Tomberlin + Tegan and Sara

The Crybaby Tour sets off soon!

Hello!

We are SO excited to go on tour with Tomberlin this fall. As we have never hung out or even spoken (that I know of) I decided to ask our touring mate some questions before we head out on the Crybaby tour in October. There are still some tickets available, so check out the tour dates when you can! We always pick bands to support our tours that we love, and hope you’ll love, so spend some time listening to Tomberlin before the tour so you can sing along at top volume like we’ll be doing side stage! Enjoy the Q+A! Sarah Beth is on tour, so unfortunately this Q+A does not have audio, but we are going to try and do an IG live closer to the tour!

Bye,

Tegan

Tomberlin aka Sarah Beth aka SB.

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1 - We are very excited to go on tour with you this fall.  First off, do we call you Sarah? or Tomberlin? Can you expand on why you called your band Tomberlin? And if we do call you Sarah, then we'll refer to you as Sara H if that's okay? So we don't get the two Sara(h)'s confused.

I was born in Jacksonville, FL. The south. The swamp etc. So my parents being very southern named my sisters and I with double names. I have always been called Sarah Beth or SB for short. No true preference to either. Being called just “Sarah” is actually weird though as I was never called just by my first name growing up. Usually if someone is calling me Sarah they are a doctor or dentist or someone who thinks I am just being an asshole when I introduce myself as Sarah Beth. So it seems we have already thwarted any Sara mix up drama or confusion haha. I call my project Tomberlin simply because it is my last name and I was really scared to pick a band name I would later be embarrassed about. Tomberlin is just my last name so it was an easy choice.

2 -  In 2012 you tweeted this and we didn't see it. We'd like to formally apologize for missing it. We know you started listening to us when you were 13. Can you tell us more about discovering us? But make it about you and not us? And include photos of you at that time, please. 

Truly funny that tweet has resurfaced. I stand by it. I discovered ya’ll’s music in probably gosh..2008? Basically I was not allowed to listen to “secular music” growing up. I grew up very Christain. It was like christian music or classical or the occasional county music. My mom liked Celine Dion (j’adore), 90s Mariah Carey, Chicago, and The Carpenters a lot so that was my slow fade into “secular music”. After I saved some bday money, paper route money, and Christmas money I bought an iPod nano. My cousin Melody (very cool, my idol, lived in Atlanta) had one of the first iPods and she would share an earbud with me and listen in the car. At one point she put on The Con. I was instantly hooked like whomst…is this. SO. When I got my first iPod when I went to visit Melody I handed her my iPod and she loaded her entire iTunes library on my iPod. So I had So Jealous and The Con. Chef’s kiss. Shortly after Sainthood came out and I remember we drove around listening to it talking about our favorite songs. Guessing who wrote which ones etc. Loved then and love now. Ya’ll have always been a big deal to me. Also honestly when she told me you guys were gay we were both (not talking to each other about it) but discovering and sorting through our own queerness. You are def the first queer women I knew about who made music. J’adore. I would have to sift through my parent’s old photos to find some of me at that age, weirdly don’t have a lot from that time but I have some photos from 2009 so kinda around that same time.

“I was on Tumblr alot you can tell”  

3 - Can you tell us your WORST tour story? Like maybe it was when you opened for someone and their audience hated you, or maybe it was the time you lost your wallet and your laptop got stolen out of your luggage because you were naive enough to think you could fly with your laptop in your checked luggage (Sara did this once)? Just want to know how emotionally tough you are in case the tour gets tough.  

I think worst tour story is more so coming back from tour. I was coming back from my first European month long tour. Something like 28 shows in 30 days. I lived in Kentucky at the time, but flew out of Cincinnati for lower cost. My friend offered to watch my car at their house. Great. I came back from intense flight where I missed a connection because of my flight being delayed. And it was missed not by hours but mere seconds. Of me running like maniac to the gate only for the door to have closed in front of my eyeballs. Which began watering instantly as the attendant at the gate said they could not let me on the plane. I eventually made it to Cincinnati. I got to my friends house as he very kindly offered to scoop me from the airport, but as we pulled up to his house he said, “Oh no…um your car is gone…” I being sleep deprived and dead inside post tour was like “haha you’re so funny” and then he kind of scratched his head and was like, “I am realizing I haven’t seen your car in a couple days”…. I was like…sorry…um what. Turns out the car had been in his driveway but he moved it to the road to do some painting in his driveway. Forgot to move it back and a neighbor did not like that my Honda Civic was parked on the road I suppose so they called the cops to tow it. As I was sorting this out I called the impound station to which they said they closed in 10 minutes. We sped there, I ran in, and had to pay ….probably like $600? Or something to get my car. I got my car. Had to drive 2 hours or so home with no AC suddenly. And there was a massive hail and lightning storm. …… hilariously cursed. I have probably blacked out other bad experiences. As one healthily does. Ha. 

4 - What do you like to do on days off when you are on tour? 

Days off on tour I like to just walk around aimlessly as I normally do at home. I find the good stuff that way I think. I usually search fora really good coffee…everyday of tour, but day off it becomes not what is closest to venue it become what has the best reviews. One of my gifts is pretty much being able to sus out whether or not a coffee shop will have oat milk. 9/10 times I am correct with my guess. Very valuable tour gift. I am also good at finding the good food on tour. I am basically just good at using the Google Map filters (distance, top rating, open now). Being outside,moving my body, coffee and a nice meal is kinda the main leisure feel good on tour vibe for me. Seeing a movie can be nice too, but that is pretty rare.

5 - Do you like kids? 

Yeah I like kids I think they are funny little people. I am known to be good with kids, but I think the secret is kinda just like talking to them like “hey what’s up” instead of “hiiiiiiiiiii goooo goooo ga ga hiiii little baby hello” or whatever. They can sniff out the bullshit more than people give them credit for. So yeah. I like kids. I do not like when they are screaming, but ya know everybody’s gotta scream sometimes I guess. 

6  - Are you a crybaby? 

Hmm. I am not sure. I do think I cry more than I use to the more I get older. I feel a lot and intensely and sometimes tears just happen because of that. When I was younger I liked that I was tough, but sensitive. But I really hated to cry. I built little dams infant of my tear ducts and then when I turned 20 I cried. And then kinda became more open to just having a little cry when needed. It is healthy I think. Maybe I am a crybaby. Dunno whomst to say. 

Possible Crybaby. Photo was taken in the cemetery. That’s pretty emo.

7  - Please describe yourself in 150 words or less, please make some of those words about your band.  This should have probably gone at the top. Oops!

Gosh. Well my band is not set, it is sort of ever changing as I’ve just started this year playing with a band more regularly (when I can afford to pay them otherwise I play solo a lot). But the people I play with are sweet freaks I’d say. Generous, very funny, road dogs, talented musical wizards. Wow. Describe myself. Hm. I am a pretty curious person. I strive to be present with my friends and strangers. Music is god to me in a way. Playing connects me to myself or whatever “god” is more than anything I’ve ever done. I think I am sensitive and want to treat people well and hope they extend the same to me. I’m a bit of an over thinker. I like to be outside and in the water as much as possible, especially with my dog Annie. I don’t know if that is a good description, it is weird and hard to talk about yourself! Thank you for the questions!

SB = over-thinker. I think we are going to get along just fine.