Behind the Scenes With Tegan and Sara

"Sara and I are making our seventh record and this is officially the first time we've decided to be BRING our lunch, so we don't end up existing on Cheetos, Thai food and soda. What is in those coolers, you're wondering? Wouldn't you like to know?" – Tegan Quin

"The first part of the day we sit with Greg Kurstin (the first of three producers we'll be using to make this record) and listen to the track we intend to work on. Greg then talks about his ideas and we politely listen. It's all very professional. We look a bit somber in this photo, but I assure you we are busting with ideas and having the time of our life." – Tegan Quin

"This is another one of us listening to the producer Greg. His ideas are pretty out there for us. But we're eating it up! He intends on pushing Sara and I to the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge. That's a Lady Gaga reference. Which is probably what we were really listening to when this photo was taken." – Tegan Quin

"Let's be real, this isn't the most flattering photo of me. But since we've done very little this week I had to pick at least one of me doing something. So. Here I am pretending to do something." – Tegan Quin

"This is Sara explaining how she intends on taking one of her new songs to Bone Thugs-n-Harmony territory. Greg loved the idea, so be prepared for a little of that on the new record. I actually think we're on a break here and Sara is explaining how to get to the 7-Eleven. Slurpee break!" – Tegan Quin

"Every once in a while I actually play an instrument for real. In this picture Lindsey has captured me strumming a little ditty I like to call, 'Sara, act like you like what I'm playing for this picture.' It's beautiful. Obviously. This guitar I'm playing was easily one of the nicer guitars I've ever held. I put it back where it belonged when the second the photo was taken. I was terrified to break something this whole first week. Greg has nice stuff." – Tegan Quin

"Sara loved the new song I played her. What a sport she is!" – Tegan Quin

"Greg stepped out for a call and I stepped up to get this record back on track. I take my job as a band member very serious. I may not drive in real life, but in the studio, I'm making all the turns. As made very apparent by this photo." – Tegan Quin

"Sara actually does play the piano very well. Here she shows us that it's not about how many notes you play at the same time – it's how sad you look playing them. This record is going to tear your little hearts out and stomp all over them. Get ready." – Tegan Quin

"This is where we break the news to Sara that there is no coffee at the studio. She'll have to wait until lunch to have her third cup of the day. It was pretty devastating for us all to see." – Tegan Quin

"This is Tegan and me with Greg Kurstin and Joey Waronker. Greg is producing six songs for our new record and Joey is playing drums on those six songs. After we finished tracking all the drums we forced them to pose for this photo with us. Not only talented but also agreeable." – Sara Quin

"This is us trying to be polite when Joey suggests he throw down some vocals on one of the songs he liked most. We definitely aren't going to use his vocals. Kidding! We made him do this, too! Literally the nicest human on the planet!" – Sara Quin

"While we were tracking drums our good friend Hunter, from the band AFI, stopped by. Here Lindsey caught Hunter and Tegan catching up in the main room. Hunter was full of positive reinforcement and good tidings! Guests to the studio are always a welcome sight." – Sara Quin

"Here I am listening with my hair to Joey's newly tracked drums. My hair loved all the performances. He was tasteful, yet impressively dynamic. Not unlike my hair." – Sara Quin

"After tracking drums with Joey we moved on to piano. In addition to being an incredible writer and producer, Greg Kurstin is an exceptionally accomplished musician and is playing a lot of piano on this record. Tegan and I wrote a lot of the songs on piano, and it was incredible to see what Greg was able to do with those ideas. I think he practiced a lot more as a kid than we did." – Sara Quin

"Here are Greg's hands. When you listen to the new record you're going to be hearing these hands a lot . . . so get familiar with them." – Sara Quin

"Here is Tegan playing the piano. She insisted we include this photo since last week I was captured playing piano and she really wants to balance the image out there. Very moody, Tegan. Using both hands! Impressive!" – Sara Quin

"When you're making records there is often a lot of sitting around doing nothing. Thankfully this studio had lots of nice, comfortable nooks and crannies to relax in. Here we are waiting to move back to Greg's studio to start vocal! We're both nervous in this photo. I can tell." – Sara Quin

"With this record we are doing a lot of background vocals and harmonies. Some may say we're returning to our roots, and they'd be right. Here Greg is having us sing the melodies in the room while he plays the guitar. Very bohemian of us three, don't you think?" – Sara Quin

"Here is that same moment but caught from a different angle. Tegan looks a bit put off by my singing. Trust me, it sounded beautiful!" – Sara Quin

