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Tegan and Sara‘s latest album Heartthrob, released last January, launched them into the mainstream, and fans of Tegan and Sara have started to look different. The Canadian folk singers, who used to look out over a sea of 20-something lesbians, now see fans of all types. We’re hearing their songs on the radio, and they’re popping up at big name venues on the bill with top-40 pop artists. The recent success brought them to Tampa, Florida last week for the 12th installment of the 2013 Jingle Ball. A slightly different lineup than the Chicago edition (and way better weather) made it possible to have an outdoor performance leading up to the main event, where Tegan and Sara performed with Travie McCoy, Austin Mahone, and Fifth Harmony. After the “Preshow FREEshow” we got a chance to catch a quick moment on the red carpet with Tegan and Sara, and ask about the transition to the mainstream.

“Our audience has grown up with us… some of us are a little old now to be going to concerts. For our creative and professional longevity it’s important for us to be on radio,” says Tegan. “Over the last fourteen years there have been so many different attempts at expanding our fan base… This latest attempt at keeping our spirit and our music fresh and energetic and interesting to us, first and foremost, but also to our audience, is just that.. just another attempt at making it fresh and exciting. We don’t necessarily exclude any part of our community, or think about our community as being compartmentalized the way that some of them might think of themselves as compartmentalized. I look out into our audience and I see my peers. I see people that I love and look up to and are amazing. We’re just going to keep probably doing exactly what we have always done. I don’t think there’s a particular path that we’re on… we just always do our best.”