Alexander Tucker

07/03/06

Alexander Tucker answers this week’s Questions of Doom - When an unassuming, weird beard, guy, took the stage, it was a bit odd.  Like some DC comic super hero, Alexander Tucker was surrounded by some evil machinery and equipment and as he started up ‘Old Hag’ on a Jimmy Page e-bow guitar, and then the drones started, incredible, unsettling drones from God that were shot forth with life and when pitched with Alexander’s inescapably weird vocals, we were soon in the prescense of
genius.  To read Alexander Tucker’s thoughts on his fantastic debut album please click below.

Who are you?

I am Alexander tucker

What was your inspiration whilst writing ‘Old Fog’...?

The inspiration for Old fog where many but I was listening to alot of new zealand noise, Alexander Spence’s Oar lp, Fursaxa, visually I was looking at Gustave Dores ingravings and Mat Brinkman’s comics. Also just generally I was thinking of rotten rooms, dust, cobwebs, poltegeists.

You started life in a hard-core band—what were the lessons learned from A to Z from being in a hardcore band to going solo in a psychotropic folk band?

Hardcore was a good place to find out about other kinds of music, Hardcore seem to me at the time to be about a kind of freedom, physically and mentally, though it can be extemely limiting many invisable rules apply which became very boring. Through hardcore I got into Free Jazz and Boredoms.

How did you hook up with Stephen Malley from Sunn0))) and what was it like working with him?

Stephen heard a limited 3” called ‘Gatherings’ that I put out of vocal drones and asked through a mutal friend to hook us up to play together, so we recorded for two days at the Southern Studios.

When I saw you live—thought it was just you on-stage, it eventually turned into a full fledged psychedelic orchestra—how did you develop those sounds that emanate from your guitar?

The process I use just comes from improvising alone with effects and the loop pedal, using different pedal combinations and finding out what systems arise then trying to form them into something that is partially repeatable.

You started recording your own albums in CDR field recording format which has become de rigeur for people in the underground—what are your thoughts of the DIY CDR Recordings—is it a refreshing DIY method of releasing your own music?

I’m not into releasing to many cdr formats, personally I’ve only put out one edition of 50 3” cdr’s, some artists seem to but one or two every month, I like to condense the working process into albums and leave other ideas to playing live or improvising with friends.Though I still like the freedom they give away from the label releases.

How did you develop your singing voice and what are the influences as its very distinctive.

With singing I feel it just the natural sound of what happens when I try to sing.I sang in plays at school and the first band I did I was the lead vocalist, though more screaming was imployed than singing.

Old English folk music seems to play a massive part in what you do?  If so—what do you get from this music and is this your 21st century take on it?

I’m not into any old english folk music, I grew up listening to old blues, Hendrix, classical and Led Zepplin...The closest english folk I like is The Penguin Cafe Orchestra.

Is music a drug?

It can be.

What has been the strangest reaction to one of your show?

Someone at the Dinosaur Jr show said it would sound better if I played the guitar with my feet.

Where are you taking the Alexander Tucker arkestra for the next album?

The new album is like a cross between David Crosby, Neurosis and Terry Riley.

What’s been rotating on your stereo?

I’ve been listening to Moss a british doom metal three piece, Richard Youngs and some of the finnish stuff on fonal

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