After playing a stunning opening set for Boy & Bear in Toronto, the titular Reuben in Reuben and the Dark took some time post-show to talk to Live in Limbo’s music editor Sarah Rix.
Check out our Q&A with the Arts & Crafts signed band below, where we discuss why Reuben and the Sky is taking its time with the debut album, how recording it differed from previous efforts, and why Reuben Bullock is downright optimistic about the future of Canada.
Live in Limbo: You have a new album – May’s Funeral Sky. How has reception to the album been?
Reuben Bullock: I think it’s been good. It’s been selling and people are listening to it and sharing it, but I have a feeling it’s going to need a little more time. People kind of pick out one or two things from it and think they have it all sorted. We’ve been getting some funny reviews. I think it needs to be around for a while before people kind of understand it the way I do.
There’s a couple singles and I think the singles are popping out really quick and the rest of the record isn’t getting listened to or radio play. People keep calling us Mumford and Sons, and I really, really don’t feel like that kind of a band. I hope that we can push this album enough that people start to understand it for how I feel about it.
Do you know how you’re going to do that?
I think just keep touring and promoting it. Maybe wait a bit longer before putting another one out. There are still a lot of songs I want to push and do music videos for. We’re still pretty early, I suppose, if you look at the campaign or whatever. We’ve done music videos for two songs now and I’d like to do music videos for a bunch of the songs. Be patient with it, I think.
It kind of feels like this album took a little while to come out.
It did! This was all about patience, this one. That’s kind of why I want to give it some time, being out there. A part of me just wants to rifle through things and keep moving and be productive – but with this one we kind of slowed down with the approach to it. We waited.
We recorded and re-recorded and re-recorded, to get to the point where it felt right. So now I think we just have to give it that time period, too – before you just lose it and record another one and move on.
That seems to be a problem with albums now. You put them out, they’re just out there, people listen to them a couple of times, and then they’re…
Yeah. It’s so much work, you know? Putting a record out is so massive. It’s crazy that it becomes like a little bit of a blip in a career, you know? Like album one, two, three, four, five… I just want to place the value on it that I think this one deserves.
I’ve done other records. This is kind of the third one I’ve done – the first one as this band and it’s the first time I’ve really put effort into it. The other ones were like you get it recorded and you want to just give it to your friends and then you get bored of it, so you do the same thing again. This time we’ve been thoughtful and had people helping us.
And speaking of people helping you, you had two different producers on this?
Yeah, and originally it was self-produced and then we brought in a friend of mine – this guy Chris Hayden who’s the drummer for Florence and the Machine. We did a whole record with him and I wasn’t happy with it, and then we went in the studio with this guy Stephen Kozmeniuk in Toronto and we did all these other things, and then it was kind of like it came back to life at that point. Then we went to the Banff Centre and did some self-produced stuff and we just kind of took what felt right from all of it.
It’s the first time I’ve ever done anything like that. Everything else has always been more of a concise approach. This time it was really intuitive. What was feeling best.
How do you go up to a friend of yours and say: “I’m not really sure…”?
It was really, really hard. It was devastating because making that first record was the best time I’ve ever had. But I knew. We made that and then we got signed and I was like: “Oh, shit. This is a real opportunity.” The time that we had with Chris in the studio was magical, but it wasn’t necessarily our best foot forward. It was just like a great time that we spent in the studio.
I knew that if we were going to have a real push behind the record, we should just pay a little bit more attention to some details and go back over things. To me, it was just a bunch of guys in the studio sharing experience. It wasn’t for anyone to listen to, I think.
When we realized there was going to be a bit of an audience, songs like “Rolling Stone” weren’t going to be on the first record. It wasn’t going to be on this record at all. Then you go: “Okay, people like that song, maybe we should record it.” That’s just a song we used to play and that song actually helped push our career and get people to know about us. I think it ended up being a really smart decision and it’s little things like that – putting in some work on specific songs and keeping the ones that felt sweet.
[On Funeral Sky] part of it is really produced and part of it is recorded on tape machines and really lo-fi. It’s sweet that we worked with a producer who worked with Madonna; we worked with Chris who is a drummer in a cool pop band; we recorded stuff in my basement; we self-produced stuff at the Banff Centre. It’s all different kind of stuff. We kind of left it open until it started feeling good and that’s the way we kind of measured it. It was really self-curated, I guess.
You put it out on Arts & Crafts…
Yeah, which is really exciting. That was a big deal and still is a big deal for me.
How did that relationship with them come about?
Jeffrey [Remedios], the co-owner of it, who’s also our manager now too, came across it in some kind of way and he flew out to Calgary to see us play a hometown show. From there we met and just hit it off.
Did you know he was going to be there?
Yeah. He called me prior to it and I was like woah. It was pretty intense. But we met and got along and the rest is history, I guess. I got a really good vibe from him and the record label. It’s kind of the best one as far as I’m concerned.
So do you still spend a lot of time back out in Calgary?
Yeah but we’re moving out here, actually. But we’ve been living in Calgary since.
It’s a big question, but how do you feel about the state of Canadian music right now?
I think there’s a lot of amazing music happening and I think there’s a bit of a revolution going on. I think the music industry, as it is, is a pretty fucked up place. No one knows what’s going on. It’s like you have to carve out your own career.
But I think, just based on how passionate and skilled Canadian bands are – it’s a different breed – I think they’re going to be a big part of changing the future of music in general, just based on the work ethic you see in Canada. People are touring this country and it’s very difficult to tour from East to West because it’s not like anywhere else, you know? Those motivated bands are inspiring and its changing things, for sure. I think it’s good. Canadian music is on the up. Again.
And just to end it off – who’s your favourite Simpsons character?
I think… Lisa. I don’t know why.
Thank you to Reuben Bullock and Reuben and the Dark for answering our questions! For more on the band and to get your hands on a copy of their 2014 debut, Funeral Sky, head to http://reubenandthedark.com/
