Tegan and Sara on Hungering for a Radio Hit
Tegan and Sara dove headfirst into electronic pop on their latest album, Heartthrob. Though it deviated strongly from their older, guitar-based folk-rock, they’re welcoming the challenge of incorporating old and new into their live show. “Since we are very much a live band, and we spent so much of our life touring, I think we always think about how that new music fit into the old set and how it’s going to complement the old records,” Tegan said at Rolling Stone’s Rock Room during the first day of Coachella.
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In fact, the sisters have found the shuffled set lists liberating. “I actually find Heartthrob is really complementing the old music,” said Tegan. “It’s really giving the show a lot of ups and downs and it’s giving a lot of life to the old songs.”
Heartthrob was also an honest attempt at a career shift, as Tegan explained. “One of the reasons why we made Heartthrob so much more poppy and so much more mainstream was because I did want a radio hit,” she said. “I wanted a song on radio because I want to change radio. And I want someone like me reflected back at me when I listen to the radio.”
“We’ve always been out, and we’ve always been outspoken about our politics,” Sara said. “We’re a pop band, but we’re political people.”
Interview by Steve Baltin