Date: 2006 Author: Vanessa McCausland Publication: Melbourne mX Article Headline:

"Tegan and Sara grew up in Canada listening to pop music icons including U2, The Police and Bruce Springsteen." Canadian sister act Tegan and Sara tell Vanessa McCausland why meeting Ben Lee was such a big deal. One moment they're twin sisters singing into hairbrushes in their bedrooms. The next they're rock chicks bashing out their lyrics to small loyal crowds. Now after seven years on the road, Canadian 25-year-olds TEGAN AND SARA are getting radio airplay and have graduated from Greyhound buses to their own touring wheels - but don't compare them to grung pop-rocker AVRIL LAVIGNE. "1999 to 2001 those were the ghetto years on Greyhound buses, sleeping in bus stations," Sara said. "Seven years later, thank God, we've got a tour bus." But relative success (they play to crowds of 1000 in New York now instead of 50) can have its pitfalls. "People lump us in with Avril Lavigne but it's a different level totally. The amount of money put into our tour is the amount she spends on pencils," Sara said. The bubbly, outgoing half of the sister duo, who envisaged herself becoming a lawyer, insists she doesn't think of herself as a rock star. "I bought a refrigerator about a month ago and I thought 'this is success'. I don't think I'm like this rock star or famous. "You never feel completely comfortable. You think 'When will it end?' It's a strange place to find myself in. I'm an accidental musician," she said. The sisters realised just how far they'd come when they got to meet the subject of their joint pubescent crush, Aussie singer BEN LEE, a few years ago. "When we were about 15 my sister and our best friends were completely in love with Ben Lee. We all became obsessed we thought could there be a cooler human being? Now we've met him a few itmes. It's so cool."