Black Francis and Violet Clark of Grand Duchy let us eat cake in their Eugene living room

Guitar Francis: “This one is a 1958 Martin guitar. Usually, i like to play older guitars, but with the Grand Duchy stuff, we’re so hectic that we don’t even bring instruments to the studio. i just ask the engineer if there are any there that we can use.”

Vase clark: “i am crazy about mid-century ceramics, and Jonathan adler is a contemporary potter, but he’s inspired by mid-century lines and forms. His vases totally rock my world.”

Cast iron skillet Francis: “it’s a male-dominated kitchen here. The main thing the kids ask me for is pasta. They’re all third-generation vegetarians—i’m kind of a pescatarian—and so i cook for them all vegetarian, and i’ve gotten pretty good at that.”

Herman Brood painting Francis: “Brood was a Dutch painter and rock’n’roller who jumped off the amsterdam Hilton a few years ago. i was playing a gig in Zwolle, his hometown, and a childhood chum of his came up to me and said, ‘look, i have some Broods, come to my place.’ so i went and he had a pile of them, and he just said, ‘Pick one.’ and i was like, ‘no, i can’t.’ and he said, ‘Pick one or i’m not letting you out of my warehouse.’”

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Vintage movie poster Francis: “The gentleman who sold this to me cried when i purchased it. apparently, there are only two original Mon Oncle posters in this country. i have one and Francis Ford coppola has the other. Or that’s the story they told me.”

Champagne clark: “This is our primary focus on our date nights. it starts out that it just tastes really good, and then you start asking a couple of questions about it, and then people recognize you when you walk through the door as the couple who like champagne. Before you know it, you’re learning yeast content.”

Reddi-wip clark: “reddi-wip is the reason i’m not 100 percent vegan. i can’t start my day without it.” Francis: “Even if i make homemade whipped cream, it’s not appreciated the same way.”

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Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! T-shirt clark: “next to music and champagne, comedy consumes our lives. We got a care package from Bob Odenkirk of a bunch of unmarked DVDs, and a couple of them were projects he was working on with Tim and Eric. at the time, we didn’t quite get it, but at some point we revisited it and were like, ‘Okay, these guys are actually geniuses.’”

Jude, age 11 months clark: “i’m still nursing a baby, so half the things i do on any given day, i’m doing while i’m nursing him.”

Design books clark: “That’s what i originally went to college to study, interior design. and it’s still what i want to do when i grow up. i think a person’s environment is really critical, and so those books just represent hope and creativity and making your world a piece of art.”

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BY REBECCA RABER PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN CLARK

38 JUNE 2009 / BREAKFAST SERVED ALL DAY AT SPIN.COM