Yellow/Red/Orange Demo Tapes

Demo Tapes were the first circulation of Tegan and Sara's music (1998).

The grand prize for winning Garage Warz in Alberta included studio time, which the twins used to record the "Yellow Demo" tape under the name - Sara and Tegan.

Independently released in 1998, this cassette tape consisted of five original songs that are not found on any of their other albums.

HERE I AM (x)

FALLING ASLEEP (x)

HELLO (x)

JUST ME (x)

STAR MONEY (x)

Additionally, they recorded and released the "Red Demo" and the "Orange Demo" in 1998. Songs like Superstar, Heavy, This is Everything, and Proud were rerecorded on their first official studio album, Under Feet Like Ours.

CELEBRATION

SUPER STAR

BEAUTY

HEAVY

PAINTING SONGS (aka DAYS AND DAYS)

THIS IS EVERYTHING

PROOF

Under Feet Like Ours Promo

UNDER FEET LIKE OURS

-TEGAN AND SARA-

PROMO VIDEO (x)

Song: COME ON

Tegan: Sara. Sara had the beginning of the name Sara and Tegan, not because she’s number one, that’s for sure. She blew it, though, so now it’s Tegan and Sara, so that’s why we changed our name.

Sara: Tegan. Born September 19, 1980. Born Tegan RAIN Quin. A little bit more introverted than me, writes a little bit weirder songs…

Tegan: Sara’s uhh definitely a full contact kind of sport person and I’m definitely in the background ready to kick your knee out when you’re not looking so that’s a pretty good synopsis of Sara and Tegan.

Song: HYPE

Tegan: We both wrote together a lot of time- Well no we didn’t. We had ideas and then we would write together but we’ve definitely become more ummm…

Sara: We had a little prob- We had problems.

Tegan: Yea, but we write separately and then we bring it together. We’re kind of umm… we’re kind of independent players now, but we do collaborate at- in the end kind of thing. But we used to just fight, and then the songs were crappy. Now they’re not crappy anymore.

Sara: …cause we don’t write together. It’s not like any other band… like we don’t practice once or twice a week. I mean, we practice every day for like, a long time.

Tegan: Right-

Sara: So we’d be better, but

Tegan: *mumbling* But four and a half years of playing at least once a day, you know, a lot, together and stuff so… I think we’ve got a lot accomplished in short time only because we’re together all the time playing and getting better

Sara: We don’t take up very much room either uhh… *mumbling*

Tegan: Like according- in what? *mumbling* like in your room?

Sara: No like generally in space… like we don’t take up a lot of space

Tegan: What does that have to do with- I want to do my interview over here away from her…

Songs: PROUD + CLEVER MEALS

Sara: We’re pretty much one of those- those nerdy people that sing about like love and sadness and depression and stuff

Tegan: Not- not me, I write about freedom and inspirational, powerful songs

Song: OUR TREES

Song: SUPERSTAR

Produced and Directed by Sean Michael Turrell & Richard Cureton

CBC Radio Interview 1998

SARA AND TEGAN

Live on CBC Radio

Radio Sonic  | 1998

INTRO (x)

...and who got their break at Alberta's Garage Warz Battle of the Bands. They recorded a demo with the thousand dollar prize money and the recording time they won, and they sold out the initial pressing of that demo. They're quite the big deal in Calgary. 

The session you're about to hear was recorded during Sara and Tegan's jaunt to Vancouver earlier this year for the New Music West Music Festival, and the two of them were joined for this performance by a conga player named Aaron, whom I'm told has since progressed to a full drum kit. And not only that - Sara and Tegan are searching for a bass player now, and a cellist, to complete a full band sound...

...this could get really big, but back on the night of May 30th, 1998 it was much more of a stripped down affair: 2 guitars, 1 conga, Sara and Tegan in performance. 

INTERVIEW (x)

Interviewer: We are here with Sara and Tegan, 17 year old identical twins from Calgary. Although, do you really look that much alike? Or is it just cause your hair's different that you don't look ident- 

Sara: Our hair's different 

Interviewer: Did you used to have the same hair? 

Sara and Tegan: Yeah 

Interviewer: And then you looked exactly the same and nobody could tell you- 

Sara: Uhhhh you know it's amazing is we have different pieces of metal hanging out of different places of our body and now we have different hair and people still get us mixed up. 

