The 50-year-old Pennsylvania-born artist Corin Tucker is a guitarist, vocalist, and co-founder of the iconic feminist indie rock band, Sleater-Kinney. Along with Carrie Brownstein, Tucker has been a constant in the group ever since its formation in the 1990s.
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But with so much history and impact on her career, one might wonder what Tucker has to say about the world outside of her important songs. What are her thoughts on life and love, her band, her relationship with Brownstein, and more?
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These are the 20 best Corin Tucker quotes.
1. “I try to relish each of the roles I play in life. If I’m cooking dinner for the kids, I throw on my polka-dotted apron. I might don a smart blazer if I am doing a work presentation. If I play a rock show, there may indeed be glitter and fishnets involved. It’s my way of saying, ‘Thank you, I am glad to be here.’”
2. “I do think we have a long way to go in terms of the culture around women still being career women, and asking a woman about her career and her work, just seeing them as fully validated human beings in the workplace.”
3. “When I started playing music, it was all face-to-face.”
4. “I think having musical training as a child was really, really important. I studied piano as a child. Piano is a great instrument to understand musical theory on. I think I have that in my brain somewhere.”
5. “I do love dance music. I love Daft Punk. I mean, I was a child in the ’80s, so bands like the Eurythmics and just so many great ’80s bands were dance bands, but they had the whole soul thing happening, too.”
6. “I think Pussy Riot is amazing. I’m honored that they were inspired by riot grrl, and obviously they’re making history around the world.”
7. “I feel really privileged that I’ve been able to be an activist and a musician for over 20 years now, and I’ve always been able to say whatever I want. I think that’s something we Americans really take for granted, but it’s a big deal, and it’s not something most people in the world are able to do.”
8. “I think there’s a huge lack of political artists in America, and I think it really speaks to our consumeristic culture and how people are driven to be financially successful here. It’s such a shame that we don’t have people who are more inspired than that.”
9. “Part of this whole Sleater-Kinney 2.0 is breaking the rules. We wanted to tell our story… we feel like we need to stand up for ourselves.”
10. “I feel really lucky. My fans are incredibly loyal. They encourage me to keep going. I feel more torn, trying to fulfill what my kids need. It’s really huge. They’re doing so well.”
11. “I think the B-52’s were a huge influence on Sleater-Kinney. The way that there’d be a really interesting guitar line that’d be really melodic and kind of simplistic, I really related to that. The sense of melody is really intense and fun. It’s not just traditional song structures, but it’s very melodic and draws you in, in kind of an immediate way.”
12. “When in doubt, I always go vintage! Get a ruffled dress and throw a t-shirt over it.”
13. “There are so many times that, as a woman in the music industry, you’re asked questions no male musician would ever be asked.”
14. “The first show I ever played was the International Pop Underground Convention in Olympia, Washington. It was girl night, and I was in Heavens To Betsy. I had just turned 18.”
15. “I’ve always been a writer who does simplistic, simple melodies. But I think it works.”
16. “I’m pretty straightforward as a performer, but I do have a bit of a diva in me.”
17. “Twenty years later, twenty years after I joined the women’s movement, we’re still talking about the same issues. We’re still talking about reproductive rights for women, and we’re still talking about getting equal pay for women. And that’s just frustrating.”
18. “I think that, by and large, the predominant voice we hear in rock music is a white male voice.”
19. “It’s great for my daughter to see Beyonce and Taylor Swift, women that are in charge of their own careers, writing songs from their own perspective and taking people to task. That’s very different from when I was growing up—it was all like, ‘Stand by your man.’”
20. “My love of reading and the English language is something given to me by my parents, and I’ve passed it on to my children.”
Photo by Jason Merritt/FilmMagic
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