Duke & Goldie, an interview
In the wake of the pandemic, Eric “The Duke” Duquette and Jena “Goldie” Logo, aka Duke & Goldie, left their lives behind and moved across the the vastness of Canada, but they managed to fill their time writing music and planning for the future. They recently released a new, self-titled EP and just finished up a tour, so we thought we would take advantage of their downtime and ask them some questions. Eric returned our call:
UpToHear: First of all, where are you from exactly?
Duke & Goldie: I grew in Moncton, on the East Coast of Canada and began making music there in my early teens.
UTH: In your email, you mentioned that you vibe with artists from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Would you say that these were your inspiration?
D&G: My parents have always had great taste in music and would always be playing ’60s and ’70s songwriters and bands, like Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell, among many others around the house, so I was hooked on that music from a young age. “Heart Of Gold” by Neil Young was the first song I learned to play on guitar and his guitar playing and songwriting is still one of the biggest influences on me to this day.
UTH: Your self-titled EP was just released. How much of it was written during the pandemic?
D&G: I think pretty much all of it was. We had the framework for “Sage and Cedar” years before, as more of a full band rock song, but we re-worked it as more of a folk/protest type song. The Panny (as we affectionately called the pandemic) was the first time we had the chance to really take the necessary time and space to dream up these songs and this new project that became Duke & Goldie.
UTH: There are many artists who have completely done away with releasing anything other than singles. What led to your decision to, instead, release an EP? Do these six songs belong together?
D&G: Because they we were written during the same period, they did feel like they belonged together. Themes of self-discovery permeate through all the songs, which reflects the mindset we were in at the time.
UTH: If someone wanted to get an idea of Duke & Goldie’s sound, which song on the EP would you recommend?
D&G: Definitely “Courage.” It’s a lot of the ingredients of our sound; Jena’s beautiful voice, vocal harmonies, country inflections, a folk/storytelling style of lyrics and a groovy rhythm.
UTH: You just finished a tour. How much of the world did you get to see?
D&G: It was our first-ever 16 show Canada-wide tour! All the way from Vancouver to Halifax (with a few gaps, hoping to make it to more cities next time).
UTH: Any plans to get back out there? Or will you be enjoying some time off?
D&G: We have some upcoming shows over the summer: June 10th at The Painted Ship in Vancouver, July 30th at Container Brewing in Vancouver and Aug 23rd at Butchart Gardens in Victoria. And there’s plenty more to come!
UTH: One last question: If you could perform with any artist, who would it be and why?
D&G: Neil Young. He’s just such a legend and huge influence on me, plus Neil keeps you on your toes if your playing with him so it would definitely be interesting!
Keep your eyes peeled for more Duke & Goldie shows, but, until then, be sure to give their new EP a spin:
-TM