Hi Everyone!
Thank you for all the awesome questions in San Francisco on the Crush Book Tour stop we made there in October. Answers are below, you can read or listen!
Get Junior High or Crush here.
-Tegan
1. How did you like playing Stern Grove?
We loved it. What a special venue! Those reading or listening should google it!
2. How is Holiday, Mickey, and Georgia?
I saw Holiday and Mickey recently and they are cute as ever. They were both racing around like crazy and picking fights with each other.
Georgia is also very good. She is growing into such a mature lady! Less reactive, more confident, a total cuddle bug.
3. Did your first label want to play up or downplay that you’re twins?
We never discussed the “twin” thing to be honest. But I think it was a major topic and theme in our early press, and we would bring it up on stage. I think twins fascinate people and we knew that, and used it to our advantage when we could.
4. Any music tours in the nearby future?
Nothing! We are going to go for a long hibernation and hopefully come back in 2026 refreshed with new music.
5. Did you ever get back your stolen guitars? (I loved the cat one so much)
We did not. So upsetting.
6. How did you find writing dialogue for your younger selves? Is it easy to remember how you spoke back then or what sort of research was involved in the dialogue development?
I really didn’t over think it. I tried to just write as me, but with that age group in mind. I think it was important not to talk down to the audience, so we kept it smart and clever and littered with adult jokes. I also read a lot of middle grade books in preparation and as research. We also have some kids in our life in that age group and I spent time peppering them with questions about their lives.
7. What was different about writing this book versus Junior High and High School?
I think we were more confident with the script (which is how you write graphic novels). A little more economical with dialogue and description. I think we understood that we needed to have more tension and conflict, and we wanted to have more adult music stories in this book to showcase what young Tegan and Sara go through when faced with adult challenges around their career. There is more fiction in CRUSH so that was a new challenge and a lot of fun to write.
8. At the end of the audiobook of Junior High in your convo with Tillie, you mentioned returning back to junior high. Did you? How was it? Get any inspiration?
We did! It was very weird. It felt quite emotional to be honest. Junior high was not an easy time, so going back brought back a lot of weird feelings. Some bad. But mostly it was nice to see it again, and while it did not inspire the books (we went after we wrote them) it was nice to see we got a lot of the details right writing from memory!
9. Any lessons learned or advice to kids in middle school?
Keep your head up, make friends who treat you well, lean on your parents they’ve been through it. And most of all, it gets better. You get through it. It will end!
10. Can you talk about the urgency of getting books like Crush into the hands of LGBTQ youth, family, and community in light of book bans?
You know, we’ve spent our adult lives making art that we hope gets into everyone’s hands, but most of all into the hands of people that need it. Whether they are suffering or looking for connection and community, we just always hoped our music – and now our books – would bring comfort and joy. I think we feel the same when it comes to imagining our books or music getting into the hands/minds/hearts of young LGTBQ+ people who are going through it. We just want to be a light, some hope, some inspiration. And with everything happening politically right now, we fear they need it now more than ever. We heard recently that 1% of people are fighting for book bands. 2% are fight against it. That leaves all the rest of us doing very little (and caring very little) and so I think we should stop the book ban bullshit. It’s ridiculous. The idea that this ignorant, often religious, conservative minority thinks stopping someone from reading CRUSH is going to do anything, when kids have access to the internet and a smart phone is so laughable it’s almost sad. I almost feel sorry for these turds.
11. Will there be another season?
Of High School? Sadly, no!
12. How often do you two get confused by fans in public? Calling you both each other's name? Btw I’m so sorry Sara.
Honestly, not that often. People who say hi seem to often know the difference. Or people come up and just say are you from Tegan and Sara, so they side step the guessing! We don’t care. Truly. It’s okay to mix us up. We aren’t holding it against anyone!
13. Who was your favorite and least favorite teacher from middle school?
My favorite teacher in junior high … that’s tough. I remember little of my teachers. But I did have a male teacher in eighth grade who was young and all the girls in my grade loved/crushed on. I found him kind of patronizing and looking back found the way he let the girls hit on him kinda gross. But mostly what I remember from Junior High is my friends, and less about the adults. Which is telling about how little I was focused on grades. Yikes.
