Mini Interview: Ducky

Ducky is a singer/songwriter and programmer.

What got you started?

Heartache and drugs. I was singing and playing instruments long before either of those things - I actually started forming “bands” when I was 8 or 9 years old - but when music became my passion and my therapy it really got me focused.

How do you know when something you are working on is finished?

It’s a gut feeling. You start to get this sense of pride, you listen to the track and it feels good, complete, something. It can be wrong, though. My strategy is to stop at that point, send the track out to a few choice friends, and see what I hear back. Or, even better, play it in front of people. There’s nothing that’s going to point the kinks out faster than awkwardly sitting through them with your friends.

When do you like to use chance or random processes?

I’ve used chance a lot in various iterations of my live set, though my current setup doesn’t employ it as much. I’m a big fan of using subtle random processes to create texture in a track - things that you might not notice at first, but create a continuously evolving landscape beneath your track to keep it moving and flowing.

What’s something that you would like to be able to do with technology in your work but you can’t at the moment?

I think the next move is all about ways we interact with music, specifically in live performance. I want to be able to touch my music, to have the audience touch my music or to have a whole performance become a sort of… physical conversation between us. I actually think most of that stuff is coming, though. Maybe there’s someone reading this who wants to create that stuff with me - tell them to holler!

What inspires you?

Humans, mostly. My music is intensely personal and interpersonal. It grows in the space between myself and those around me. Every person I’ve ever met has had an effect on my art in some way.

What is the most difficult obstacle you need to overcome in order to do your thing?

Myself. I’m my own worst critic, and it can be stifling / maddening / exhausting. I’ve been working hard on just letting go, putting my work out there and seeing what comes.

Ducky's website

Ducky's label Stoop Kid Records will be releasing her EP, You On Top, in May 2014.