Tegan & Sara’s Sara Quin contributes to charity zine ‘Do What You Want’

Sara Quin - of Tegan and Sara fame, obvs - is among the many musicians, journalists, artists, chefs, illustrators, and other creatives contributing work to the new charity zine ‘Do What You Want’. In the zine, Sara talks openly about her own struggles with mental health, her music, and the work that she and her twin Tegan do with the Tegan and Sara Foundation, which they set up to support LGBTQ girls and women. “In the periods of our career when I’ve been really depressed or really struggling, I’m definitely not productive,” Sara says in the interview, speaking about her own experiences. ”That’s not my zone at all. I usually find that my areas of productivity are right before something bad is happening, like almost a weird foreshadowing. So much of what we wrote for ‘The Con’, Tegan was going through intense relationship stuff and I was thinking “I’m in a great place!” and then my grandmother died and someone who was working with the band who we were really close to died and all of a sudden my relationship died, and I thought, “Fuck”. All of the music that I had been writing during what I thought was a really good time, I think seemed appropriately in line with the next couple of years, that were so bad and so hard.” Elsewhere, Sara speaks about the pressures she feels within the music industry. ”I do feel that there is a double standard for women,” she explains ”and I know it’s not a popular thing to talk about but I do think that women are expected to look and act a certain way still to this day. I’ve literally seen men trash dressing rooms, fight, scream, not show up to things, or say they hate radio stations. Often with men, it’s not even considered a thing.” Edited by Ruby Tandoh - aka. the most badass contestant to ever grace The Great British Bakeoff, and now a prolific food writer here, there, and everywhere - and her partner Leah Pritchard, the zine as a whole champions mental wellbeing. All proceeds will go to a selection of charities. ‘Do What You Want’ will raise money for: eating disorder charity Beat, mental health charity Mind, the Centre For Mental Health, carer Sally Burke, the English Collective of Prostitutes, and the direct action group Sisters Uncut, who fight against cuts to domestic violence services. Cop a copy of Do What You Want here. All proceeds go to a whole bunch of vital organisations.