Date: October 19, 2004 Author: Shannon Whibbs Publication: ChartAttack.com Headline: Tegan and Sara: Codeine Visions And Co-Production Stress

Tegan And Sara have not only been growing up along with their sound, they're also taking on additional responsibilities by co-producing for the first time since their debut album, Under Feet Like Ours, in 1999. In conjunction with producers John Collins and David Carswell, the Quin twins oversaw every last detail of their recently released album, So Jealous. "We really, really wanted to produce it," says Sara of the sisters' desire to man the board. "But then we got really scared and we were like, 'Wow, it's really fun working with John and Dave and we don't want to blow a whole bunch of money making something that sounds like shit.' And we needed an engineer anyway, so we kind of made a whole team." It was an intense and exhausting, but overall satisfying experience for Sara. Still, there's the pressure of increased accountability involved with producing your own work. "We were there 16 hours a day when we were mixing," she says. "If we were there 75 per cent before, we were there 150 per cent this time. It was like, 'Oh my god, I'm going to die, this is taking so long.' But I think I feel better about the record and also more vulnerable about the record. I feel like I know every second of that record." In addition to this, Sara took it upon herself to write a treatment for the video for "Walking With The Ghost," the first single off So Jealous. Directed by Troy Nixey, the video is a starkly haunting affair. The way the initial treatment was conceived is a little bit left of center. "I had all four of my wisdom teeth pulled out," Sara says, wincing. "I had it done in Montreal and I didn't get put under — only freezing. So not only did it fucking hurt, but I was awake. It was traumatizing." After having the offending teeth drilled, shattered, yanked and chipped out, Sara was sent home to recuperate with a prescription for codeine. "It was May in Montreal and it was really hot. I got sick from the codeine and I was barfing and my face was so huge," she recalls. "And I was so tense that I didn't just have bruises on my cheeks — I had them bruises all down my neck and on my chest. I looked like I'd been in a car accident! It was fucked up. I got the video treatments and I was totally delusional and I read them. I liked them, but I wanted to do my own thing, so I wrote it."