The Rubens [Interview]
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UK: get ready for an Australian invasion. With their new album Hoops, The Rubens are patiently strutting their way toward world domination – and any blues- and soul-oriented rock fans whose ears get bent by those eleven tracks are likely to find themselves swept away.
Produced by a behind-the-board team boasting Grammy wins and collaborations with Lana Del Rey, Coldplay, and The Strokes, it’s little surprise that Hoops sounds as big, flavourful, and vital as it does. Check out my full review here, and read on for an in-depth chat with The Rubens…
Your new album Hoops has been released across the world. How’re you feeling about its reception so far?
It’s been received really well so far. Particularly in Australia, because it’s been out over there for quite a while now. We’ve just toured the US and it seems to be going well over there. The new songs are going down really well.
We are yet to see how it goes in the UK as it’s only just been released – but fingers crossed!
Hoops is clearly a very personal album. How did you evolve as musicians and people over the course of its creation?
We learned a lot about who we are as musicians and the direction we’d like to take while making this one. Realised that the most important thing to us is being truly happy with what we release and that compromise is not the way!
Record labels et cetera can try and influence your direction, but by far the most important thing is staying true to yourselves. You’ve gotta listen to these creations for the rest of your lives.
What was your creative process while writing and recording Hoops?
We tried to do what we thought most bands do and write songs while jamming together.
It didn’t work.
We ended up reverting back to our original method of writing individually and then finessing the songs at the end as a band. We are pretty shy when it comes to songwriting. It’s very personal and it’s pretty full on trying to be creative, whether it’s lyric writing or melody, in front of other people.
We also wrote this record in like seven different locations. I find that if I start to get writer’s block, the best way to overcome it is to change this up and change my location. It revitalises things.
Hallelujah and Hold Me Back reference higher powers; could you please elaborate a little on your spiritual / religious views?
We grew up around Christianity. We saw a lot of hypocrisy. We aren’t anti-religion now, but I guess it’s become a bit of a theme on this record.
Hallelujah is about people forcing their beliefs onto others, and in turn making their religion look worse than it actually is. Bad representatives for what should essentially be a good cause.
How do you want to see the world change?
Better distribution of wealth. Tax the wealthy, give the less fortunate a chance.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received about pursuing a career in music?
Never think that you’ve “made it”. You can always be better. We’ve definitely learnt that over the years.
You’re currently touring in support of Hoops; what’s the most random thing that’s ever happened during one of your shows?
We were playing an all ages show in Sydney and a training bra got thrown on stage. I was a little disturbed.
If money and good taste were no object, what would your stage setup look like?
Gold everything.
Beyond your current album and touring activities, what does the future hold?
We are writing our third record now. We’ve got a pretty strong direction we are heading in, and it’s really exciting!
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