hello tegan,

i don’t know about you, but i feel like there are more pictures of us on the internet than dollars in the obama bail out package. that reality aside, we are wild at work putting together three amazing photo books to be released sometime...in the future. you spearheaded this project, and i'm wondering if you ever feel like you've bitten off more than you can chew? are there any other "tegan moonlighting" gigs you want to tell me about?

I do wonder sometimes if I've bitten off more than I can chew. Mainly because sometimes I dream up ideas that seem "fun" or "easy" and then end up being much harder or more difficult than intended. The books are going to be amazing though and that's how I generally talk myself off the edge.  I have no other gigs currently. Though I have been playing my electric drums A LOT!


we had a few days of "pre production" with our band and chris walla in vancouver last week. didn't chris look handsome at the grammys!? i think we should make him wear that three piece suit in the studio? no?

Chris Walla did look very handsome in a 3 piece suit but I imagine that might get restricting. Not that there is much need for him to physically exert himself while recording, but just in case jeans or some sort of cotton pant seems more appropriate.


in pre production we spent one whole day working on a song of yours. its really fast. in fact we were playing it at 163 bpm. that's a punk song. my right arm is really sore from strumming. the muscles are still spasming. why don't you take some time over the next month to write some slow numbers?

It is my intention to write "some slow numbers" this month, and next. I enjoyed playing that song that fast very much. (it was actually 166 bpm) But listening back I don't think i sound very good so I think some adult contemporary hits (where does the good go) are going to pop out of me any second.


we now have a few weeks off to go on vacation, visit with friends, water plants, alphabetize stacks of books, bake pumpkin muffins, snowshoe, ice skate, stare at the ceiling etc. actually those are the things i'm doing, what exactly will you be up to over the new few weeks?

I plan on doing a bit of travelling. (I'm in Portland today) Last week I alphabetized my CD collection (mom complained that it was hard to find CD's at my house). I am growing my hair out a bit so I can get a FRESH hair cut for the first day of pre production. My big goal is to practice the guitar for one hour everyday. While I feel confident that I write great songs and play both the piano and guitar with passable quality it has become apparent that I cannot just "get by" anymore. Pre Production reminded me that we play with very talented musicians and if I am to not feel intense embarrassment over my skills I need to at least memorize your songs before we begin.


when i asked you if you wanted to live together during pre production you got a big grin on your face. you were excited weren't you? do you think it means that our sister relationship is maturing? or do you think we suffer from mental illness?

We had specifically requested to NOT have to live together while making this record and so it made me feel very special when you asked. Hence the smile. I suppose our relationship is maturing. Naturally of course. We don't yell or hit anymore. I can't remember the last time someone close to us said they would have to go to therapy after being around us for an extended period of time.


i just read a great book called 'neatherland' by joseph o'neill. it is one of the best books i have read in...years. it was so beautiful that it made me do the strangest thing. i called someone and insisted i read a passage to them. do you think i've turned into our mom? when did i become so sentimental?

I still read to people all the time. Did you know coming back from the Gold Coast in Australia from our beach day I read aloud to the vanload of band/crew? Yup. I bought the book yesterday in Powells Books here in Portland. Mom loves to read out loud. Nothing wrong with that. It only makes you sentimental if what you're reading is sentimental. The actual act is just...sharing.


recently the city of montreal changed the recycling and garbage days without telling me. i haven't been home in over 3 months, and it was extremely disorientating to know that entire municipal cycles can be altered no matter how long it took you to remember the schedule the old way.

We have a garbage room in my building. I can recycle and throw away garbage any day!


did you watch the grammys? i did. i really enjoyed radiohead’s performance. especially the dancing. i sort of envied thom yorke in that moment. i want to dance like that on stage. what if i started dancing like that? would people think i'd lost my mind? i'd be so embarrassed for you if you did that. why? in junior high we used to dance all the time. not together. but at DANCES. and then eventually at RAVES. and i never laughed at you. in fact! no one laughed at me when i went to raves with my broken arm/thumb in a giant ugly cast and danced as if it were a prop.

I love to dance. I go out a few times a week to dance when I'm home. I don't have to be drunk and I'm never embarrassed the next day. If you feel like dancing you should. I agree that on stage it would be very awkward. But if you WANTED to I would understand. I didn't watch the whole broadcast of the Grammy's. So I didn't see Radiohead's performance. I'll Google it.


we decided that we wouldn't be doing very much documentation on this record. what i mean is, we wont be recording a talk show in our basement every night. do you feel relief about that?

I do in a way. But I do think we need to capture as much of the actual recording as we can. Be it through our own filming or photography or through someone else's camera etc. Looking back there are so many tours we didn't take any photos or footage of and I feel sad about that. We definitely need to be more diligent about capturing it all for the treasure chest of memories. That being said I will not be putting on a wireless mic everyday this time NO.


recently i was feeling sad and so i googled the "ptosis" video. in particular i wanted to watch the blooper reel of that video. i was laughing so hard that i started crying. sometimes i think that is the funniest video i have ever seen, and i know that it’s because i was there. i know other people think its funny, but not hilarious and that’s understandable. but until i die, that will remain my favorite video of you. if i was really sad or sick i would play that video for myself.

Agreed. I've shown it to quite a few people. It’s genius. I'm a genius. Obviously. It’s not funny because you were there, it’s funny because it’s actually really funny. So many people I know have not watched it. When I'm sick or sad I like to send the link to people. It’s important for me to feel like OTHER people think it’s funny for me to enjoy it.


now that we are going to disappear under a cloak of mystery to make our next album, do you have any final thoughts for the kids to tide them over?

We won't be gone long. And when we get back we may give you a present. So be good.