Interview by Adrian Hextall
Tuk Smith and The Stressed Hearts is an American rock band from Nashville based and fronted by former Biters chief Tuk Smith (initially from Atlanta). The band launched their debut single “What Kinda Love” on January 10, 2020 and had been additionally added as a gap act for The Stadium Tour with Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe on the identical day. For these of you who purchased tickets for that tour, after which held on to them till 2022 because the tour was postponed twice, might be scratching your heads considering “however I didn’t see Tuk and the band on stage”. Nicely there’s good motive for that. Let’s roll again to 2018, and the cessation of Biters and the way Tuk has bounced again, greater than as soon as, to ship some nice new music.
Debut ‘Ballad Of A Misspent Youth’ was launched on November 4th and the most recent single, ‘Women On The East Facet Of City’ delivers a glamtastic stomp stuffed rock n roll observe that makes for excellent listening because the winter nights attract:
TS: It’s my storage. [laughs] I simply sealed off the storage. I made it look fucking dope and yeah, it’s my lair.
Tuk’s biography on the band’s web site (http://www.tuksmithandtherestlesshearts.com/) talked concerning the 1000’s of hours that he’d spent in a van touring. The piece reads as if Tuk’s time may very well be higher spent with 1000’s of hours in track writing as a substitute reasonably than touring. Maybe meaning we’re going to see decreased reside exhibits from him and the band?
No, no no. I’m simply extra explicit about touring. what, with my final band, we performed each fucking dive bar up and down up and down time and again and time and again. We slept on flooring and toured with two bands and one van and we ate Subway for complete excursions. I’m not complaining, however there’s a ceiling to that. And it’s very low. [laughs]
I really can’t wait to return out. I’m fucking chomping on the bit. I’m simply making an attempt to be, you understand, you’ve bought to be just a little smarter and plan just a little extra these days with the price of touring. I need to be sure I get an excellent tour or get some nice routing. I’m simply being environment friendly.
Rewinding just a little bit, after Biters dissolved on the tail finish of 2018, Tuk regarded set to bounce again with the Stressed Hearts. New singles with Higher Noise Music had been launched, the stadium tour with Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe was booked, all the things was pointing ahead. Then all of it simply stopped lifeless. No tour, no extra music till now and the tracks launched in 2020 are lacking from the brand new album…..
[Loooong sigh…] how far in depth do you need to go? The cliff notes or the element? I’m not at liberty to talk an excessive amount of due to authorized issues, however basically they [His former label] have a protocol at their label that they’ll solely put out a launch should you had been opening a shed or stadium-sized tour. Alright so once I bought the Motley tour they scheduled my launch, all of it revolved round that tour. Now after all the shutdown occurred in March in 2020. No tour, no launch and the primary 12 months goes by and the second and I’m sitting there and I can’t even play golf equipment. We had been popping out of the pandemic or individuals had been beginning to tour once more however there was the worry that possibly the Motley Crue tour may not have occurred for a 3rd 12 months. If it had held up once more I couldn’t launch the brand new music. I begged them to let me launch music by myself and we’d choose up the deal and simply transfer on however then the in preventing it began, the connection began to decay. And if you need me to be trustworthy, that Motley Crue tour. I might be taking part in at doorways, and even earlier than doorways. No person would see me, and it was scheduled for a 15-minute set. That’s three and a half songs.
So whereas I did need to do the tour, I don’t know if it could have been wanting nice on paper, simply due to the price. I might reasonably be in control of my very own future and I took the danger. I didn’t assume the tour was going to occur for the third 12 months in a row. So, I might reasonably simply launch music and get on with my fucking life, then probably be wrapped up for our third 12 months.
In fact as quickly as that was determined, earlier than my physique, was even chilly, earlier than my file was even chilly, it was shelved and one other band was placed on the invoice to switch us. My reserving brokers dropped me, in order that they didn’t actually give a shit about me. It was simply political.
