CHLOE MAGAZINE
But it isn’t always about love Tegan says. With respect to the women being siblings, some
of the album speaks to a “lack of independence and identity in our relationship.” She
explains that she loves that while many fans have claimed 100x a classic breakup anthem,
it “is not about a break up. It’s about Sara and me feeling lost playing music together.”
The song feels almost ballad-like with a heavy reliance on piano, an instrument Tegan
reveals she is classically trained in. “A big part of why I love music is it allows me to feel
less alone,” Tegan states, though many fans may be surprised to know that while music
makes her feel less alone, both sisters are solitary writers with roughly 80 percent of their
creativity happening in isolation from one another. “Once you have something that is
pleasing, you start writing lyrics and thinking up melodic lines and I will email them to
Sara before going into the studio...We don’t do a ton of collaborating until we get to that
point.” She says it can be a pretty lonely, isolated experience; personally finding it very
hard to write in a room full of people. She and her sister don’t tend to want to change
the words for anyone while in the creative process, with a laugh she notes that, “once
we are in the studio, I am considerably less sensitive.” She explains that writing, for her,
isn’t a daily process. There is no journal out on tour. No notepad on hand to quickly jot
things down every now and then. “I will only write if there is a reason to write, I feel
no desire to sit down and do it if it isn’t going to go anywhere. I recognize that there is
something very narcissistic about that, because I want to share it and I want it to get
shared with a group of people. If no one is going to hear it, why would I even make
it?” When asked about their career and longevity she states openly, “we’re not entitled
to a career, we have to work for it. We don’t think we deserve this.” And she is right.
Throughout their career they have made conscious decisions to changeup style, move in
different directions, and keep things new, exciting and fresh—moves that have ended the
careers of other musicians. Over the years they have become more and more in control
of their business and in building their brand. “Making a record and writing songs is only
part of the process,” she insists, “the rest of it is what’s it going to look like? Where are
we going to reach people? What are our goals with our tour? We are allowing ourselves
to enjoy a full 360 than just what makes a band, a band.”At this point, the twins consider themselves business people, not just musicians. She notes that people who have influenced this are Bruce Springsteen or Neil Young who have had very long careers that had
very diverse sounds at different points. Being part of Neil Young’s record label for most
of their career she explains, “I would study how he did things.” And the move to a large
label hasn’t changed that. Tegan says they are more involved then they have ever been in
their career, having approved every detail of the rollout for Love You to Death, noting
it was, “one hundred percent rolled out by our company. We approve everything, for
videos we pick every director, we approve every treatment. If something goes wrong, or
something isn’t to our liking, the only people we can truly blame is ourselves. No one is
selling them [the audience] Tegan and Sara, we are giving them us.” She continues, “God
forbid we take the hands off the wheel and everyone feels that it’s contrived. We came up
with this; this is what we wanted to do.” When asked what the future holds for the band,
she sees them getting more involved in philanthropic work and legislating change. “We
see a prime opportunity in our industry, and the world to continue to move forward
women’s rights and the LGBT community.” But for the time being, while out on tour,
“first and foremost, I want to be up on stage jumping around like a pop artist.”