This interview, held shortly before Tegan and Sara performed at the Kiehl’s Pride celebration in NYC on June 22, has been edited and condensed for clarity. Because life can be unexpectedly magical, it’s part of a series of interviews I’ve been conducting with Tegan and Sara. You can read the others here, here and here.
Your Kiehl’s partnership first launched in Canada, now here. Welcome to New York!
Tegan Quin: We’re really thrilled because we knew the U.S. was interested in doing something, and because we’re playing New York Pride, it worked out that we got to do this event. We’re truly honored to be able to partner with a company that cares so much about the LGBTQ community.
Sara, do you want to add to that?
Sara Quin: Everything Tegan said. Everything she said, but twice as good.
We had some bad news today with the Obamacare replacement bill. When so many organizations need help, how do you prioritize what to support?
Sara: We’ve been told by many people who have been working in philanthropy for much longer than us that you have to stay focused on what your cause is and what your issue is. For us, healthcare is obviously a concern, and how it affects lesbian women, and we’re trying to stay focused on how to connect [specifically] women with the best healthcare providers and culturally competent people. The rest of you have to figure it out for yourself! [Laughs]
With the Tegan and Sara Foundation, you’re doing more than ever for the LGBTQ community. In a parallel universe where Hillary Clinton is President, how is your effort different?
Sara: We started this Foundation before Hillary Clinton did not become the President. There are literally dozens of issues that we need to focus on that would have been a problem under Hillary Clinton or a problem under Obama. The fact is that the systemic issues that exist are not going anywhere. We have to dismantle some of these f*cking problems. And it would have been a focus for us under Hillary Clinton, too. It’s worse under Donald Trump, but we feel that that’s actually amazing leverage for us to get people really invested.
I like to think that, too. Switching gears here, can we expect any new material as we go into The Con X Tour?
Tegan: I think people are going to be really excited about future Tegan and Sara. We have lots of really fun stuff up our sleeves!
Can’t wait. Also, where’s Ted? [Ed. note: Ted Gowans was the guitarist in Tegan and Sara from 2004-14, notably during the Con Era.]
Sara: Who?
Tegan: Ted!
Sara: Oh. Ted. That wasn’t a joke! I–
I’m telling him you forgot about him.
Sara: Ted is doing great. He was playing with Kesha…
Tegan: Actually, Ted and I just did some co-writing together. We just did some songs.
Sara: Ted is family.
Tegan: I think it was exciting for him to be able to go out and do something different. We love Ted. We’ve been thinking a lot about him because of The Con Tour for sure.
That’s where I was going with that. Could we expect a Ted cameo on any of the dates?
Tegan: I don’t think so. But you never know!
You can find the Kiehl’s Limited Edition Ultra Facial Cream and Ultra Facial Oil-Free Gel Cream, which benefit the Tegan and Sara Foundation, exclusively in NYC and Brooklyn stores.