Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV-- a.k.a. solo artist Frank Black, a.k.a. Pixies founder Black Francis (the latter of which, for those keeping track, is his current moniker du jour)--has embarked on yet another project, this one a duo dubbed Grand Duchy [ tickets ]. His partner in crime is bassist/keyboardist Violet Clark, who isn't just any old musician--she's Francis's wife.

"I think we found it pretty challenging in the beginning," Francis, speaking by phone from the couple's Portland, OR, home, said of reconciling married life with their joint creative endeavor, "but I think, for the most part now, we find it to be kind of a solid environment, or solid context or whatever, to be working on a project."

"We had to find the balance of power," Clark added. "It's kind of great, because we were having to do that anyway, just in our regular relationship, and it seems like, when we figured it out through the band, it got resolved elsewhere in our lives, too. So our whole relationship now is a lot more harmonious."

The balance of power wasn't the only hurdle Clark said she needed to overcome when she and Francis decided to go all-in on making their first full-length album, "Petit Fours," which hit stores last month.

"I think I had to get over some inhibitions or confusion about my role as a music-maker, because, obviously, he was a well-established musician and I was more of a hobbyist," she explained. "... I think I had to prove to him, too, that I was competent and capable, because he works with a lot of fine musicians, and just because I'm his wife--he wouldn't indulge me in that way. He's just not that kind of guy who'd risk his cred."

Francis said that the road to Grand Duchy started when Clark began playing an ever-increasing role in his own work.

"A couple of times, I was doing a recording session and I asked her to participate [by] just doing some background vocals ," he said. "That kind of participation [became more frequent], because she always did a great job whenever she did it."

The groundwork was further laid while Francis was recording his most recent solo release, last year's "Svn Fingers" EP.

"I was working very quickly and I needed the bass done on it," he recalled, "and I just said, 'Hey, honey, bring your bass to the studio; you've got a day, or a day-and-a-half, or whatever.' It's like, 'Here you go. Play bass. Goodbye! I'll go watch the kids!'"

And there are plenty of kids to watch, which made Grand Duchy's recent mini-tour of the West Coast a true family affair.

"We have five kids, and three of 'em were with us," Francis said. "So it was kind of challenging--hotels and traveling in vans and RVs and stuff; doing all that with small children was pretty hard work."

Despite the challenges of balancing family life with their musical pursuits, Francis and Clark said that they hope to do more as Grand Duchy.

"I mean, what's not to like?" Francis said. "In terms of the making of the music and even the playing of the shows, that's all a wonderful experience, so we're certainly motivated to make it happen."

"The creative end of it is really fun and successful, so, as far as creatively, yeah," Clark added. "We've done some more work since this record came out, and it sounds really hot. It sounds really good to me, so I wanna do more."

As for whether his best known musical project, The Pixies, has any plans brewing, Francis had this to say:

"There's never any plans. Always a lot of cheap talk, but I can't say there are any plans."