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TOUR EXCLUSIVE: Tegan & Sara & Hayley Backstage!

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:09:32 -0600

Paramore and Tegan and Sara are touring together all summer, sharing more than 30 stages across America and spending lots of time hanging out backstage.

But what, exactly, do Hayley Williams, the flame-haired singer for the Tennessee pop-punk band, and Canadian twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin talk about? What else: Romantic relationships, the hardships of being a girl in the music biz, and... Barbie Dolls.

Before last week's opening date of the Honda Civic Tour in Raleigh, NC, (read SPIN's concert review here) the three huddled together to chat with SPIN.com about their lives. Williams carried a present from a fan: a SpongeBob SquarePants Barbie Doll still in its package. It's not her first.

"I have only like 20 right now," said Williams. "That’s a lot of Barbies for a 21-year-old."

"20 more than I have," said Sara, 30.[Laughs.]

Read on for more of the trio's wholly fun and entertaining backstage conversation:

SPIN: When did Paramore first meet Tegan & Sara?

TQ: We met at Chad [Gilbert, New Found Glory guitarist and Williams' boyfriend]'s house. I was doing a lot of things, specifically chasing Lindsey, my girlfriend at the time. I was trying to convert her, and I successfully did. Chad's house helped with that, so thank you for that. Love prevailed. We met through Hayley's boyfriend -- Do you guys talk about that? Is it OK to stay that?

HW: Oh yeah, of course. I'm actually a real person with a boyfriend.

SQ: And then it was in Nashville that we met. We were doing a headlining show at the Ryman. We had played there one other time, but this was the first time we were headlining. So it was an exciting night, and Hayley was there to support.

TQ: She booed the whole show. She was very, very drunk.

HW: I was. I was wasted.

TQ: She came down in like this weird swinging harness, like this Cirque du Soleil thing. "Make it about you, Hayley." [Laughs].

SQ: No, you were so lovely. We thought you were so sweet, and after the show we were like, "I wanna crush her she's so cute."

TQ: We were all really excited to do the tour. I'd only met you, and I think that's when Sara stopped complaining about having to do the tour. Just kidding.

HW: That was a good show, though. I brought a lot of friends and a lot of them had never seen you guys or heard a lot of your music.

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SPIN: Hayley, Why did you ask Tegan and Sara to come on this tour?

HW: Honestly, a lot of my friends got me into you guys a while ago, people I met when we first started touring. We never tour with girls, and I guess there's not a lot of girl singers I just love.

TQ: You could've asked Rihanna.

HW: Oh, that's true.

SQ: Or, Cher. [Laughs].

HW: There's not a whole lot of females right now in music where I'm like, "I want to play with those people." This tour is a really big deal for us, and I wanted to have a band that has been around long enough to establish something important. I wanted an important band.

TQ: You wanted to siphon our importance.

HW: I did. I wanted to steal it. I want to watch how you guys sing every night and take that as well.

SQ: It's so sweet that you say that because that's how we always look at the bands that are opening for us. We always think, "What will appeal to our audience? What will make an impression on them in a positive way?" We always try to bring out girls. We got into a phase of bringing out people that were doing alternative hip-hop, because we wanted to open up some of these kids' minds to something outside of rock music. I think that's so cool that you do that, too.

HW: We've never really brought out much other music than rock music. Honestly, you guys are probably the most outside-of-the-box band that we've toured with for so long.

SPIN: Are you nervous for Tegan and Sara?

HW: No, I'm not nervous for them at all. Our fans are so psyched. On our LiveJournal -- not to creep you out -- there are little icons for people that write in messages, and all of them are Tegan and Sara's faces, all blown up. I see you guys every day, multiple times a day in pictures that you probably hate but everyone else loves.

SQ: Does that happen to you, where people really obsess over images that you wish they'd stop seeing?

HW: Oh, I hate it. This is going to sound like I care way too much because I totally don't, but I went through a little phase where I kept gaining weight on the road. I see photos from that little phase, and I'm like, "Those are the fat days." But those are the pictures that people save. That makes me feel good at the same time.

SQ: It's probably that you looked really happy, and your body was ready to bear life.

