‘Shy and retiring’ is definitely not the way to describe Sydney five-piece The Ruckus. The eclectic mishmash of talented musicians had been touring up and down the east coast as Bonez for long enough to build a solid following. However, with the introduction of new members and the inevitable evolution of their sound as a result, frontman Tomi Gray knew it was time for a change.
“This band started as a thing to do for lols, you know? But it turned into something else along the way. People actually seemed to be liking us, so we thought, ‘Maybe we should be taking this a little more seriously,’” Gray explains. “Myself and our bass player [Bernardo ‘Froggy’ Lopes] had been playing together for about a year and a half when we decided to bring three new members into the fold, and suddenly it didn’t feel like the same project anymore. We couldn’t go on calling ourselves Bonez because it was clearly becoming something quite different.”
Gray says coming up with the new name was easy – “Because that’s what we do when we turn up to play a gig, we bring the ruckus!” he laughs. “Or at least, we like to think so. Bonez doesn’t make much sense at all – I don’t know what we were thinking.”
The Ruckus recently arrived with their new name at a sold-out show at The Vanguard. The lucky punters in attendance were caught unaware, having had no idea they would be witnessing the rebirth of a band they’d grown to love. “It was a great show,” says Gray. “We’re still trying to bounce back from it mentally and physically – I’ll admit I’m still in the recovery mode.”
It’s safe to say that from all accounts, Bonez were given a proper burial. “It was a bit of an emotional experience to put an end to that chapter, but there were a lot of supportive people there cheering us on, so we feel like we kicked some goals with it.”
Aside from the big announcement, the Vanguard show had another purpose. It was the official launch party for the band’s new EP, Let’s Get Weird.“We’re all pretty excited about it,” says Gray. “In fact, this is the most excited I’ve been about the band in a long while. We’ve finally got a lineup in which everyone’s pushing for the same thing.”
The five tracks on the release showcase a band coming into its own. The Ruckus are genre-benders – they move between funk, hip hop and rock with an ease only achievable when each musician respects their instrument, but wants to push the boundaries.
“We’re a complete collective – everyone has the freedom to bring what they want to the table. Paulie [Mason], our lead guitarist, is from a jazz background and has so many different influences. Hugh [L. Jones] can totally handle his drums and we’re so happy to have Ben [Frank, guitar] on board. Froggy, on bass, is from Brazil – he’s been shot and lived through so many dramas. We’re a very bizarre group of people. “Everybody in this band is so fucking weird!”
You may think that’s what inspired the EP title – and you’d be half right. “There was this dude – I think he was English,” says Gray. “Anyway, he’d show up to all our shows and stand at the back of the room yelling it [‘Let’s get weird!’] really drunkenly. He’d start yelling it and then somewhere along the way other people would start chiming in. One day we were like, ‘You know what? The dude has a good point,’ and it really became a bit of a motto. We started saying it to each other before we went onstage – it was our war cry. Now nothing represents our band better than those three words.”
PHOTO: Fluke Media
The Ruckus’ Let’s Get Weird is out now through Manga Republic/MGM
