Sara Quin (Tegan & Sara) Talks with Ryan Hemsworth

On this week’s Talkhouse episode, we’ve got some notable Canadians with tons of great music under their belts, including a recent collaboration—their first. It’s Ryan Hemsworth and Sara Quin.

Hemsworth—no relation to those Australian actor guys—is a musician and producer who’s made records with a really interesting array of folks over the past 15 years, creating beats and beds for everybody from E-40 to Mitski. Hemsworth just released his first solo album in nearly a decade, and ⁠Numbskull⁠ sounds like a guy who’s been bursting with pent-up creativity. It’s all over the map in the best way, with rock and even emo influences pushing up against his electronic tendencies. Unsurprisingly for a guy who gets around—musicially, I mean—it features lots of guest artists on various tracks, including the unmistakable voices of his fellow Canadians Tegan and Sara on one song. Check out that song, “Never Learned,” ⁠right here⁠.

One of those voices of course was Sara Quin, half of the twin-sister duo that’s been surprising and delighting its fans for the past 30 or so years. Beyond their extensive musical catalog, Tegan and Sara have done graphic novels, a documentary, and a TV show. As you’ll hear in this chat, Sara recently became a mom for the second time, and she learned some lessons about diving back into work too quickly.

That’s just one of the many topics these two chat about: In addition to the joys and difficulties of parenting as a touring musician, they talk about the horrors of social media—Sara is not a fan—plus Ryan’s early Tegan and Sara fandom. Enjoy.

00:00 Intro

02:06 Start of conversation, setting up Sara’s studio, and Ryan’s room

04:03 On the most expensive thing they’ve bough for music, and recording in strange spaces

07:24 On getting to know each other, Ryan’s Tegan & Sara t-shirt, discovering music in high school, and starting to collab

10:36 On listening to and collaborating with very different artists

12:48 On Sara writing a book, and trying different things artistically

16:29 On promoting creative projects, hustling, and passion

19:00 On how having kids changes creative work and touring