It's high time for a little sweetness. We are now wafting into the dandelion tunnel of summer and, anticipating heat, give yourself a tease with this track from Rubies forthcoming LP Explode From The Center and feel just a little bit better about everything. It's been a year since we posted the video for "I Feel Electric," anticipating it's US release, which will soon arrive, along with two preview EPs. Download "I Feel Electric" and another song from the album, "Stand in a Line" below and check Natalia Ciolko's interview with Rubi of Rubies about California vibes and international relations after the jump.
Download: Rubies, "I Feel Electric"
Download: Rubies, "Stand in a Line"
Although you and Terry are from California, it seems your music has made its way around the world before arriving in the States. How did that happen?
It started with doing a bunch of the recording over in Scandinavia. We made the record mainly in Sweden and Norway and that was spawned by a couple trips I made over there to visit some musician friends. The first label to start being interested even at the recording stage was a Norwegian label and a Japanese label, so once we finished the record those guys put it out first. But it's exhausting to really support something all over the world because you want to be able to tour and we did several European tours, one Japanese tour, and now we really want to play in the States. It was really hard for us to find a home in terms of a label for us in the States... People were gravitating towards our sound more over there and the sense we were making was hitting home a little more over there. Now I think it's kind of trickled down.
What kind of venues do you like for Rubies shows?
We tried all kinds of different venues in the last couple years, and the ones that work the best are the medium size. They're a little bit more intimate, and we tend to really draw people close. We create a sort of dance party, almost like you're at a friend's house and then at the quieter moments it gets really quiet, like you can hear a pin drop. When playing festivals and bigger venues that vibe tends to get lost. What we've learned now is to gauge the venue and gauge the crowd and to make sense for the night in terms of the night, the room, the space. If people don't really feel like dancing, we'll bring it down but if people are really loud and wanting to get all disco then we can really bring that too. As the singer I really respond a lot to the energy of the room. As the songs move through, I can sense what's working, what's not, and when I feel what's working I really, really stay on that, keep going with that, and the whole band follow each other in that. We've developed a minute-by-minute intuition of what's working and what's not. It's a horrible feeling when you don't connect. I really feel lucky every time I play—I never take advantage of this moment that Terry and I have in our lives right now. It's so special to be performing and I always want people to feel special, to walk away with some sort of emotion.
How do you think your stateside tour is going to compare to what you've been doing?
It's been really interesting to play so much in other countries, especially in Sweden where English is the second language and they really do understand the lyrics but culturally, we come from such different places that we're connecting in all these different ways. We're learning so much about ourselves and these different cultures by being able to perform so much. I'm really wondering how it's gonna be to be performing back where we have the same sense of humor, same culture... The only thing we have a little bit of a worry is the way they treat entertainers there, it's a bit different. We have a great booking agent and even if you play a really small place, they give you a great hotel, take you to a nice dinner and in the states, it's not as nice. It's just a different kind of challenge but it really makes you remember why you're doing it, you just really want to perform. It comes down to when you're on stage and you're looking at your band and you're playing, it just feels so incredible. And that's the high that always keeps us going. Doing the States is new for us so it's a bit like starting over.