14. Any concert soon, please do meet and greet.
Sadly, no more concerts or events for the next long while. Maybe 2026?
15. Reflecting on your experiences, how have you seen views on LGBTQ+ relationships change, and what do you think shows that in Crush?
I do think that views of LGBTQ+ people have changed dramatically in the 20+ years we’ve been adults, and making music and been out. It’s still hard though. We see that every single day in the news. The campaigns against gays and trans people continue. And the second you leave North America rights and views of LGBTQ+ people are deacdes behind, and many LGBTQ+ people face persecution or live in fear their entire lives. So I am glad we can contribute aspirational stories about LGBTQ+ stories and songs to the mainstream but we never forget it’s not easy for everyone and there is still so much fighting and change we have to push for.
I think we made CRUSH aspirational as a way to keep moving the needle on this topic. I hope people can come to understand that sexuality and gender should be explored and it’s not scary and it’s no ones business to police that in young folks.
16. My daughter Jannette Lopez has loved you since she was 12.
Hi Jannette! Thanks for loving us!
17. Tegan/Sara, can we go backstage? :D
Nope!
18. Are you sure we can’t go backstage (we’re big fans!!) :D
We’re sure! Also, we’re not there, we’re at home now. So. LOL!
19. Would you ever delve into writing fiction and if so, what genre would you both want to explore?
We are absolutely going to delve into fiction! YES!
20. It’s my birthday today. Can you sing happy birthday?
Happy belated birthday to everyone reading and listening!
21. Will you do another shirt subscription with Zoom calls again?
We are not going to do anything like that in the next while. We’re going to go on a long break from social media, Substack, the internet, public events, touring etc and get creative! We’ll see you on the other side!
22. What’s your advice for how to publish your first graphic novel?
We wrote a 90 page proposal for High School that included 7 sample chapters and then via our agent went out and pitched it physically to about 6 publishers. From there we chose FSG and their middle grade editors asked us if we wanted to do an additional deal for two graphic novels aimed at middle grade age kids. We said yes! So my advice is based on what I did…I’d say write a really strong proposal or outline and try to get an agent? My understanding is that if you’re writing fiction you often write the entire book then shop that, so in that case you don’t write a proposal. I truly think it’s different for everyone, and comparing our experience to anyones is probably a mistake, since we were already twenty years into our career and were pitching a story about ourselves…but that’s how we did it! I have no idea how you would pitch a graphic novel, drawings?
23. What’s your favorite guitar make/model?
I love Martin guitars, but have a really nice parlor sided Fender that is great. I love small guitars. Baby Taylor. The Arlo Gutherie from Gibson is amazing sounding.
24. With High School being canceled, are you both shopping around to another network to bring season 2?
We did not. It took Freevee an entire year to tell us no, so we lost the chance to go shop it elsewhere.
25. My 9-year-old daughter wants to be an author when she grows up and is so excited to be at this event. Any advice for a kid wanting to be a writer?
I think have fun! I loved writing as a young person. Sara and I would fight over the computer to write stories. I think it all starts with loving something. For me my creative passion comes from a deep desire to make things. Start there!
26. Wish I was there but hello from Berlin from Jane.
Hello!
27. Are you Flames fans?
Of course!!! Go Flames go!
28. Which song of yours means the most to you?
Impossible to say or just choose one! But I do love songs from The Con and So Jealous in a very very deep way. They were significant records but also songs that really cut to the heart of where we were at. I love those albums a lot.
29. If you could bring your creative vision to a form you haven’t done yet, what art form would it be?
Oh gosh. I don’t know! I guess we’ll have to see how the future shakes out.
30. Which artists today would have inspired Junior High and High School Tegan and Sara?
We would love Billie Eilish (we do) at 13. We would have been obsessed. We would love all the sapphic pop and indie rock coming out. Boy Genius, Muna, Arlo Parks, Girl In Red, Towa Bird. We’d have been obsessed with them all!
31. Who were the other cartoonists you were offered besides Tillie?
Ha! Not going to say. But a really amazing list of incredibly talented artists who would have done a fabulous job I’m sure. We just got so lucky with our first choice!
32. Have you ever considered standup?
No! LOL! Absolutely not! We do love to be funny though.
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