The Rubens – Breaking Through The Mainstream

Here we are with one of Australia’s hottest current topics in the music industry. Zaac Margin from The Rubens spoke to Music Feeds for a few moments. After recently releasing their debut album, the band is coming towards the end of their biggest and most extensive national tour to date.

When asked about the emphasis of the current tour, Zaac explains, “We’ve loved it. It has been a lot more hectic than our last tour. It’s really interesting playing at larger venues such as The Metro and The Forum because we have never played venues of that size before. However, we do like the feeling of playing at smaller venues more. We have especially enjoyed playing in regional towns. The crowd is more rowdy. Our favourite show has definitely been The HiFi in Brisbane. It was a lot of fun.”

The Rubens’ self-titled debut album was released on the eve of their latest tour. The band has achieved so much in very little time. Zaac talks about the success of the album: “It has been crazy! We have always wanted to be the feature album (on triple j). It was always a dream of ours, then it actually happened. Debuting at number 3 on the ARIA charts was pretty cool too. We were pretty excited for that!”

After recently breaking through the mainstream with their album El Camino, Zaac brings our attention to The Black Keys, whom they are constantly compared with. “If we were going to be compared to any band, we are happy that it’s The Black Keys. We are very excited (to be supporting them in Auckland). I’m looking forward to getting the chance to meet them. It would be pretty cool.”

He continues to speak about the band’s influences by explaining, “We have always been influenced since the early days by Kings of Leon, but we are also majorly into hip hop. The big-sounding drums are awesome and are a pretty big influence (for the debut album).”

Having already played at major festivals, including Homebake and Splendour in the Grass, we asked Zaac what the band likes about playing at festivals: “I love festivals!,” Zaac exclaimed. “You get to play outside, which is really cool. There are always great bands hanging around and you sometimes get to meet them. To see all your favourite bands live at a festival for free is great too. My favourite live acts have definitely been Tame Impala and Jack White.” At this point we shared a moment of greatness for the former White Stripe.

Furthermore, The Rubens have been announced for St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival that will occur at the beginning of February next year. Zaac tells us “I’m excited to see Pond and Alpine again. We saw Pond at Fat As Butter a few weeks ago and they fuckin’ blew our mind! They are such a good band. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Although Laneway is a few months away, there is plenty more of The Rubens to see. Zaac told us that we can expect “basically a lot more fun shows. We are really getting into the swing of our live set. I don’t think it will change much because we are very comfortable with it. We are really getting used to playing live now. We are coming into our own and really enjoying it more.”

The Rubens is out now through Ivy League. Check therubensmusic.com for tour details.

Must Read