InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Everything is Justin's cookies"

Robert Dawson: Thanks for sitting down with me, Tuck.

No problem, man. Any time. Any time.

RD: How you feeling? Good? You ready to do this?

Hell to the yes. Let's do the damn thing. I feel amazing today. How about you Rob?

RD: I feel good! Thanks. Alright, let's get started then. I'm gonna record you. That cool?

Cool as ice, my man. Let's do it.

Robert Dawson: Alright, let's start off with something pretentious. Who is Tucker Duchamp?

Oh, thanks Rob. I appreciate that! Hmm. Who is Tucker? Man that's some kind of question. Um. Who is Tucker Duchamp? Me? Me! I am who I am, I guess. I think everyone will always be different things to different people, you know? To my Mama, I'm Tuck - who can't make a bed to save his life, who always looses his good socks and always has to have muffins on Sunday morning...you know? And to...Pop, I'm Tuck still, but Tuck who loves to go fishing, who he taught how to play guitar, who he - um - used to beat the shit out of when he acted up! Yeah. So, you know, the question shouldn't be 'Who is Tucker Duchamp?" It should be: 'Who is Tucker to you?' Even if you don't know me from that bald guy you pass on the street, you still got an answer for that one - because I sure as hell can't answer the other one for you! I don't know, man. I'm a back woods, bayou, Creole kid from New Orleans. Raised on blues and hot sauce. I'm not fancy, sometimes I wear ugly clothes, some times I forget to brush my hair. I'm just me.

RD: Explain to us what meant to you, and what you wanted to accomplish with it. Did you accomplish what you set out to?

Well, considering that my only goal was to actually finish an album, yeah! I guess I did! Haha, no. I mean I didn't just want to put something mediocre out there, after so many years of life, the last thing I wanted was for my "musical debut" to be stupid and unmoving, you know? Nowadays kids just want to be on t.v., they want to be famous for whatever they can get attention for, and that just...wasn't me. I'm a little more conceited than that! I wanted to be good, maybe even great, but mostly just good. So we took our time on Grace, you know? There was no rush for me to have it out and start touring and have it on every radio station in America. I just wanted to finish it, honestly. I'm one of those "slow as Christmas" kinds of guys. I can wait. So, yeah. I was and still am pretty proud of , Grammy winning or not.

Let's see how many times we can mention the Grammy in this session, shall we?

RD: Did you think you'd be sitting here with Rolling Stone talking about the Grammy that you won?

Oh, yeah totally. This was all planned, actually. Ha! No, man. Of course not. I was happy enough just to have a record company say "Hey, kid, here's some cash, here's a studio, make your album", you know? That just blew my mind. I was basically straight out of work that day, seriously. I got home from work

and there were like 4 messages on my machine. I got through the second one and nearly passed out from sheer excitement, man you don't even know. It was like winning the lottery.

RD: Is that what you feel like you did there? Basically won the lottery, got lucky, or do you feel it was earned?

Well, I think it was a good bit of both, you know? I was lucky, or blessed to be given the chances that I've been given, at my age, coming from where I do. But I also think that certain opportunities wouldn't have just presented themselves had I not worked for them. That's another real problem I have with this phenomenon of "instant celebrity", you know what I'm saying?

RD: Definitely. Yeah.

It's sort of hard to take people seriously when you know that they just woke up a month ago and decided that they wanted to be famous, then either expect to be instantly notorious or do actually end up becoming a hit wonder for some reason. Ha! It also makes me a little jealous and angry that, you know, in order for them to be successful, people have to actually buy into them and support their mediocre efforts! I'm just always like "Why do people buy this shit?"

RD: I know exactly what you mean!

Yeah, but I mean I'm not insinuating anything about the fans of these artists, I'm just saying that it's hard out there for musicians, true craftsman of music and instruments to find a market any more and I'm a little bitter. Haha!

RD: But you can't be too bitter now, you did win that Grammy.

Oh, yeah! How could I forget about the Grammy. Damn. I think there was one interview like soon after

when I was reported to have mentioned it 82 times, in a single interview.

RD: Holy shit!

