INTERVIEW: Tegan and Sara Celebrate Birthday With Crew, fun., And A Monkey

Twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin recently had their 33rd birthday on September 19. How do you celebrate your birthday while supporting fun. on its “Most Nights” trek? Well, it involved a number of surprises, including a very special invited guest.

“It was arraigned that we’d have a meet and greet, and when we went in to the room to have the meet and greet, it was all of the band and crew, and a bunch of friends and family, and they had basically rented a monkey,” Sara recalled. “We got to hang out with the monkey, and take pictures with it, and it was totally a big surprise, and it was so fun.”

The duo played UCF Arena in Orlando later that evening, but for Sara, the birthday highlight was the monkey. While the sisters did not feel comfortable posting photos with the animal online, the guest of honor did receive a shout out on stage during their set.

For the record: Tegan and Sara do not believe monkeys should be pets. They also insist that this is not a Canadian thing (See: Justin Bieber).

“It was from a really awesome… zoo that has this program,” Tegan explained. “They have these ‘experiences’ that you can pay for, so it was from an actual zoo. It’s not like a ‘trained monkey;’ it wasn’t like doing tricks or anything like that.”

Tegan noted that they’ve met koalas and held them as well. Although carnivores, both sisters seem to really enjoy animals.

“I think it’s neat,” Tegan continued about the experience. “It really reminds you that these are beautiful, real creatures who deserve as much love as we… well, I guess we don’t always give humans that much love, but to be respected and loved and taken care of.”

Animals aside, the indie-pop outfit has had a summer filled with great experiences. In addition to the fun. tour, Tegan and Sara have now witnessed first-hand the benefits of radio airplay with their hit, “Closer.”

“We wanted to make a record that wouldn’t immediately eliminate us from getting radio,” Sara said of Heartthrob, the band’s seventh studio album. “We have a great career, but there were certain things that we just never achieved.”

An album with their highest first week sales, a song regularly played on pop radio, and a performance on “The Today Show” are a few of the things that the ladies can check off if they feel so inclined.

“Maybe it’s our age, but we had finally gotten to a point where we were like, ‘Why are we limiting ourselves?’” Tegan said. “We absolutely saw so many awesome bands, like fun. and Gotye, reaching a much larger audience, and they’re both very intelligent, awesome, articulate pop-rock bands.”

Translation: The idea that you can sell a lot without “selling out” isn’t monkey business after all.

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