Utahns feel at home on Warped Tour

Sixty-eight musical acts are scheduled to perform at the Vans Warped Tour this Saturday, with many of them on the grueling, cross-country trek for the first time.

But Utahns Meg & Dia are veterans, with this the young women's third time performing at a rock tour known for catering to teenagers with XY chromosomes and a penchant for sweating profusely.

But the duo don't mind, they told The Salt Lake Tribune in interviews.

"There's a lot of guys out here," said Meg, 24, who shares the last name Frampton with her 21-year-old sister, Dia. "That's not necessarily a bad thing. I don't know I could handle a whole tour of girls."

"I've been into boyfriends since I was 15," said Dia. "I've been single

for a whole year now, and it's scary."

The two women, who tour and record with three men but still keep the moniker Meg & Dia, released their album "Here, Here and Here" in April. Produced by veteran producer Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, All-American Rejects), the albun's 13 songs, written entirely by guitarist/singer Meg and lead singer Dia, chronicle the past few years in the life of the band, with their customary literary and classical influences and straightforward lyrics that deal with relationships, often broken. (The album's title comes from a response Mozart gave when someone asked him about his art: "There's nothing to composing. You just need to focus on here, here and here," he said, in reference to his head, heart, and ear.)

Meg was born in Logan and raised in St. George, and attended the University of Utah for two semesters before leaving to focus on her career. Dia, also born in Logan, grew up in St. George and Draper.

The two were introduced to music as young children, when Meg received a karaoke machine and Dia received a guitar as Christmas gifts. They began playing together at local fairs and retirement homes, and in 2005 released their debut album, the mostly acoustic "Our Home Is Gone." After touring extensively, in late 2006 the women released "Something Real." In 2007, they signed to Warner Bros. Records., a label intrigued by the young women's introspective pop-rock.

"We like to be free and frank and honest, because that's what gets people to listen," Meg said.

"I figured out [music] was my only way to get some things out," Dia said. "We had so much to say."

As Warped Tour veterans, the women said they enjoy "taking advantage" of other musical acts by giving them false directions to the communal showers, while knowing where the "secret showers" are in each Warped Tour venue. They're used to the tour's hurry-up-and-wait atmosphere and the sunblock and electrolytes needed to survive, since

the tour stops always seem to take place on the hottest day of the year in each city.

Tour mates and fellow Intermountain West residents 30H!3 (pronounced three-oh-three, after the area code of the band's hometown, Boulder, Colo.) bemoan the heat while being appreciative of the opportunity the Warped Tour presents. "It's eight weeks of being hot in parking lots," said Nathaniel Motte, one-half of the Boulder duo that is burning up the charts with its hit single, "Don't Trust Me," which hit No. 7 earlier this year. "But it's summer camp for big kids."

Though close, Meg and Dia are different in many respects. Chief among them is where the women want to live when the tour wraps up. Meg said she'd like to come back to Utah. "It's nostalgic to go back to St. George, for that slower pace," she said.

But her younger sister, who lives in San Diego now, wants to go to the East Coast when the tour wraps up. "In New York City, no one notices you, even if you have boogers all over your face," Dia said. "In Utah, people like to stare at you."

That's not to say that Dia dislikes Utah. "Utah is always home, whether it's St. George or Salt Lake City or Logan."

Just remember to wipe your nose, Dia, on Saturday.

dburger@sltrib.com