HW: Oh, great. It's called puberty.

SQ: I went through this phase where I had short blond hair, and it was really puffy and I would wear a headband. You cannot get worse than that.

TQ: Let's think: That would have been in 2000. So how old would you have been, Hayley?

HW: I was still living in Mississippi, so I was listening to Aaliyah.

TQ: So how old were you 10 years ago? 11? 12? And Sara was on Letterman with a headband and spiky blond hair. That's our favorite era. Do you think at 10 you would have liked our band?

HW: Totally. [Laughs]. When I lived in Mississippi, there wasn't any music whatsoever, but I loved looking different. I liked anything that made me different than the people I was always surrounded by. I don't know if you've ever heard of Mississippi, but it's not really the kind of place you want to liken yourself to.

SPIN: Tegan and Sara, are you guys nervous for the tour?

SQ: I think we're just nervous because we have this ridiculously hypersensitive fear of disappointing people. We have child-of-divorce syndrome, and we don't want anybody to be let down. We're really quiet and we don't want to impose on anyone, so there's that sense of wanting to go out and show yourself and prove yourself. But you want to stay out of the way, and you don't want to fuck anybody's shit up. We are a headliner all the time, so I know that it's a fine line with opening bands and stuff.

TQ: I feel really nervous. Sara and I haven't done any support stuff in four-and-a-half years. We did festivals and shows last year with Death Cab for Cutie. So this is terrifying for me. We toured with the Killers and we did a tour with Cake and Gogol Bordello. Those were the last two support tours we did, in 2005. On the Cake tour we all did the huddle before the show -- crew, band, everyone. It was our first time having our own bus. We got in the huddle and I was like, "This is going to be amazing." We'd had a really good year and "Walking with a Ghost" had finally made it onto the radio. I do this whole big rousing speech about how this is going to be so fun because people are going to know us. It was a disaster. We had people quit. There was a comedian on between all of the bands and he was really amazing and funny. But the audience in a lot of cities didn't get him. So one night they were all chanting "Faggot!" when we had to go onstage. We were like, "No, we're lesbians!"

SPIN: When did you two first hear Paramore?

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SPIN: When did you two first hear Paramore?

TQ: When I first heard your music, and this was before I'd even met Chad, I heard about you guys through our publicist. He was trying to get us on the cover of Alternative Press. He said, "They've already had a girl on the cover this year," because that's how it works in the world. And I was like, "What bitch is on the cover?" [Laughs]. I'm kidding. I was like, "Who is on the cover?" And he's like, "This band Paramore." I said, "I've never heard of Paramore." I Googled it and I was like, "That girl's hot." This was right when Riot! came out, so I downloaded that.

SQ: It's true. Tegan came in and was telling everybody and playing it.

TQ: Because there really is only one spot for girls in the world to be popular at one time, I was like, "Here's the queen now of our music, and we must all bow down to Hayley." No, I was like, "This band is so cool." That's the kind of music I listen to, and that's the kind of music I grew up listening to. I thought your image was really cool, too, because right away I found out how young you were, and in all your interviews, you were talking about wanting to keep that image. We graduated high school and then we signed a record deal. But everybody pushed us to be models. They were like, "You guys are pretty. You should wear makeup. Move in this direction." We were like, "We want to play our guitars and wear headbands on Letterman." It took us a while. They were really pushing us to be something we weren't, and I think you held out to be what you wanted to be.

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SPIN: Hayley, have you experienced the same pressure to be someone else?

HW: That's the worst. When we first got signed we had never done real publicity photos. We had only had friends take pictures of us. We had this guy come out and take photos for the album and he wanted me to wear ChapStick to make my lips look shinier. I didn't wear makeup, so I was like, "No!" I pitched a fit, and everyone said, "Oh, Hayley's a bitch." That was my first experience with photo shoots. I wanted to be a guy pretty much.

TQ: Don't we all?

HW: Right?

TQ: It's a funny thing in our industry, because if you're not really glammed out or girly, you are in this weird gray zone. They don't know where to place you, and you have to fight to hold on to your uniqueness. I think it's good that you did.