"This is Mike Elizondo! He is producing four songs on the new record! We'll be with him the next two weeks. He's worked with a pretty wide spectrum of people, ranging from Dr. Dre and Eminem to Mastadon and Regina Spektor. He makes a cameo on our TV show Carpool Confessional this week on www.teganandsara.com. Go check him out." – Tegan Quin

"We spent the first few days this week doing pre-production. Which basically means that we played the songs acoustic and found the best arrangement and tempo for them." – Tegan Quin

"This is me and a small selection of my guitars. Kidding! As if! These are Mike's guitars. He's what I like to call a 'collector'." – Tegan Quin

"After two days of pre-production, we had Victor Indrizzo come to the studio and play drums on the new tracks. He is incredibly nice and funny. We were very impressed with him. Recently he played drums on Brandon Flowers' solo record. Which is amazing, by the way." – Tegan Quin

"Sara and I got front row seats to the Victor Indrizzo show! Look how excited we are!" – Tegan Quin

"This is us picking out the perfect snare for one of Sara's songs. We can tell just by looking which will sound best. Everyone can do that, right?" – Tegan Quin

"After picking the perfect snare, we took a much needed break to play Frogger." – Tegan Quin

"After a few days of drums, we started singing. Sara went first. We're doing three of her songs with Mike, so she had her work cut out for her." – Tegan Quin

"While Sara sang I was hard at work, too. Trying to get to level three of Frogger. I mean . . . it gets so fast!" – Tegan Quin

"Then I ate something . . . " – Tegan Quin

"Mike recorded some guitar while Sara supervised. I was probably there, too – just out of the frame." – Tegan Quin

"Every take should have the tension and excitement of a real performance. Tegan sets the mood by leaning on the piano like a front-row fan might. Thanks, Tegan." – Sara Quin

"Apparently someone mixed up 'dress like a classy vampire day' with 'earth-tone color blocking day.'" – Sara Quin

"Josh was an excellent guitar player, and his foot nudity inspired me to show off my socks. Let's be honest, this entire outfit was a disaster. Thank goodness it didn't put Josh off his slay game." – Sara Quin

"Dave Palmer! What a guy! Check out the shades! I'm not an indoor sunglasses person, as it leaves me feeling totally blind. Dave and Jack Nicholson rock this look without hindering their mad skills!" – Sara Quin

"We're listening to keyboard magic, but I'm also thinking about how sketched out Red Bull makes me feel. Tegan and I must have killed a dozen of those last week! Speed thinking/talking doesn't begin to describe us after a Red Bull." – Sara Quin

"We leave the studio each night and tape footage for our web show Carpool Confessional. Here is a behind-the-scenes shot of our friend the microphone!" – Sara Quin

"Mike Elizondo is a crazy good bass player. On our last day in the studio he whipped out this incredible instrument. I can hardly believe this, but it was built in 1870 or something. Seriously! It's 140 years old! We were in awe!" – Sara Quin

"When it was time to listen down to rough mixes Tegan and I would scoot right up to the soundboard and then let tears of joy run down our faces into our sweaters. Sounds BIG!" – Sara Quin

"This is a real closeup of Tegan getting ready to 'ohh' and 'ahh' the heck out of one of my songs. Background parts are incredibly important to us, and Tegan made magic happen."

"Mike and Tegan look real tough with their tattoos, so I went out and got some stick on kind at the gas station down the street so I could look cool in this photo."

"Greg just found out he has been officially given the title 'Wizard Kurstin' in the producer community!" – Sara Quin

"Chopsticks sounds incredibly impressive when played sullenly on a grand piano." – Sara Quin

"Tegan singing while also checking out an episode of Game of Thrones on her laptop. She's really unfocused on the record now that she's fixated on John Snow's hair." – Sara Quin

"My hair is a helmet. Help me John Snow's haircut, help me." – Sara Quin

"We made Wizard Kurstin start a side project with us. He had no choice but to accept the offer after he heard how many freestyles Tegan could write in ten minutes using this tiny keyboard." – Sara Quin

"Tegan and this dog Greta Garbage are starting another side project called 'Greta Garbage and Tegan go to Hollywood.' All joking aside, so many dogs have friended Tegan on Facebook since she barked in last weeks episode of Carpool Confessional." – Sara Quin

"Let me be the first to tell you that I am doing a lot of whistling on this record. Basically Greg is helping us bridge the gap between pop music and underground whistling culture. It's sort of the new dubstep." – Sara Quin

"Are you kidding me with this hair Tegan!? Its super-professional looking, especially next to my helmet. 'Embrace the curl' is my new mantra going forward." – Sara Quin

"I don't know what to say about this photo. It's cool. That's why we included it." – Sara Quin