Tegan and Sara reveal how they really feel about being twins
This interview originally aired on Sept. 28, 2019.
Indie pop music stars Tegan and Sara have written a memoir. High School, written in chapters alternating between Tegan's point of view and Sara's, is an unvarnished look at their lives growing up in Calgary at the height of grunge and rave culture in the 1990s.
Tegan and Sara dropped by The Next Chapter to take its version of the Proust questionnaire.
What phrase do you most overuse?
Sara: My girlfriend just said it to me this morning. She said that I finish every thought or question by asking her, "Do you know what I mean?"
She's American, but she said that Canadians either say, "Do you know what I mean?" or they say, "Right?" at the end of every question. I think that was her way of telling me to knock it off. I was driving her crazy.
Tegan: I say "literally" a lot. I have friends that make fun of me for improperly using literally constantly. It's almost like "literally" has become the new "like," like everybody used to say.
What is your principal defect?
Sara: I'm going to answer for both myself and Tegan. I think, in a lot of ways, being a twin is truly a defect. We're identical twins, but we were truly meant to be one person. Due to randomness, we split and became two. We came into the world quite literally broken in half.
We're identical twins, but we were truly meant to be one person.- Sara Quin
On what occasions do you lie?
Tegan: Constantly. I lie to get what I want. I lie to not hurt people's feelings. I lie because it's more interesting. I'm a total liar.
Sara: Geez.
Tegan: It's the truth! But there's no situation where I would lie if it was illegal.
What is your favourite occupation?
Sara: One of our jokes is always saying that we don't know what we want to be when we grow up.
I'm a musician, but not entirely certain that I am 100 per cent committed. Which is hilarious because we've been doing this for over 20 years. There's always some part of me that wonders if I would have been a great doctor.
My favourite is still being a creative. I like the process of sitting down and making art.- Tegan Quin
I don't know if that's because I'm a Virgo, but right now, if I could not be a musician, I've decided that my area of interest would be something managerial.
Tegan: I actually thought about all the different jobs I have, which are all different occupations. Sometimes I'm an entertainer. I'm a creative musician. I'm in a band. I run a company. We also work for our own foundation.
My favourite is still being a creative. I like the process of sitting down and making art.
Tegan and Sara's comments have been edited for length and clarity.