It's the one thing that has plagued Tegan and Sara Quin ever since they began playing music together: the endless barrage of inane questions about how the twin sisters can live with one another on and off the stage.
The questions have become so predictable, it may have been the reason why the duo's latest DVD/CD set, released Tuesday (Nov. 15), is cheekily titled Get Along.
"I don't feel like we ever name our records silly plays on things, but every headline that has been written about us is something like, 'Quin Twins: Double Trouble!' or 'Sister Act!'" Sara Quin said in a phone interview. "I hate it. It made me hate myself. I had bad self-esteem to begin with, but that took it to a different level: 'Right. Double trouble. We suck.'
"We're trying to have fun with it. When we were doing the photo shoot for (Get Along), we did all these regular photos and then I was like, 'Let's give ourselves black eyes.' We've had dust-ups, you know? Whatever. We're not shy to talk about it."
At some point, Sara explains, someone helped her come to grips with the fact that she has been in a professional relationship with her sister for longer than most people stay married or hold a job, and that she needed to stop thinking about conflict or fighting as something to be ashamed of.
"You are still in a band and getting along and making music and travelling together," Sara said. "Just man up. Your relationship is good. You don't have to feel bad any more, be honest. If you fight, tell them you fight. If you punched her in the head, tell them you punched her in the head. And don't forget to remind people you've been working together for 13 years."
Get Along, in many ways, serves as a bookend to the past 13 years, a tip of the hat to Tegan and Sara's output and resiliency, and a salute to the band's ever-expanding fan base.
The set includes an intimate concert film at The Warehouse Studios in Vancouver in front of friends and relatives, with longtime producer Howard Redekopp mixing and recording the companion CD on the fly, as well as a mini-documentary of the sisters' first tour of India, directed by friend Elinor Svoboda, plus another of Tegan and Sara's recent trek to the U.S., shot by Danny O'Malley.
"We had to cut (the India tour) short because we got offered a Jack Johnson tour of Australia," Sara said. "So instead of a tour, it was more of a 'life vacation.' We brought my mom and some of our high-school friends and just walked about for 10 days. It was awesome.
"We don't talk about it much in the movie, but we were really sick. I was so sick, I really thought I was going to die. I remember having a really clear moment thinking, 'This isn't like getting sick.' It was so horrifying. On the other hand, it really cemented those memories for me: 'OK, we've really done something big here.'"
The Warehouse sessions -- the recording took place over two nights, yielding 15 favourites -- were also slightly terrifying, albeit in a very different way.
"It was so much more intimidating than I thought it would be," Sara said. "Every mistake was so obvious. When you're on stage in front of 3,000 people and you're jumping around and people are drinking and dancing, we screw up all the time and it's fine. When you're in the studio, it's very challenging, because everything is under the microscope and you hear every flaw, and we brought in 75 people to watch us do that.
"When we finished the second day of filming, we had shot 10 hours and I felt worked. I felt like, 'I need to drink 100 drinks right now.' My nerves were totally shot. With fans, it's like, 'Oh well, they screwed up. Whatever.' With family and friends, they're wincing -- 'Oh gosh, pull it together!'"
Sara said the Get Along set would most likely appeal to longtime fans more than newcomers to the band, a package that would be seen as a celebration of Tegan and Sara closing a chapter on their career before the duo moves on to work on the followup to 2009's critically acclaimed Sainthood, which should come out next year.
"We wanted to make something the fans would really love, like the books we made a few years ago," she said. "So many people want to know what's going on behind the curtain. We wanted something that would look back retrospectively at the dynamics we have with the people in our lives that aren't in front of the camera all the time, and show the songwriting chops. I think it's great."
Get Along is out now. Tegan and Sara's DVD Get Along will screen in Toronto Nov. 17. For more info visit teganandsara.com.
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