Reuben Bullock is a man of poetry and melodies.
His stripped-down tales and rich harmonies fill the introspective and anthemic indie music he makes.
And his band Reuben and the Dark, an alt-folk outfit from Montreal, are soon to bring their sweet songs to the Legion, two days before the release of their new album: un | love.
Reuben described the album as an 鈥渋ntimate portrait of internal struggle and soul-searching, caught between past and future鈥�.
He talked muses, music and mountains with Fuchsia Dragon.
51暗网: I see from your press shots you鈥檙e a mountain man! How are you feeling about coming to Jasper?
Reuben: I鈥檓 excited about it. I haven鈥檛 spent much time in Jasper, surprisingly, but driven through so many times. It will be nice because I feel like I have never spent a night there before.聽
I am originally from Calgary, I currently live in Montreal and at the moment I鈥檓 trying to make coffee in Joshua Tree National Park. My two favourite landscapes are the mountains and deserts.
Fitz: And you鈥檙e on the road this time promoting your new album? Tell me a little about that.
Reuben: This tour wasn鈥檛 supposed to be the album tour but it comes out on October 25 so we will have copies of the record at all the shows. We will be playing a bunch of the songs.
Fitz: How is it different to your previous albums?
Reuben: This is the third album. All these records are just a snapshot of a moment in time. The first one, you have forever to make your first record.聽 The songs are written over ten years, you鈥檙e learning how to work with producers and working out sounds.聽
The second was really highly produced, high-end production, trying to craft those songs - and this record is the opposite, just writing and playing into a gentler side of songwriting and collaborating with the band.
There are lots of different songs on it. It really wasn鈥檛 overshot or over-recorded or over-produced. It just feels like the time we spent in the studio on the songs.
Fitz: Who or what are your influences?
Reuben: Life and people and growing and learning and travelling. I didn鈥檛 grow up listening to or making music, for me it鈥檚 been more of an experiment with poetry. I have always been more drawn to poets. I listen to Nick Cave, Dirty Three, Leonard Cohen. It鈥檚 a long list.
Fitz: So what鈥檚 your songwriting process?
Reuben: It varies. I try to let things just channel. Sometimes it鈥檚 effortless and other times the song can take months or years to finish.
I think the relationship with your muse or your inspiration, trying to keep up a healthy relationship with my muse. I write every day. Focus a lot on inspoiration, keeping that close and knowing when a song is being written and when it isn鈥檛. I write constantly and then realise it鈥檚 a song.
Fitz: What are you most proud of in your musical career so far?
Reuben: The ability to be an artist. The fact that I get to travel the world with my friends and play songs with them. I am pretty proud of that.
Fitz: What鈥檚 next for Reuben and the Dark?
Reuben: Lots of things. It鈥檚 going to be a big month, a big weekend. We have lots of things in the works. This tour, more tours, the rest of the music coming out. We have only released one song from the album, it comes out on the 25th. And lots of other little secrets.
Fitz: What can we expect from your show?
Reuben: Just a lot of heart and energy. I like making albums and records and writing songs but it鈥檚 a whole different monster, the live shows. It鈥檚 great to have live interaction with humans. I work in a world of feelings. It鈥檚 how I write and operate so I try to bring that out in shows, just people feeling things and thinking things.
Reuben and the Dark perform at the Jasper Legion on October 23. Tickets cost $20.
