At this point, Tegan and Sara are South By Southwest vets ... which is why, though they've hit Austin hard this year, they're quick to remember the keys to SXSW survival:
"It's chaos, it's fun, if you can get through it, you feel victorious, like you ran a race or something," Sara Quin laughed. "We've done it three times already; we love it."
"We've got to ride around in a limo bus and eat brisket, I tripped on a glow stick, we played at two broken-down bars, we've gotten some time in the sun and I'm still getting six hours of sleep," her sister Tegan added. "And I haven't had one drop of alcohol; so it's been a success."
Of course, Sara is quick to add that her sister has downed, "like, a case of Red Bull," though that's probably out of necessity: After all, in addition to their SXSW performances, Tegan and Sara are also down in Austin co-hosting the 2013 mtvU Woodie Awards ... and pulling double duty is pretty exhausting.
"There's a wild energy to it; sometimes when you do these award shows, they're more structured and formal," Sara said. "But this has a more broad, open concept to it ... and it's way more about the performances, which is really cool. Also, we got to meet Sway, which was pretty great."
There's also another perk to hosting ... it may be as close as Tegan and Sara ever get to actually winning a Woodie.
"We've never won a Woodie, so this is like the next-best thing. We're making dreams come true here," Tegan laughed. "No, [there are] so many fans here, so many young people, so many great performers ... it's a privilege to get to hang out. And talk, which we love to do."
Don't miss the 2013 mtvU Woodie Awards, Sunday, March 17 at 8/7c on MTV and mtvU, featuring performances from Zedd, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Twenty One Pilots, coming at you from SXSW!