Yeah, yeah! But I was like "Look, pal. You kept asking about it!" What was I supposed to say? "Hey, enough about my music, even if it is for a music magazine. Let's talk about that Roll Tide! 52-14? ROLL MOTHERFUCKING TIDE BITCH." You know?

RD: Yeah, exactly.

Wow, my Mama is going to read this and fall out. I can't believe I'm cursing so much! This is what Los Angeles does to your boy, Ma. It makes him hostile. Sorry!

RD: So are you living in L.A. now? Or...

Umm, temporarily yes. I'm staying with a friend down here for an undetermined amount of time while we finish mastering the live album.

RD: I wanna talk about that album, but I'm curious as to where you're "based" right now. I know you've said that L.A. is not your type of city, but that you love California?

Yeah. Well I love the coast, and you know...

I wish they all could be California girls! Ahaha, but no, I like L.A., but I can't seem to get anything done here! I get distracted too easily so I have to take it in small doses or I fall off the wagon, man. It's a matter of survival. I got no beef with L.A.!

RD: Oh, see I know why you're saying that! Because..

Yeah, because that quote came out and it was like "Tucker HATES L.A. AND ANGELENOS" Hahaha! I was just like "...I did not say that!" It's crazy, man. I think Schwarzenegger was ready to exile me. But, no. To answer your earlier question, I would say that I'm based in New York, if anywhere. I have a place there.

RD: Okay, okay. Now that you've clarified that you have nothing against L.A. tell me about this live album. Most importantly, when can we expect it to be released? Or at least leaked on the internet.

I'm sure there's probably a file or two already floating around! I think we're looking at an official release mid 2008. Thing is, we wanted...well we meaning, myself and my right hand man, James Connor, wanted to record a live album that felt more like a studio setting, but with the same attributes of a live show. Like you know, one shot, man. Live audience and one shot to make it or break it. Real feedback in real time, but not in a stadium or huge venue. But the problem with doing that was, we couldn't figure out how I could get some gigs and keep it low key enough to get a good recording where I actually felt like...I really needed to wow these people you know? Not like, all these people came to see Tucker, so they're going to cheer and be happy and...there's no one to really win over, you know? So what we had to do was find a place where no one knew who the hell I was!

RD: Wow! So where did you go?

Well we overcompensated a little and went to Ireland. Haha! It probably wasn't necessary, but we wanted to go anyway and it was on someone else's tab. Oh, man we found this little pub out in Kilkenny called Sin-é, which is Irish for "that's it", and it was like the stars had aligned in our favor, it was just that perfect. The place had been around for something like 50 years I think, and was known for just the local artists that played there regularly. So, it had that informal feeling and a steady group of regulars from the town that came out each weekend. It was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. They let us come in and set up for recording on a Saturday, and we were thinking that we could sort of feel it out, feel the crowd out by having me do a few songs, then a few popular covers that they might know and like, then you know, see how that went and come back the next Saturday. Well, we did that and ended up staying that night until 3 am! Neither of us expected that kind of reaction, but they were just sort of indifferent at first, then as I kept going and talking, they warmed up and people that had finished their food and drinks just sat and kept waiting for more. So, I kept playing, then we had some requests, some Doors, some Dylan and I don't know...I guess I was just surprised that this little town was ready for some rock and roll.

RD: So did you do it all in one night? Really?

Well, most of it, yeah. We knew better than to come back to L.A. with just 5 hours of me rambling and playing, so we did come back that next weekend and set up again. People had told their friends by this time and it was a little more rowdy, but still just mind blowingly awesome. I'd never been to Ireland, and didn't know what to expect but Ireland won my heart, I have to admit. I've got nothing but love, and gratitude for the people of Kilkenny.

RD: Unlike the people of L.A., right?

Hahaha! Oh, you're trying to get me in trouble again!

RD: I'm kidding! In all seriousness, thank you Tuck for sitting down with me, man. It's been good for me. Was it good for you?

Oh, better than good, Rob. You were spectacular. I need a cigarette, for sure.

RD: I'll get on that. The readers have been jonesing for news about the new album too, so thank you from them as well! Any parting words for your fans? For your critics?

Thank you for being patient with me, for sticking with me, and for digging what I have to say. It's what keeps me going, and you better believe I appreciate every single one of them. And to the critics? Well, they gotta eat too. I ain't mad at them.