Interviewer: No way, really?! 

Sara and Tegan: Yeah *laughs* *whispers* a little slow 

Interviewer: People just don't get it, do they? 

Sara: No

Tegan: No

Sara and Tegan perform HERE I AM (x)

INTERVIEW (x) 

(discussing Garage Wars - their first gig)

Sara: Yeah, 48 applied or whatever, and then they pick.. 18? 6 at each venue, and then they pick 2 from each one, and then you have a finals 

Interviewer: Now be honest, when you guys entered this, when you started, did you think you had a chance? 

Sara: Kicking and screaming, 'No no no we don't wanna leave the bedroom!'

Sara and Tegan perform FALLING ASLEEP (x)

INTERVIEW (x)

Interviewers: We have a little bio of ya here, and I was just seeing... it says here: 'Both are currently single and see boys as an obstacle in their career' 

Sara: That's not necessarily true 

Tegan: Yeah it is. Sure it is. 

Sara: That's just an excuse 

Tegan: They're just in it for the money

...

Sara: I mean, if you're just listening to one type of music, I mean, it doesn't give your music very much depth, so it's nice to have other things to fall back on sort of

Tegan: *whispers* You're so smart

Sara: Shut up, Tegan

OTHER THINGS DISCUSSED

- Aaron is a stud... also married 

- Sara is a diehard Smashing Pumpkins fan

- Sara's room is trashy and "full of character"

- Tegan's room is barren with a few pictures of nature and swirly things, "sterile and anal"

- NKOTB + Bruce Springstein

- Sara and Tegan perform and then get kicked out of venues for being underage

Sara and Tegan perform DAYS AND DAYS (x)

OUTRO (x)

FULL PLAYLIST (x)

Tegan and Sara bio from early 2000s

BIO FROM TEGANANDSARA.COM A VERY LONG TIME AGO... 

(written by Sara Quin in the early 2000s)


Bio's Are Hard To Write Because
 We Don't Want To Sound Geeky



We are Tegan and Sara. And we never thought we were geeky. Our mother has always said that nothing is geeky about us. But she didn't think she was geeky when she went through that really bad early nineties stage with permed hair and tiger make-up. Plus, she was never summed up as a "Twin Teen Folk Act" when she was really a pyrotechnic leopard-print-wearing eighties super mom. These are some of the things we think people should know about us. If we've left out your favourite T and S facts, maybe we didn't think they were interesting, or maybe we just thought they were geeky. Which does NOT mean YOU are geeky, and if you "relate" or have similar "facts" about yourself, our refusal to acknowledge things like (long hair worn with a centre part grade 7-12 and/or songs you may have downloaded through napster that we recorded six years ago that's lyrical content would closely resemble you with your diary from when you were 14) we apologise for their absence.



So here is a quick look at the last six years. We started playing guitar when we were 15, and we called ourselves PLUNK. We were kind of wussy punk (no drums or bass) and we were really bad. Tegan still try's to constantly remake old PLUNK songs with titles like "jonny" but I am trying to live in the NOW. We had really funny garage band parties until some guy broke our P.A. Our mom wouldn't fix it and so PLUNK became Tegan and Sara. We were a lot quieter and our mom liked us. We entered a contest and we won. We graduated high school and I worked at the zoo. We made two albums and we traveled a lot. We toured and played with Neil Young, Kinnie Starr, Melissa Ferrick, Jacob two-two, Pony, and Zoebliss (of course there are others, but this is a small page) We went to therapy, we moved to Vancouver, we became super fans of the band Sewing With Nancie, Tegan started jogging, I bought a basketball and we signed to Vapor records. Vapor Records has now since relocated to Tegan's apartment so they could be closer to her genius. Plus they say the rent is way cheaper then their offices in Santa Monica, and a lot "cozier" for seven people. Mike, our tour manager, left us stranded in tuktoyuktuk because of some weird allergy to polar bear meat, and now lives in Australia on a vegetarian cruise line that circles the coral reef. We could tell endless stories of touring that our friends and family beg to stop hearing in crowded restaurants but if I wrote them all here, what would Tegan and I talk about on stage?

Sara and Tegan

SARA AND TEGAN

Teenage Years