Vic Ruggerio – Stuff in My Pockets

By starrymag | March 31, 2023

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

 

 

Q) How would you best describe your sound?

 

A) I suppose I play American music from before the 80s…Really anywhere in between 1920 and 1980 is my sound. [laughs] Blues and rock n’ roll is the catch all.

 

Q) Who are your Top 3 musical influences?

 

A) Whew! Chess Records blues all around. Howlin Wolf, Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters. And then the early rock n roll punk from NYC like Johnny Thunders.

 

Q) Tell us the story behind the single “Adam and Eve.”

 

A) Oh, I literally drove past a road somewhere in Montana or eastern, Washington, that I hadn’t driven past for twenty-five years… And it all came back in a flash… I just started singing into my phone as I was trucking along, just like having a real conversation with an old lover and friend I wanted to talk to and hadn’t for a million years.

 

Q) Before “Adam and Eve” you released “Everyday Things” and also shot a music video for it. How did you come up with the concept for the video?

 

A) That was Andrew and the guys at Org Music. I’m not well known as a good actor!! [laughs] So, when someone wants to make a video, I told them, “Just let me play and sing, and do what I do normally, and you tell me if I look like a jerk.”

 

Q) What message do you hope people take away from “Adam and Eve?”

 

A) Some of us remember when the cities were empty, and the world seemed a blank canvas… I’m sure there’s more blank canvases out there these days…

But some of us know each other from before… before this time even began. And so many things I see around us are the result of those embryonic blank canvas days when all we had was our imaginations. I didn’t even realize it was special back then.

 

Q) “Adam and Eve” is the latest off of your new solo album Stuff in My Pockets. Since its release earlier this month, what has been the overall reaction to the new album from fans and listeners?

 

A) Really good… especially from some of the good long time and critical fans… ha! They’re supportive but let me know if I’ve strayed into any bullshit…”Lonesome Track” has been a surprising request…You know, sometimes I know I got a good one…I know there are lines that people relate to or park their ears up…and then there’s surprises like that one. Not that I’m not proud of it, but I wouldn’t have guessed that would be the one folks are yelling out at me.

 

Q) I absolutely love the new album, especially the song “Right and Wrong.” Which song was your favorite to write and record for Stuff in My Pockets?

 

A) That one is cathartic…I mean, any good song I sing should be…I wanna get it out! But “Right and Wrong” feels like a mix between a Woody Allen movie and Iggy Pop song that my life seems to be.

 

Q) What is your songwriting process? Do you need music before you come up with lyrics?

 

A) No process. It’s all a surprise…If I need a line, all I gotta do is wait and somebody will scream it on a train at somebody…

 

Q) I also love your work with The Slackers! The last album Don’t Let the Sunlight Fool Ya has such a different vibe from your solo work. What do you love most about getting to perform with The Slackers and also getting to perform solo?

 

A) Just when I get sick of hangin with the Slackers I go do solo gigs…and then I get back to The Slackers and I feel like, “Thank god for these guys! Somebody else can drive!”

It’s also nice to be able to stand on stage and there’s five other people making noise…When it’s just me, if I’m not talking or singing…nobody is…

 

Q) In addition to new music, you’ve also been on tour this month in California and will be playing a show in NY before heading to Europe in March and returning for some dates with The Slackers in April. What can fans expect from coming to the upcoming shows?

 

A) I did California with Chris Murray cuz we just made a little covers album called “52 Pick Up.” And Lauren Napier was on half the gigs… together we’re The Witch & The Burro. I like to collaborate.

On the East Coast I asked Todd Fausnacht (formerly of The Snails/Dull Blue Lights) to play guitar with me… He’s on about half of Stuff in my Pockets… His old band was a great rhythm section… Some are now the band Catbite…. But I recorded with them one day randomly and it became half the album… Todd made great guitar hooks!!

Also, I played with Simon Chardiet at the Brooklyn gig… We opened the night as The Mooks… a blues doo wop duet… we also made some great recordings… I’m lucky to play with great folks

 

Q)Which songs are your favorite to perform live at not only solo shows, but with The Slackers?

 

A) It changes all the time… But the free form ones I enjoy and they’re always better live than anything! “Garlic is The Sun”…”Animals”… those are like theater. [laughs]

And I like playing old punk and rock n roll…”I Can Only Give You Everything” by Them… so good. The Slackers. – I think I like “The Boss” and “Peculiar.” Real catharsis again!

 

Q) Who would you love to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

A) I wish somebody like Leon Bridges or Dolly Parton would give me a call… Billy Joel would like my tunes I hope…and The Slackers as a band…I wonder… I heard he wrote lots of his songs as reggae!![laughs] If only!! Bob Dylan I think would like The Slackers… and he’d hang out and listen to records with Dave…Boy George, too! I would bet is totally on the same page as us taste-wise… Cyndi Lauper too…oh…we could make some great tunes!

 

Q) What would you like to say to your fans and supporters of your music?

 

A) I say: “My gosh! Thanks for making me feel not so all alone! I hope I did the same for ya…What’s the next song you wanna hear?”