Duke Fame
By Will Mason
Photo by Justin Sonfield

Decatur, GA’s Duke Fame entered the scene in 2003. Possibly 2002. They can’t quite remember. What’s not in question is that their sophomore record, Too Proud to Practice, is finally ready after a near-complete line-up change and several starts and stops to the recording process.

The band isn’t your average group of 19-year-olds who serve coffee and shoot heroin by day and record and tour by night. Each of the band members’ 20s are in the rearview mirror, but they still have a passion for this particular brand of power-pop.
The band’s line-up consists of guitarist Steve Tockerman, vocalist/guitarist Brandon Firfer, bassist Mike Ciarochi (“the only real musician in the band,” according to Tockerman) and new drummer Donnie Smith. Tockerman has been the only mainstay in the band and has largely been its guiding force, though Firfer also wrote several songs on the new record, both solo and with Tockerman.

With the band’s influences ranging from Redd Kross to Paul Westerberg to Big Star, the recording process for Too Proud to Practice began in October 2005 and ended in May 2006. There were several delays along the way, as Tockerman says, “You can’t get the four of us to agree on dinner, much less recording and practicing. We’ve actually gotten much more consistent since Donnie joined the band.”

The band members have a frank approach to rock ‘n’ roll as it stands today, as well as to their contemporaries. Tockerman says, “We write songs, which a lot of bands don’t. Nobody uses background vocals or middle 8s. We’re so passé it’s almost original. A song is a song; you only have 11 notes. Most everything has been done, and all you can do stylistically is re-interpret it. It’s really difficult to write original rock ‘n’ roll. It’s always had moments, and I’m still waiting for the next one. There hasn’t been one since Nirvana, really.”

Firfer’s take on what’s popular is similar: “So many modern rock stations are playing what they think we like, but it’s really just being pushed on us.”
Tockerman’s approach to his songs acknowledges his inspirations without necessarily channeling them. “I can’t write like my influences. I can’t sit down and say I want to write a great Soft Boys or Teenage Fanclub song. I tried to write a Teenage Fanclub song and it sounded like the Rutles.” The world of Cheap Trick and Guided by Voices is certainly new to Smith, who says, “I’ve never played this style of music before, the punk/power-pop stuff. It makes me a better musician.”

Lyrically, Tockerman tries to come up with a slightly skewed perspective. Of “Careen,” off the new record, he says, “I consciously tried to make it into a love song because Careen sounds like a girl’s name, but it’s really just about a car crash.”

“With the CDs in hand,” says Firfer, “we’ll have the confidence to take to the road a little more seriously.” While the band has toured sporadically over the years, most of the shows have been local. Tockerman says, “When you can leave your job for two weeks, it’s a little different. We’ve played out of town a bit, but we’re more into weekend warrior-type touring. None of us has a real aversion to it, and we’ve all got stable jobs and can afford to do it. If we start getting into festivals, we’ll get on a plane and play it, and we’re all tight enough that if someone needs it, the other three will chip in and buy him a plane ticket.”

The spirit of Guided by Voices looms large over Duke Fame, though not just for the music. “For better or for worse, forgetting the songs and how great they are, I think they're a model career-wise. They were in their late 30s, early 40s before they made it." Firfer adds, "No one ever told them what to write or do. I like bands whose following will let them do what they want. Fugazi was the same way."

Ultimately, the band is powered by a genuine love for rock 'n' roll. Tockerman sums it up: "We do this because we like it. We don't need it to pay the bills; no one's career is riding on this. If you hate it, you hate it. If you like it, you like it. We're not trying to reinvent the wheel. We just try to write good songs and play them relatively well. We haven't played that much, but we've blown the doors off almost every band we've played with, no matter how drunk we are."

www.dukefame.net