SQ: Did you ever find that once you hold onto it and you're accepted into the mainstream, then the people that aren't in the mainstream start saying, "You're actually not that hardcore"? That happened to Tegan and I. We were really representing alternative women, and we were queer and all these things. All of the sudden we started to get more popular. We were able to sell more records. We were able to tour with the Killers. People were like, "You sold out. You're not alternative anymore."

TQ: You're not a woman anymore. Your vagina is gone.

SQ: You're actually a straight man now, so congratufuckinglations. You're just like, "Oh my god, really? We're not cool and alternative and queer?" That's hard, too, sometimes.

HW: I went through the phase where I didn't want to wear ChapStick. I didn't want to wear makeup. I didn't want to be a girl at all. But I started to grow up, and I was like, "OK, I think I'll try to wear mascara onstage now." It evolved and my hair got brighter. People noticed and said, "What happened to this girl that looks like a guy?"

TQ: "She joined Tegan and Sara!" In a weird way, it's an analogy for growing up. Being in a band is like a living proof of your second adolescence. You start to change, from the way your music sounds to the people you tour with to the people around you, even. It's tough sometimes. We send Sara to her room a lot.

HW: [Laughs]. You can come on our bus if that happens.

SPIN: Paramore has had its fair share of support slots. Hayley, what do you like best -- opening or headlining?

HW: I like both.

TQ: Queen. [Laughs].

HW: I've always loved being the underdog. So, in one sense, to headline, you almost feel like it's a copout. If we're playing a festival and NOFX is there, I know I'm going to get hounded from the other stage from some other band. I love that. I like the challenge and the intimidation of that, going up there and exploding on stage. This tour is cool to me because we've been on tour for five-and-a-half years now, and the same kids that were there in the front row at these tiny little places, like when we played CBGBs for the first time, some of the kids that went to that show come to our shows in New York now at these bigger venues. It's really rewarding. To me, we did something right if those kids can come to the show and have fun and not be like, "Hayley, you don't look like a boy anymore. I hate you."

5 Ways Kanye West's Life Is Better Than Yours

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:31:29 -0600

Is social media big enough to contain Kanye West?

He's long been blogging, but this week the Grammy-winning rapper favored Facebook with an impromptu a cappella performance, then joined Twitter and added 300,000 followers in just three days. That's a lot -- and he noticed.

While Kanye sometimes uses Twitter for news -- revealing an album title change, or new lyrics -- he mostly showcases his fabulous life. And it's pretty, pretty fabulous.

Here are five ways Kanye West's life is better than yours:

No. 5: Kanye West makes extravagant purchases -- then does stupid things with them.
Tweet: Is the Versace sofa to[o] hood? Might need to cover it in plastic!!!

No. 4: Kanye West drinks from golden goblets, instead of water bottles.
Tweet: I hate half empty water bottles so I copped these #goblets to drink out of.

No. 3: Kanye West is on a horse. And is a king.
Tweet: I need this horse... Kings need horses.

No. 2: Kanye West won't settle for private jets that aren't bigger than a baby mama's.
Tweet: I'm bout to hop on this #BABYMAMAJET the jets Billionaires give to they baby mamas or they 1st 2nd or 3rd wife / Man this jet small as hell Don C!!!!

No. 1: Kanye West has cooler friends than you, and will rub that in your face (while creating new adjectives no less).
Tweet: I wish I had a Twitter when I was at the Lanvin store in Paris 3 weeks ago with Jay & B uuuuugh so many missed stuntastic moments.

What's your favorite Kanye Tweet? Sound off below.

Taylor Momsen Models Madonna's Fashions

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:12:25 -0600

The Pretty Reckless singer and Gossip Girl star is the face of Madonna's Material Girl line.

The National Deliver Big at SPIN25 Live Concert!

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:25:49 -0600

If National frontman Matt Berninger ever decides to change careers, he could be a preacher or a shaman or the dictator of a small country.