New music is nevertheless right here! The album is out and Tuk is working with a label companion that cares about him as an artist. To provide you a way of simply how fickle the trade is, the primary, now shelved, album was touted to and turned down by some 30 labels. Then he tried to get a brand new file take care of the demos of the (now) present album and was turned down by about 30 or 40 file labels largely as a result of it’s very costly to place a file out these days. Tuk although determined sufficient was sufficient;
TS: I simply stated, fuck it. I put it on my bank card and I went again with my buddy, Dan Dixon, and simply recorded six songs and I used to be simply going to launch it. I ended up getting a label companion to assist me and we recorded two extra songs. However yeah, I used to be ready simply to go on the market myself. I’ve been turned down rather a lot nevertheless it was actually discouraging, most likely the bottom level of my life.
Whenever you add on the pandemic, everyone had a tough time in the course of the pandemic, individuals misplaced companies, individuals misplaced their lives. I misplaced plenty of issues I had occurring, in order that was dangerous. I’m celebrating each small victory, each nice evaluation. I’m sitting right here and answering again to. I attempt to reply to each touch upon social media, each single one. I’m simply so grateful for any assist proper now.
I used to be going to stop music and I didn’t know what I used to be going to do. I used to be going to go work in a manufacturing unit or one thing, I had no thought as a result of I’ve no life abilities however I used to be simply pushed to the purpose the place I didn’t know what to do. So I informed myself, if I can get again to the place I used to be pre-pandemic then I can do something.
The label assist comes from Music Recording Group. Their mantra is ;
“Devoted to supporting the inventive expression of its rising roster, MRG navigates the ever-changing music panorama to information initiatives towards the conclusion of their full potential. Helmed by two completed music trade veterans with workplaces in Nashville and Los Angeles, the label is aligned worldwide with Virgin Music/Common Music and brings the steerage and sources to determine , develop and ship the superstars of tomorrow.”
Take a look at their particulars right here: https://musicrecordinggroup.com/
Doing something will contain excursions going down in 2023. Hopefully with much less dwelling on Subway meal offers day by day and crashing behind the van.
TS: Excursions are booked six months forward of time now, not less than. My new reserving company is absolutely pushing to get me on some nice excursions so any day now I may hear about one thing for early spring or later.
Proper now I’ve been speaking to a UK label to companion with as effectively. I want infrastructure to assist me into Europe. I’ve had plenty of nice Zoom calls and conferences with them and I’m supposed to listen to from quickly so want me luck. I’d love to get again over there [the UK] by summer time.
Radio nonetheless performs an enormous half in getting Tuk’s music on the market on the earth and the assist from one sure syndicated present has helped greater than most.
Once we launched the track ‘Ballad of a Misspent Youth’, we didn’t get any main love from nationwide stations however some large rock stations like Kansas Metropolis, Chicago, New York, Florida, helped get us good charts placings for some time. However then, ‘Nights with Alice Cooper’ picked it up and since they’re syndicated it could knock us proper again up in to that week’s Prime 40. I feel we’re going to go for a brand new radio single after the New 12 months. We’ll must see!
For the extra astute amongst you, you’ll recognise that the band identify is a observe from Biter’s ‘Electrical Blood’ album. A neat method of connecting the outdated with the brand new while nonetheless permitting the brand new band to have the liberty to develop on their very own.
TS: , there was by no means a band referred to as Stressed Hearts and it was a Biters track and I already knew how I wished the brand to look. Tuk Smith and the Stressed Hearts, phonetically it’s nice as effectively. And like I stated audio-visual. The identify, the brand, all of it has to attach. To me the the wrong way up coronary heart with the tear, it simply labored. I simply need that iconic, I need to be that iconic rock and roll band.
Our Biters followers had a membership referred to as Biters Military. There was so many individuals that bought that spider tattoo / Biters brand. Hopefully with the Stressed Hearts, as soon as we begin touring once more we’ll get a membership referred to as the ‘Stressed Hearts Rock and Roll membership’. That’s how I would like my songs to really feel, I would like it to really feel like dwelling. Such as you’ve heard it earlier than nevertheless it’s new. It simply feels snug. Yeah, that’s my objective.
Yow will discover the album ‘Ballad of a Misspent Youth’ on a mess of platforms by clicking right here:
