The Rubens
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The Rubens

Naturally, the second time for anything is usually much easier than the first. This was certainly the case when The Rubens stepped foot into the studio for album number two, an album which has seen the band reach into deeper possibilities to their sound.
“We knew what recording meant this time,” lead vocalist and guitarist Sam Margin says.
“Last time we were new to it and we were just going into the studio and we were told what to do. We were like, ‘Okay, we plug in here and play here, cool’. It felt more natural and we just thought, ‘Hey let’s make a record’. We weren’t so green I guess.”
Their newfound comfortability in the studio shows through in Hoops, and as a result is their most mature sounding and best to play live release to date.
“We had that in the back of our mind when we were making this record and we’d spoken about trying to make it a record that was more fun live, but we kind of just left it there. We had that vibe in the back of our minds and it seems to have come through in most of our songs,” he says.
The true test came with the band’s performance at Splendour in the Grass earlier this year, and the music more than paid off, with Sam even taking to the crowd in a blow-up pool as the rest of the band jammed on stage.
“You’re talking to this giant body of people with this huge amount of energy and you just want to rev them up, it’s not quite as personal at a pub show but it’s still really fun,” Sam says.
“[Crowd-surfing] was so fun, I wanted the boys to do a big jam out and for me just to get out in the crowd for a bit: that just gets everyone absolutely frantic, absolutely manic. It doesn’t take much to get the crowd going crazy and once you get that energy they’ll just whole it with you for the rest of the set.”
Another element of Hoops’ success comes with the album gaining feature of the week on triple j. As Sam is a regular listener, hearing the band’s songs on the radio is still something that catches him off guard.
“Pretty much every time it surprises me and I don’t think it’s ever going to get old for me,” he says.
“Maybe if you were like Taylor Swift or something you’d get bored of it because you’re on everywhere all the time, but for us to be played on the radio or on TV or wherever it may, it always puts a smile on my face. And it’s always weird.”
While hearing their music on the radio may be something Sam still has to get used to, he’s more than found a home with festival performances, and is set to get just as comfortable for their set at Beyond the Valley.
Tickets to Beyond the Valley are on sale now via the website: beyondthevalley.com.au.
Written by Alexander Lightfoot
When & Where: Beyond the Valley, Lardner Park – December 29 – January 1 & Lorne Hotel, Lorne – October 11