Over the last five years, The Rubens have proven themselves a living embodiment of that classic Kelly/Carmody lyric, “From little things, big things grow”.
They’re the little acorn that fell from the tree, rolling out and away from their humble country town beginnings to plant their roots and blossom into a mighty oak of musical achievement.
Last year alone saw their second album Hoops catapulting the five-piece to the top two of both the ARIA and iTunes charts, before they marched out across the country to win legions of fans on a sold-out 22-date national tour. The album’s title single was certified platinum and topped the triple j Hottest 100, captivating even more followers with their resonant blues rock sound – no small feat for a band from a sleepy town like Menangle, population 877.
And that’s part of The Rubens’ massive appeal: the Margin brothers Sam, Zaac and Elliott are small-town boys who spent their younger years jamming in their bedrooms with their childhood friends Scott Baldwin and William Zeglis. Never did they conceive of music as a serious career path, nor did they have any issues with being around family so often.
“I don’t think any of us thought we’d do this as a career, just a hobby,” says keyboardist Elliott. “For us it’s something we did in our bedrooms as a hobby, not thinking it would be a job or career, then five years after that, that’s all we’ve done – write and play music. I almost feel guilty sometimes when I think about it, because I know there’s people who that’s all they want to do and they don’t get that lucky break we had, which is a shame – we just kind of fell into it.
“We [brothers] get along really well. We’re lucky we’re not Gallagher-esque in our relationship – for us it’s been beneficial growing up together, there’s no surprises. We’ve slept in bunk beds and we’ve got Scotty and Will who help break it up so the Margins don’t smother each other. On the road, you’re constantly in each other’s faces and in close quarters, and in some ways it’s nice to have an experience of the people you’re doing it with.”
It’s The Rubens’ humility and appreciation of their position and success (which hasn’t come without hard work, of course) that draw people to them. Then there’s the maple syrup sound of their music: it’s sweet and rich, running onto your listening palate in the most satisfying of ways. Now, The Rubens are set to appear at the regional New South Wales music festival Vanfest, and it’s with a great deal of excitement that Elliott talks of their being on the bill.
“Playing a regional show is cool because you get to bring music to smaller communities, so you get fans that are super excited to see you and excited to have a good time. You see that in the crowd – a lot more high energy. People appreciate bands that come out with live music because they don’t come as often.”
As if a colossal regional music festival in Forbes wasn’t enough to whet their collective appetite, The Rubens are also about to be busy with a series of free shows around the country sponsored by Corona. “Corona’s been doing these music events for a while – The Preatures and Cloud Control, they’ve raved about the tour,” says Elliott. “You get to play these small venues you don’t normally get to play and they’re packed out with fans who just want to have a good time.
“As a touring band you need the charge to make a living, eat, pay rent. If you get a chance to play these free shows, you snap it up. People are going to be there for a good time. People say, ‘22 shows is so many, how are you going to do it?’ but I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait to get on the road.”
There’s something wonderfully refreshing about the awe in Elliott’s voice as he discusses the reception the band receives these days – he’s neither cynical nor self-deprecating, ecstatic nor dumbfounded; he’s seemingly an observant and thankful member of a very lucky collective.
“As a band, we’ve been playing for five years and we’re getting better at working the crowds than when we first started. We were pretty shit – we practised the songs two or three times each and expected we sounded good. Slowly but surely, we realised how wrong we were. We got better at working the crowd, changing the dynamic of the set. We’ve learnt a lot as a band in five years. It’s nice to think you’re getting tighter as a band as the years go on.”
If there’s one crucial lesson The Rubens have digested, however, it’s the importance of taking nothing for granted.
“Pretty much every show, you go in with expectations. You’ve this expectation it’s going to be the best gig of your life just because of the size of the venue or the crowd – then you don’t sell out or fill up. Then you have gigs in a town or country you’ve never been and you don’t expect anyone to show up, and suddenly you’re sold out. There’s not many gigs where you get what you’re expecting. I think when you expect too much of it, you set yourself up for a fall. It’s kind of nice to go in and just play, go from there and sit back and think about it afterwards.”
Just last week, the band released an acoustic EP to complement the deluxe edition of Hoops and celebrate what’s been a watershed year. In true Rubens style, the acoustic recording was a no-frills affair.
“Will just set up a home studio in Camden; a DIY set-up in an old World War Two bunker,” explains Elliott. “We always used to jam there and he finally got around to doing that – we thought, ‘Let’s whack some songs together and see how it sounds.’
“It’s not so much acoustic – we’ve got to stop saying that, because it’s [more like] a stripped-back EP; us in an echoey room playing together, DIY-ing as we go. We’ve never recorded drums in there, and set up for a couple of days and worked on weird sounds, redoing a demo [‘Trickle Down Effect’] which hadn’t been released. It was fun to flex [our] muscle again.”
It seems that nothing but the apocalypse would stop these boys, because as Elliott reveals, The Rubens will also be writing and recording into the New Year. “We have some things on the cards, but mainly for us, it’s going to be writing and recording the next record. We’re always trying to write on the road – any time we have some time off, we try and work on the next project. We’re going to bunker down and get into recording some new material and start the whole thing again.”
Hoops (Deluxe Version)is out now through Ivy League.The Rubens appear at Vanfest 2016 atForbes Showgrounds,Friday November 25 – Saturday November 26; and also at the Beach Road Hotel on Thursday November 10, Coogee Bay Hotel on Friday November 11 and Clovelly Hotel on Sunday November 27.
