Lucky Chucky

Lucky Chucky

Lucky Chucky is best known as the drummer for Bret Michaels Band. He is also a long time member of the band Evick. Hailing from Woodbridge, Virginia, Lucky Chucky proves they know how to rock in the small towns too. I recently set down with him to catch up on what it is like to work with two of the hardest working bands in the business.

Maximum Ink:There isn’t much about you out there. Care to catch us up? Where are you from and who are some of your earliest influences? When did you first learn to play the drums?
Lucky Chucky: I was born in Manassas, Virginia, just outside of Washington DC. My earliest influences would be Peter Criss and Keith Moon from KISS and The Who respectively. I started playing drums in the 6th grade at school. But I never actually started learning to play a drum set until midway through high school.

MI: When did you first know you wanted to be a professional musician? Why do you think you love music as much as you do?
LC: Probably knew this is what I wanted to do the first time I heard KISS “Alive”. So about age 6 or so. I was a fan of music in general and grew up listening to all sorts of music. But when I heard my first LIVE album and got to hear the crowd, I could almost feel the energy coming through my speakers. That did it! I wanted to feel that energy in person & a lot! I think my love for music comes from my childhood.I was raised listening to music. From Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers, Elvis, Ricky Nelson, to Tanya Tucker, Anne Murray, you name it, I listened to it. I was fortunate enough to see Elvis in concert before he passed, which was a huge moment in my young life. Although I have very little recollection of it, the ones I have are great! 

MI: Do you think it is harder to get a start when you come from a smaller town?
LC:  In today’s music industry, no. With the digital age of music it is so much easier to get your product into the hands of many. And really quick! If you have a product people are interested in, they can have it.No need for record labels, etc. Where as previously, you needed a record in the store to be able to get your music into the public’s hands. So you had to have the ability to get it there. Now there are very few record stores left. Everything is downloaded, instant and no label required.

MI: Do you ever miss home while on the road?
LC: I do miss home. How can you not? You basically leave most of your friends, family and loved ones for months at a time. But when you are on the road, you have another family. And that makes it a little easier. Plus, as busy as you are, you don’t really have a lot of time to stop and think about it.

MI: When was Evick formed? Can you tell us a little more about them?
LC: Evick was “officially” formed in 2000 I believe. However, Pete and I have been playing together since somewhere in the 1987 or 1988 area .We have been through a million band members and band names in that time. But I believe around 2000 is when it became EVICK. Since that time we have mostly solidified the members and have kept the name. We have 1 full length album and 1, 5 song EP which are both available at all digital retailers, through Dreamscape Music. We have another EP that was scheduled to release last October, but due to touring and other things has been put on hold. Hopefully we will be able to get it released this year. It is all done but, being on the current tour with Bret, we wouldn’t be able to do any type of touring to support it, so when we can do that, we’ll get it out there!

MI: What is it like to work with Bret Michaels?  What have you learned from the experience?
LC: Working with Bret is great! He is an extremely driven, hard working and determined individual, both musically and personally. He wants nothing less than the best at all times. He has really been helpful in teaching, without realizing it or trying, us ways to approach Evick as well. We have learned a lot from him and have applied it to Evick since joining forces with Bret. 

MI: Evick was asked to join him and also became known as BMB. Is it a challenge to perform in both?
LC: We actually became the BMB (Bret Michaels Band) in 2004. We had known Bret for a long time and been his opening act for portions of his first two solo tours in 2003 and Spring of 2004. Later that year he was looking for new members we and were fortunate enough to receive the call. It is not too much of a challenge doing both. It’s just an adjustment getting used to putting one on hold while doing the other and so forth. Most bands focus all of their attention on one thing… we have to balance it into two. But fortunately, they are both headed by driven, creative, and talented people (Bret & Pete), so both are able to flourish.

MI: What do you like to do in your spare time?
LC: Spare time? What is that? haha. When you play full time in two bands and play 200+ shows a year, there is not a lot of free time. But when there is a bit, I tend to watch tv, play X-Box, just basic “down time” stuff.

MI: Can you give us one little known interesting fact about yourself?
LC: I have never taken a drum lesson in my life.

MI: What projects are in the works for Evick and BMB?
LC: Well, Bret has a brand new album called Custom Built, which will hit stores on June 8. We will be back on tour May 28.And will tour most of the year, including a summer amphitheatre tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd and 38 Special. Visit www.bretmichaels.com for all the tour dates, VIP Ticket Packages and to preorder the new album. As for Evick, we are writing new material for a new full length album, will be releasing the EP ‘Real Thing’ in the more near future. We may also release a little bit of fun stuff between the two. To hear some of the new material stop by myspace.com/EVICK. To purchase the existing records visit itunes or your favorite digital music retailer.

Contact Maximum Ink music magazine

• Contact: Webmaster(at)maximumink.com
• (608) 245-0781
• No Longer Accepting Unsolicited Packages
  Please email Webmaster or call for more info