During the hour and a half or so that he and his four bandmates (plus assorted guest players) commanded New York City's Terminal Five stage Thursday night, as part of the week-long SPIN25-ZYNC concert series, the elegant, epically tall singer transformed three-thousand sticky, demanding, and somewhat inebriated fans into an obedient mass of joyful disciples. When he raged, they raged. When he was still and pensive, they were still and pensive. When he danced awkwardly, thrashing his head along with twin guitarists' Aaron and Bryce Dessner's cacophonous noise, they thrashed too, and didn't care how they looked. To be there was to be free.

PHOTOS:

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Photos by Ben Rowland and Sean O'Kane

The National build a live set the way they've built their career: slowly, deliberately, and with breathtaking confidence. They began with the slow-burn anthem "Start A War" off their 2007 career-making album The Boxer, the crowd mouthing -- but not actually singing -- every word of the first few delicately delivered verses so as to participate without interfering. And they seemed to hold their breath through the entire propulsive elegy "Anyone's Ghost." But by the third song, "Blood Buzz Ohio," Berninger started to let his supplicants off the leash a bit, their voices joining his rich baritone as it rose above Bryan and Scott Davendorf's driving drums and bass to moan-sing "I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees."

Swigging cheap white wine from a plastic cup, Berninger whipped through the next few songs, pacing the stage in between vocal parts, like a possessed ringmaster. The typically restrained chorus to "Squalor Victoria" became a surge of unleashed aggression as Berninger spat the lyrics into the mic, pounding his fists together like a bare-knuckled boxer as the audience raged back at him. And then it was on. The singer took the crowd from rapt with meditative attention on "Afraid of Everyone" and "Lemonworld" to crazed banshees howling "my mind's not right" on "Abel."

There was a lot to look at onstage -- from the badass violinist who was a dead ringer for David Foster Wallace, to the geeky but fly trombonist in Kelly green pants, to the undeniably foxy twin guitarists -- but it's Berninger, decked out like a hipster undertaker in his all-black three-piece suit and tie combo, who is the rock star.

Introducing "Lemonworld," Bryce Dessner, who delivers most of the band's interstitial banter, said, "This song is really hard to play," then clarified, "Well, it's really easy to play, it's hard to make sound good." Berninger took one step up to the mic, smiled slyly and countered, "I think it always sounds good." The crowd cackled. "He only has reverb on his voice in his ear so it's easier!" Dessner said with mock indignance. "Yeah, see I can't hear that," the singer quipped. The crowd clapped so loudly and for so long that they drowned out the beginning of the next song.

Berninger's lyrics have been helping the National's fans sleep at night since he used to mumble them into a borrowed mic during gigs at the now-defunct Luna Lounge back in the late '90s. A decade or so later, the band has become a celebrated icon of cerebral-but-emotive cool, a kind of grown-ups' rock band with soul.

But the assembled crowd still needed Berninger to put them to bed, and he didn't disappoint, closing the set with "Fake Empire" off The Boxer (which begins with the lyric "stay out super late tonight/ picking apples, making pies") and ending the encore with an ecstatic, abandoned rendition of the "Terrible Love" off this year's High Violet. "I can't fall asleep without a little help/ It takes awhile to settle down" Berninger admitted, though it felt more like a forecast for the way the audience would feel for hours after the show. How can you sleep after a rock and roll revival like this?

The National had some help riling up the crowd, courtesy of Suckers, whose smart dance-pop coaxed the audience away from the bars and vegan hot dog stands and up to the front of the stage. But it was the first opener, eccentric singer songwriter Kurt Vile, who made the biggest impression. Vile is one of those precocious young artists who seems to play in sixteen different bands (okay, three: War On Drugs, with the Violators, and solo) and jumps with astounding ease from one style of music (Neil Young-ish Americana) to another (grimy punk rock) without even changing instruments. He looks like an earnest hippie but the kid's got wit -- he titled his debut solo album Childish Prodigy and likes to introduce his more obscure tracks (and they are all obscure) by deadpanning, "This song was a huge hit for us." Keep an eye on this one.

