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Posted: 2012-01-13 00:00:00
Updated: 2012-01-13 18:36:55
Mood: joyful
Folks, today marks 3 years since my surgery in 2009.
I was having such a wonderful time in Chicago today, walking in the snow and having lunch with friends, that I forgot all about it.
Your support, efforts, prayers, and well-wishes, then and now, are why I was healthy and happy enough to forget for a while that it ever even happened. I truly would not be here without you, and you all know who you are.
Thank you, my Ravens and my friends. I'm so glad you're here, and I'm so glad you're reading this.
Posted: 2012-01-08 00:00:00
Updated: 2012-01-08 21:39:49
Mood: content
Miss Bobo had to edit the interview for length, so I figured I'd post the whole thing here. Hope you enjoy. :) There were some fun questions in there.
Also, happy birthday Celia, Sharon, Ryan, Shae, and Brennan!
1. If you could make a music box what would it consist of?
What a fun thought! Hmm... I would like my music box to be an intricate and elegant wooden contraption, with telescoping sections and cut-outs that would slowly spin and make various designs as the music played. Perhaps it would also gently levitate somehow, maybe with some sort of candle-powered lantern apparatus attached to the top- or have that be one setting/option, and a slow-fading,
color-changing LED display be another.
There's so much music I adore that it would have to play a different song each time I wound it up, preferably songs by my friends and tour-mates ("Seething Sun" by Bekah Kelso, "Got To Fly" by Marian Call, "This Cocoon" by Ginger Doss,
"Amazon Warrior Princess" by Big Bad Gina, "Must Be the Moon" by Amy Steinberg, "Thirteen" by Vixy & Tony, "Medusa" by Heather Dale, "Secret Portal" by Scott Huckabay, "Kudzu" by Trillian Green, "The Mushroom Song" by Tricky Pixie) ...and occasionally something random, like the "Ghostbusters" song by Ray Parker, Jr. It would be
impossible to break, and it would have a lifetime warranty. :)
2. Do you have any tattoos and if so what do they mean to you?
I currently have one tattoo, with lots of plans for more in the future. My tattoo is a small, tribal Grim Reaper who sits between my shoulderblades on my back. It's done in black ink. When people ask me about it, I tell her that she is watching my back for me.
I got the tattoo when I had just turned eighteen. Later that year at my college, a Slavic classmate of mine asked me about it. When I told him the tattoo's story, he told me that in the folklore and fairy tales he was raised on, the personification of Death was always female. I liked his story so much that I then decided that the Death
pictured in my tattoo was female as well.
3. You have done a handful of concerts. What is one memorable moment of them?
((laugh!!)) Yes, I would say that in the past eight-plus years of making a living as a full-time touring performer, I have indeed done a "handful" of concerts! More like a few thousand, at this point.
Lots of interesting things have happened at my various concerts over the years as a result of so many people falling in love with the song "Alligator in the House", written by my cellist Betsy Tinney and embellished by me. The first time that that song caused something interesting was at LunaCon 2005 in NY/NJ, when a fan of mine who
happens to be a historical social dance teacher, performed a tango with her dance partner, across the back of the stage, both of them wearing bright green tango dresses and mirror-covered plush Alligator hats! They hadn't warned me before the show that they were going to do this. I thought it was great!
This type of fan participation has continued with "Alligator in the House" and has expanded to include my pirate songs (The Wendy Trilogy), "The Truth About Ninjas" (look it up on YouTube; it's worth it), and "Salad of Doom", which Betsy also helped to write.
4. A few of Rockinglicious' followers commented that they liked "Casimira", what was the inspiration or story behind it?
Wow, thank you!
The song "Casimira" was inspired by the character of the same name in Catherynne M. Valente's novel, Palimpsest. The Casimira of the book, like the Casimira of the song, is someone not to be taken lightly.
She is effectively the queen of a land of dreams, and she can be rough when she doesn't get her way. The song was directly inspired by a conversation that Casimira has with another character in the shadows of a very strange opera house, all about how so many people try to get to the land of Palimpsest and so many fail, the same way every time,
leading to despair and even suicide. Casimira has seen this happen over and over, so many times that it bores her- she even admits to laughing at it. Casimira has a sort of predatory affection for this other character, a young woman from California named November, and I hoped to evoke that in the song. "Casimira" is definitely my Nine Inch Nails moment, and I am very happy with it.
> 5. Describe a day in the life of S. J. Tucker.
Usually it goes something like this: wake up between 8-10am, put on comfortable clothing, do Qi Gong/ Pilates/ yoga or play outside if possible (usually with my hula hoop) for a few minutes, breakfast, shower, deal with a few tasks online that keep the business end of my music-business job going (booking shows, contacting friends and fans on my tour route, answering interview questions, boosting the signal about upcoming concerts on Twitter, Facebook, & etc.), take a walk or practice hoop, staff, or poi if time and weather permit (especially if I'm some place beautiful like the Pacific Northwest), eat lunch, and
then ideally get ready to drive to my next concert or rehearsal, which usually takes up the rest of the afternoon and evening. By nightfall I'm putting on my show clothes and makeup, tuning my guitar, checking all of my cables, and starting sound check. I'm visiting with fans and concert-goers, and I'm giving the best show that I can give. My head usually hits the pillow between Midnight and 2am, depending on whether I have a concert the next day or lots of traveling to do--getting enough sleep is a must for any performer.
At the moment, this routine is mostly relaxed, since I'm off the road right now visiting family and gathering strength for my February-November 2012 tours. I'm getting a lot of recording done, and I'm getting a lot of rest.
6. Werewolf or vampire?
I see your land-dwellers and raise you this: Selkie or Mermaid?
7. Your website lists "mythpunk" as one of the genres for your music. What is mythpunk?
Mythpunk is a genre that started with speculative fiction and fairytales that get radically retold by modern authors- like my friend, the aforementioned Catherynne M. Valente, who coined the term. I extend Mythpunk to include music with story-songs (what folk music is sometimes known for), for example, my trinity of tunes about Peter Pan's Wendy staying behind in Neverland to become a very successful
pirate captain. Mythpunk to me is about gorgeous word-craft and not being afraid, as a writer or composer, to take a story that's been around forever, and breathe new life into it, however weird your methods may be. Read more about Mythpunk here:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Mythpunk
8. There are a few videos of you doing spoken word. Can you give Rockinglicious a piece?
I'd love to! Here's a link to my favorite new spoken word piece:
http://tinyurl.com/cun4ph9
This is a poem I wrote this September which was published by Apex Magazine (http://apex-magazine.com/). It's called "Hot Wet Mess" and it's about a mermaid from Louisiana.
9. If you had superpowers what would they be?
((Laugh)) I'd never get too tired to sing, and I'd never get sick.
When I was younger, I used to think I'd like to be able to change the water in the water fountain to whatever I actually wanted to drink at the time (soft drinks, fruit juice, that sort of thing). And I don't know a single person who wouldn't like to be able to fly.
10. And last but not least, what is your new years resolution?
In 2012 I will remember to take time off when I need it, to do what makes Me happy whenever possible. I will act in the name of love, good music, and creativity, and I will make other people happy without wearing myself too thin. I will release a new album, if not two, and I will figure out a good balance between time on the road, time to record, and time to rest.
Posted: 2011-09-09 00:00:00
Updated: 2011-09-09 19:24:34
Check out the ASL video that my Seattle friends made for "The Truth About Ninjas"!!
Posted: 2011-03-31 00:00:00
Updated: 2011-03-31 16:49:17
Mood: pleased
The Interstitial Arts foundation interviewed my muse-sister Cat Valente and me last week, about the art we make together and apart. Every time Cat releases a book, I write new songs and new albums. It's a good partnership. Here's what we had to say.
Posted: 2011-03-22 00:00:00
Updated: 2011-03-22 15:27:24
Mood: ((love!))
SuchCoolStuff.net shows me some love today with an article/interview. It really made my morning to find this, and I hope you enjoy it!
My music video for "D&D" should premiere on YouTube soon. I don't have an actual date yet, but I will link the video here as soon as it's ready. Ben Dobyns and Dead Gentlemen Productions did a wonderful job working with me on the video, and I think you guys will really dig it--especially if you spend a lot of time with funky dice and character sheets. :)
Speaking of videos, here's the trailer for my dear friend Catherynne M. Valente's upcoming novel, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.
The music you hear is "September's Rhyme" from my Mischief album. I've been writing more songs to accompany Cat's book (Fairyland) in recent days--we'll be up to five songs total, soon, not including the lullaby that September sings in the story!
Lastly, you can hear me read one of Cat's poems, The Secret of Being a Cowboy, aloud at the Stone Telling Poetry Zine site as of today.
Lots of love from Peaks Island, Maine!
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