Jocee Tuck

Singer/songwriter Jocee Tuck’s heavenly voice, heartfelt songs and skilled hand at a variety of instruments are the handsome result of natural talent, hard work and personal growth.
“Being disciplined wasn’t important for me until I met with other musicians who really worked on developing themselves by taking lessons and going to workshops. I’m beginning to realise writing songs is something that I have to work on,” says Tuck. “I used to write when I felt emotional so I would go to the piano and I would just pour my heart out but now I like to have a cool chord progression and I’m realising how much easier it is for me to be in that zone. I guess my writing’s now more about working at it and working hard at it rather than just oh I’m in the mood, let’s write a great song.”
Tuck has been singing since she was ten and began writing songs in her mid teens. After studying at Excel Tuck began to showcase her talent at open mic nights. “I started doing open mic nights, writing more songs and developing what I had. I did my first gig at a bar in Newmarket, from there I started doing shows,” she says.
Tuck’s most recent show was performed at the Wine Cellar, Auckland, at the beginning of this month with Catherine Walker and Mali Mali. “I’m happy I performed during Music Month but I’m only going to do that one show,” she says. “I’ve got some lined up for June though, which is nice. I’m quite busy at the moment with teaching and trying to plan a wedding.”
Although her main instruments are guitar and piano, Tuck’s live sets often include other instruments such as trumpet, banjo, glockenspiel and xylophone. “When I was at uni I heard the jazz people playing the xylophone and I thought it was really cool,” she says. “I tried to imagine what it would sound like with my own music because it is just such a heavenly sounding instrument. I guess I like it because I really like dancing and rhythm, I love how active you feel when you play it because it’s such a physical instrument but it’s quite a challenge to sing and play.”
So to sum up, you should get down to the Wine Cellar on June 11 to see Jocee Tuck, French For Rabbits and Luckless or check out Jocee Tuck (official) on Facebook because… “I’ve got some songs up on the band page,” says Tuck.

One Fun Fact: “I’m inspired by everything like trees and the countryside, mountains and musicals, other music artists like Sufjan Stevens, who I love, and friends who are totally going for their goals; they all inspire me to just keep going,” says Tuck. “Reading old books also inspires me. I really like the Enid Blyton books, the really old school ones, like Famous Five and Secret Seven. It sounds childish but I just love those adventure stories.” - pr. magazine