Setlist:
1. Start A War
2. Anyone's Ghost
3. Blood Buzz Ohio
4. Mistaken For Strangers
5. Brainy
6. Squalor Victoria
7. Afraid of Everyone
8. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks
9. Lemonworld
10. Conversation 16
11. Apartment Story
12. Abel
13. England
14. Fake Empire

Encore:
1. Runaway
2. Mr. November
3. Terrible Love

Tour Gallery: Underworld in Italy

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:20:53 -0600

EXCLUSIVE: Frontman Karl Hyde documents his band's recent trip to Italy with photos, poetry, and more!

Morrissey to Sing at Katy Perry's Wedding?

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:24:13 -0600

Morrissey's songs might not be the most upbeat, lyrically, but the man sure can croon -- and he looks great in a suit -- so it's no surprise that Katy Perry and Russell Brand, who's a pal of the Moz, would love to have him perform at their upcoming nuptials.

"It's going to be a small ceremony, so I don't think we'll have a proper band," Perry tells U.K. tabloid The Sun. "I'd love to have Morrissey."

Pop star Perry (whose album Teenage Dream drops August 24) and actor-comedian Brand (who's filming a reboot of Arthur in NYC) are reportedly tying the knot this September in India. Perry recently met Morrissey for the first time, and chatted about the upcoming wedding over tea.

But the Moz, an invited guest to the affair, wasn't too supportive about the idea of marriage. "[Morrissey] swooned and sighed, 'Oh, left hand third finger, don't do it,'" Perry says. "It was just so eloquent and poetic and like one of his songs."

Not a shocker coming from the Pope of Mope, though: Morrissey made his opinions on relationships very clear in a 2004 SPIN interview with Marc Spitz. "I don't believe in that at all," he said, when asked if he thought he'd one day meet a special someone who'd change his life. "I don't actually believe in, as you so eloquently term it, 'one day.'" Instead, he said he'd rather devote his time to animal rights causes: "I still prefer horses to human beings."

Would you like Morrissey to sing at your wedding? What song? Sound off in the comments.

Terrific Twitter Trio of the Week: Lollapalooza Edition!

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:19:51 -0600

Lots of musicians tweet -- but all that Twitters is not gold.

That's why you'll want to check out SPIN.com every Friday to see whose tweets we're reading this week – then update your TweetDeck! (Obligatory Self-Promotion: …while you're at it, be sure to follow @SPINmagazine!)

In honor of next weekend's Lollapalooza Music Festival, which runs from Aug. 6-8 at Chicago's Grant Park, we've been following some of the acts scheduled to perform. Check 'em out to get yourself psyched for the festival:

Soundgarden's Chris Cornell

@chriscornell

Why You Should Follow: This year's Lollapalooza marks an important milestone for Chris Cornell and his Soundgarden bandmates: It's their first scheduled performance in 12 years. Since Cornell announced the band's reunion via Twitter in January, they've played a secret show in Seattle but haven't made any official appearances. Until now, that is. As you await the grunge legends' Sunday night show, whet your appetite with Cornell's thoroughly entertaining tweets. When he's not pondering whether people in Spain or the Netherlands smoke more dope ("The population of Spain is almost 3 times that of The Netherlands, and though weed is not legal there im guessing they don't give a shit"), he's picking fights with the Westboro Baptist Church and posting Twitpics of Soundgarden in rehearsal. Bonus points: You can always count on him to post something random, like this video of Mt. St. Helens exploding.

Best Tweet of the Week: "Just read that Santana has the same Birthday as me. So does Stone Gossard and Andrew Stockdale"
Deer Tick

@deertickmusic

Why You Should Follow: This Providence-based indie rock band -- known for their grungy, bluesy sound -- is a lot of fun to follow. Their mischievous antics on the road lead them to icing their friends, jumping fences to swim in other people's pools, and reviewing reviews of their latest album, The Black Dirt Sessions, which dropped in June. Look out for hilarious Twitpics, like this one of the band messing with a truck stop sign (the caption reads "Yo, Floyd Virginia Shell station, you just got TICKED!") and this one of lead singer John McCauley being an "absolute fucking idiot" in Roanoke, VA. Also, keep an eye on their Twitter feed on Saturday -- there's a good chance they'll tweet from backstage at Lollapalooza.

