The repetitive questions that show up in nearly every interview...

1. The Gay Issue:

Yes, they're both lesbians.

Tegan: "I never actually questioned my sexuality. I had a lot of gay friends. Sara started dating a girl when we were like, 15, and I feel like I always had this natural attraction for girls." (Spinner, 2007).

Tegan: "To align ourselves with that ( gay ) community and to be supported by that community is great for us, and for our music." (Windy City Times, 2005).

Sara: "It's always, 'Tegan and Sara's new record, they're gay, gay, gay, gay, gay, big fat gay, gay, gay, gay.' If it's an interview or an article in the gay press, that's OK. But why, in a review of a record, does it have to talk about us being gay? It's a music magazine; write about the goddamn music." (The Advocate, 2005).

Watch them talk about gay marriage here.

Watch them talk about labels (including sexuality) here and read about it here.

2. The White Stripes Cover:

Watch them talk about it at Spinner (at 1:31) or here.

Sara: "Meg (White) brought us a copy of the song while we were in Detroit doing a show, and told us that they were going to release it on a single. We love the band and think its an honor to hear them sing a song that we wrote!" (TheCheapPop, 2007).

Tegan: "“We were at Glastonbury and Meg White came to the show. She was very nervous and straight out asked us what we thought of the cover. It was weird because we are fans of The Stripes and Meg was nervous to be meeting us. It was a very nice compliment that they wanted to cover the song. I find The White Stripes fascinating. Business wise. Very prolific.” (TheDwarf, 2006).

3. Do they write together?

No.

Watch them talk about it here (at 1:08) and here (1:08, again).

Sara: "I write separately from Tegan. I sit on my bed, I take all of my recording equipment and I start recording guitar parts, looping hooks, singing vocal melodies, harmonies, stick clicks etc. then I eat food, and run back to my bed to listen to the song, I write lyrics, I go to bed. Over the next month I will change things slightly, then send mp3's to Tegan and she will send feedback. Inspiration is everywhere!" (Soulshine, 2006).

Tegan "We don’t live near each other so we just write separate. But it’s good. It’s kind of like being in your own band and then you get to bring it to someone who you trust and you know has good taste in music." (Kevchino).

4. Why "The Con?"

Watch them talk about it here or listen to them discuss it on NPR.

Tegan: "Is this really all just a con? Having a career, buying a house, getting married—do any of these things really give us comfort?” (Read Popmatters, 2007).

Sara: "So much of this record stems from me thinking about life and death that I was able to apply Tegan’s definition of The Con to my own experience. I was especially thinking about my grandpa. He spent 60 years with my grandma and he was devastated when she died. It wasn’t a happy thing; there was no joyous celebration of their life together. So when Tegan started explaining the record, I started thinking that these unions we make are basically a con." (Filter-Mag, 2007).

Tegan: “For me, the con was the act of keeping someone interested in you or convincing them to be interested and getting them to fall in love. Once you’re in love, all of the anxiety and emotions that come out, that’s the con. I was presenting so well, like I was fun, interesting, dynamic and charming, but it’s all a con.” (Six Degrees, 2007).