Uncle Kracker's Words of Wisdom
April 7, 2010
If one had to describe Uncle Kracker’s music, the best word would be “indefinable.” Though he got his start as a DJ for Kid Rock, for the past decade Uncle Kracker has cultivated an impressive career of his own by implementing elements of hip-hop, rock and country into a unique amalgam of music. Uncle Kracker’s latest album Happy Hour shot up to the top of the country charts aided by the smash single “Smile,” proving that there’s nothing that Uncle Kracker can’t accomplish if he puts his mind to it. AtlanticRecords.com caught up with him on the road to hear about what he’s learned from his experiences with Kid Rock and how he applies that to his own music and, more importantly, to his daily life.
You’ve co-written some of Kid Rock’s biggest songs. Do you approach those differently than you do your own material?
Maybe a little bit differently and the only reason why I say that is because there are some things that I wouldn’t do or say if it was going to be my own song. I guess it’s only different because the story you’re telling when you’re writing with someone else may not always be one of your own.
Do you know when you’re writing a song that it will be huge or are you sometimes surprised at what gets popular?
Going in you always feel like you know what’s going to happen, like, “Oh, this is gonna be a smash!” and usually it ends up being something completely different than you expected, so you never know until it happens. Also you’re so involved in the process when you’re writing these records that you have a biased opinion—so when the whole thing is over with you think you just wrote Dark Side Of The Moon. You always feel like you just wrote Thriller. [Laughs.]
A lot of people discovered you through Kid Rock but you’ve been able to develop your own career through your solo albums. How do you think you’ve been able to forge your own path?
The only thing that I can credit is everything that I’ve learned from Kid Rock. He’s my best friend and older brother and I’ve learned so much from him. I always give credit where credit is due and I can definitely attribute a lot to him.
Did he teach you a lot about life in addition to what you learned about the music business?
Yes, he’s taught me just about everything. I’ve always looked up to him and still look up to him and really value his opinion on everything. I met Kid Rock when I was 13 and from the time I could learn how to drive to the time I could learn to drink, he’s taught me about how to do every one of those things.
If there were one thing that Kid Rock taught you that you apply to your daily life what would it be?
The thing I’ll never forget is how to take it easy and to try to take things a lot less seriously.
Why do you think that’s so important?
It’s easy to get uptight and cry over spilled milk and it’s easy to ruin your day over something stupid, so I learned to let a lot of things go and accept the things I can’t change. Once you do that, you can handle anything.