Best Tweet of the Week: "Deer Tick in a dry county in the mountains of Virginia? Where the shrooms at?" v
Raphael Saadiq

@rayraysaadiq

Why You Should Follow: This Grammy-nominated crooner may have an old school Motown sound, but he's all modern when it comes to Twitter. He tweets and re-tweets with the best of them, documenting his life as he hops from city to city and plays at some of the country's best music festivals ("I'd perform at every summer festival if I could," he tweeted). Follow him as he pays homage to the musicians who inspire him (including Smokey Robinson and MGMT), fights against the use of the "neo-soul" label, and defies big-time artist stereotypes ("Picking up new rims for Clive Davis Grammy party tonight… I mean spectacles, eyewear, not car rims, LOL come on people"). He brings tons of excitement and energy to every performance, so if you're hitting up Lollapalooza, make sure to check out his Friday afternoon show. Who knows? He might just give you a Twitter shout-out afterward.

Best Tweet of the Week: "LOL especially on stage at summerstage RT @MOSCOT: Even properly adjusted eyewear will slip in this NYC heat. #sweatingmyeyeglassesoff"

EXCLUSIVE: Unreleased Queens of Stone Age Track

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:11:16 -0600

Desert rock juggernauts Queens of the Stone Age are releasing a deluxe edition of their classic album Rated R on August 3, featuring six b-sides and a recording of their Reading Festival set in 2000. Listen to the previously-unreleased-in-the-U.S. track, "Ode to Clarissa," below!

"Clarissa" is classic Queens of the Stone Age -- badass, supercharged rock'n'roll. A thunderous drum intro gives way to a piercing guitar riff.

QOTSA completists might already be familiar with "Ode to Clarissa": It appeared as the 12th track on the Japanese pressing of Rated R; on a limited-edition vinyl version of the album; and as the b-side on the U.K. single for "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret," the album's best-known tune. A live version of the "Clarissa," recorded at the Reading Festival, is included on the new Rated R special edition, as well.

Rated R landed at No. 8 on SPIN's 20 Best Albums of 2000 list, with Sia Michel lauding the record's "mysteriously beautiful, smartly stoopid psychedelic jams."

In other QOTSA news, the band is set to play a benefit concert August 12 in L.A. for Eagles of Death Metal bassist Brian O'Connor, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. The show is sold out, but the Eagles are auctioning off some special ticket packages via their website. Another site is collecting donations for O'Connor, too -- click here for details.

What do you think about "Ode to Clarissa"? Tell us in the comment section below!

LISTEN: Queens of the Stone Age, "Ode to Clarissa"

WATCH: Of Montreal Rock 'Late Night' with Solange

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:51:02 -0600

Of Montreal visited Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Thursday dressed as fashionable ghouls in white face paint and suits and gowns to debut "Sex Karma," a new song from their September 18 release False Priest -- and they brought along a little help: Solange Knowles, aka Beyonce's younger sister. Watch below.

Frontman Kevin Barnes and Knowles traded verses on the funky, Motown-esque number with tongue-in-cheek lyrics about sex: "I know that you want to scream / Honey, touch my everything / I look like a playground to you," Knowles sang. "Close your eyes and count to three / I'll kiss you where I shouldn't be," Barnes replied as Knowles gyrated down her microphone stand. A group of mimes (um… drinking milk?) joined the band on stage, too. Steamy… and weird!

While the song will appear on False Priest, Barnes told SPIN that it was originally intended as a solo track for Knowles. "When I wrote 'Sex Karma' I thought it would be cool if it appeared on [Solange's] record," Barnes said. "I sent it to her and for a while that was the plan. But I really liked it and changed my mind, and we decided to record it as a duet." Good choice.

What do you think about their performance of "Sex Karma"? Tell us in the comment section below!

WATCH: Of Montreal with Solange Knowles, "Sex Karma"

Friday's Music Roundup

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:20:55 -0600

[Updated: 6:14 P.M.]

NEWS:

SLIPKNOT Divided Over Future of Band After Bassist's Death

MTV

Tour Gallery: UNDERWORLD in Italy

PHOTOS:

NEWS:

MP3s & VIDEOS:

PHOTOS:

NEWS:

MP3s & VIDEOS:

PHOTOS: