Page 30 - Black Velvet Issue 93

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peaking to Tuk backstage before the Poison Arrows didn’t work out, and then What made him change? We ask.
Sshow, he tells us that when he was came Biters, the band we see before us today. “I just wanted to be good,” he replies. “And
young, music was a big outlet for him. “That’s all “We kind of hit the ground running,” says Tuk it kind of went hand in hand with becoming
I really had, especially where I grew up. I would about Biters. “I kind of had a network of friends driven. I have depression issues and anxiety, I’m
just sit in front of my little CD player. I listened to around the country, and the positive thing about just a ball of stuff, so anything I can do that’s
Green Day and Sex Pistols and then, when I got social media is that you can contact them right positive and natural, I know it’s not the rock ‘n’
more teenage-angsty, it was shit like Black Flag away and book a show. We started playing roll thing to do at all, but the unhealthy lifestyle
and really angry stuff like that. Music’s always every dive bar we could on the East Coast. Our was not doing good. I don’t want to be on any
been a way for me to get away.” guitar player, Matt, is from Baltimore, which is kind of medication, I want to try to keep it natu-
He didn’t choose to be a musician for a pro- really close to Philadelphia and New York and ral. I try to meditate. I do Bikram yoga. I’m into a
fession, but instead, music kind of chose him. Boston, so we would drive in a car to Baltimore, lot of New Age stuff. I don’t usually talk about
“I didn’t go to college because I got kicked to Matt’s house, with our guitars in the back, this to people because it really pisses people off,
out of high school. I because I should
couldn’t go back so I be drinking Jack
couldn’t finish it. There Daniels at a strip
was no way for me to club!”
afford to go to college. I When we
tried to go down to the mention we’re
college campus and fill vegan, Tuk tells us
out forms to try and get that he too doesn’t
some kind of a grant. I eat meat.
had orange hair or “Did you go to
something crazy. They the vegan place
wouldn’t pay me any at- today?” he asks
tention so I got so mad us. “It’s a new one,
and just left the cam- it’s amazing… I’m
pus. I ended up just about 90% vegan,
partying for a while. I because on tour
was squatting in a it’s so hard to
house and ended up check every little
starting a band called thing, but I don’t
The Heart Attacks. We eat any meat.
signed to Hellcat Sometimes there’s
Records. I was 18 or a little dairy, but at
19. So it wasn’t like “I home I don’t eat
want to be a musician.” any. Touring
I kind of fell into it.” makes it very diffi-
After a while, The cult, especially in
Heart Attacks broke up mainland Europe,
and Tuk’s next band even the bread
was Poison Arrows. has stuff in it. So
“I wanted to do my yeah, I’d die if I
own band and I realized only ate nuts and
I didn’t know how to berries on tour, but
sing and I didn’t know I do my best to
how to write songs. In keep it 100%.”
Poison Arrows, my Tuk’s an ani-
friend Michael Port- mal lover who has
wood, he was in the posted photos of
Heart Attacks, he was his two dogs on In-
helping me write songs, stagram. One of
and then I kinda real- his dogs, Gypsy
ized I shouldn’t have to Rosalee, actually
depend on anybody inspired the song
else and I had to figure ‘Gypsy Rose’ on
it out myself. If I can fig- ‘The Future Ain’t
ure out how to write What It Used To
songs and learn how to Be’.
be a frontman, anybody “I love my dog
can, because it was more than any-
something I didn’t do thing; she’s very
my whole life at all. I special. The song,
didn’t grow up writing I was just sitting in
songs, I never sang, I my kitchen singing
was never a frontman. I to my dog on an
never had a desire to acoustic guitar,
be a frontman. I was just started to sing
just put into the position it – and I always
where I had to sink or swim, I guess you could practice in Baltimore, then play up and down the sing to my dogs and fuck around with them, but
say. And if I think about how far I’ve come, it’s East Coast, ‘cause Matt had a van. We played this time I was like, “Oh, this is really awesome,”
pretty awesome, but during the day-to-day grind every fucking dive bar, every town we could, for so it kind of developed itself.”
of life, you don’t really think about it. You’re not a couple of years, just did it really D.I.Y. No plan; Tuk wrote on Instagram under a photo of
really living it in that state. I was doing a lot of really haphazard. I wouldn’t want to relive those himself doing yoga, ‘If my 17-year-old self met
partying… a lot… and I was seeing my friends days again, but we did put the work in, 100%.” my current self he would’ve called me a Pussy
doing a lot of partying, and some staying stag- and tried to whoop my ass’. He tells us, “I think
nant, so I decided to try and pull myself away ver the years, Tuk has matured a lot. “I the main difference when I was 17 is that I didn’t
from that and figure out how to become good Oused to be a really bad person,” Tuk re- think about the future at all. And now, I do think
and successful. There’s no book, there’s no col- veals. “I didn’t care about anything. I was a ni- about the future. It stresses me out because I
lege for it, you’ve kind of got to do it, so… It can hilist. I liked violence, I liked partying, doing a lot can only really go about a week ahead of time
be lonely at times.” of drugs. Just a general piece of shit.” before I get a lot of anxiety. So, to be honest, I
BITERS