear a little Nirvana which is probably more you ,Tegan, and a little Cheryl Crow which is in the songs that Sara sings. Some songs reminded me of The Odds, and I find your voices sound an awful lot like Holly McNarland's. The quality of your voic- es are the same as hers.

T: Oh yeah, definitely. We also heard that we sound like Sinead O'Connor, which is cool, it's all cool. I find myself actually sometimes sitting in a café listening to the radio and will play the name game. ‘Oh they sound like Alanis Morissette, and Sheryl Crow, and this person and this person,' and by the end of the song I have no clue who's singing!

M: Now, a lot of your songs seem to

Confessions in the Back of a Van By Marieve MacGREGOR

be coming from a broken heart. If you don't mind my asking, did either of you suffer a nasty breakup which fuelled some of the songs?

S: I think the record is more heart-ache than heart-break if anything. There's a lot of grievance in the relationships

between the people in the songs. I

don't think they're so much about our own personal lives as they are about feelings we've had that can be applied to these situations.

T: It's funny that you mention the lyrics. A lot of critics have been saying that there isn't much to them this time, compared to the last record (The Business of Art.) I think there's a lot more feeling and work put into the words this time though. I feel so much more into them and emotional when I sing them than with (The Business of Art).

“Tegan is the introvert, since she's got all these intimate one-on- one relationships with all of her friends.” -Sara

M: I'm going to have to confess that I felt that way too, about the lyrics not being as strong as the vocals and music. But maybe that's just it, you have one or the other.

S: Totally, I think that's it. The music outweighs the lyrics, it's more emo- tional. It's not that our lyrics are so much less, but that the music is just that much better.

M: I do want to ask about one line that's repeated in "Not Tonight" and "Terrible Storm." The one that goes, "I'm sitting in the backseat of your car and going nowhere."

S: Yeah, those were my songs. The thing that happened was, I wrote "Terrible Storm" first, and then used that same line again for "Not Tonight", because I thought that "Terrible Storm" wasn't going onto the record. I talked with our manager about it and he said, "Naw, don't change anything. They're both fine." So they both went in with the line.

M: Now you guys both have very

(3),