1.) We’re happy to welcome to our pages acclaimed singer and songwriter Nicky Rubin; greetings and salutations, Nicky! Before we dive down the Q&A rabbit hole, how is the New Year treating you thus far? Excellent. Every day above ground. But I miss surfing!

2.) Congratulations on the brilliant new single, Silent Violence! How did this latest musical exploration get rolling? Is there a Secret Origin story you could share with us on its genesis? It’s about growing up in Manchester and hanging out in the slums, called Moss side. I can’t really reveal any more than that but if you look at the lyric, it speaks for itself. You have to be careful how much you give away about a song’s meaning as it spoils the listener’s personal interpretation of it, and everyone has a different interpretation, some of which are very interesting to hear and are nothing to do with what your own idea was. Amusing.

3.) What makes Silent Violence unlike anything else on the 2023 music landscape?

I’m not sure it is unlike anything else on the 2023 music landscape. That was never my aim. I just sit down and play the song to the producer on an acoustic guitar and his job is to harness the energy in the raw performance and enhance that and make it a big track and come up with a vibe to bring that expression to the public. Amen. We do it together. But I’d never say it was unlike anything else. That would be pretentious and you won’t catch me being that. In the end it’s another song with bass drums, guitar and a different voice and lyric. Amen. It’s just a story set in Manchester.

4.) Who was your producer on Silent Violence and what did the collaboration between the two of you look like in the studio? I love working with Paul Visser of TRS but sadly that’s over now. He’s just recently become too big. I’m moving on. When there’s a difficulty in life, you have to make it work for you. Watch this space.

5.) Last year’s EP, Elsewhere has been compared to some of the very best music which came out of the L.A. and Philadelphia areas during the mid-1970s Soul Explosion. Was that your ultimate goal with the EP, or is it a happy accident that for many fans that’s just where it happened to land? It was indeed a deliberate attempt to make a NYC influenced soul “Shaft” type record. I had Harlem in my mind, and the top of Central Park. We used influences from all over the Soul / Motown world in terms of quick listens to drums bass strings etc. Not to copy, just because that’s what came into my head at the time, and with the internet you have instant access. It’s like a 5 minute mini break in the middle of a session. We call it referencing and that invariably leads to nods to other artists. Videos, old tracks etc. It’s one of the fun things to do when you’re recording. Dig deep into the past.

6.) How is Silent Violence different from some of your past musical offerings? How is it similar?

I’m not sure it is. If you look at the likes of my past recent tracks like Drums, 7 Grams, The Days of Rage, it sits well with them. The warlike side of my nature! Songs which will invariably end up on  the more energetic side of the Spotify playlisting.

7.) You’re now based out of the beautiful city of London, England. How do those particular roots inform you as a musician? I don’t know how well you know London but love it or hate it, it still is a magnet for those who want to succeed in this industry and now from all over the world. For example, my recording bassist is Portuguese and one of my new co producers to be, is from Bulgaria but make no mistake about it, the streets of London are not paved with talent and all the other requisite factors, – discipline, reliability. You have to search far and wide to seek it out; Some Europeans come to London and do a 6 month course in a Rock school and think they are the next “Pink a the Floyd” until they open their mouths and you can’t understand a word they say! It’s hilarious what has happened to our city. You have to laugh!

8.) On the heels of the release of Silent Violence can fans look forward to seeing you on the touring circuit in the coming weeks and months? Do me a favour! Who’s paying? I may manage to get my drummer up to Manchester to do some gigs. I’m there on my own next week. But the full band is really a London thing. And yes there will be some gigs. Water Rats October 14^th is confirmed.  But I do have all my content for this year recorded. A new song being released  every six weeks, up until November.

9.) We asked earlier about how London informs you and your music. Conversely, how ingrained are your experiences as a youth travelling through Afghanistan? Is that a period of time which you still draw from when working on your music?  I spent my formative years from 19 to 22 crossing over the Khyber Pass from Afghanistan into the Indian Sub-continent every month, like it was my back garden. Yes it’s affected me hugely perhaps not so much musically, but that Indian way is on your blood. It affects how I deal with people from every walk of life and far corners of the globe.  Communication is ridiculously easy which in an extraordinarily cosmopolitan environment like London is useful as it is when travelling, which I often am. But is there a sitar in every track? No. Lyrical references maybe.

10.) What do you hope listeners walk away with after giving Silent Violence many-a spin on their respective turn-tables?   A desire to go to Manchester and cheer on City they’re gonna need it this season. But did I say I was doing a Vinyl?))

11.) Who inspires you musically? I think you have to be very careful how you answer this. Nowadays I’m rarely inspired by anyone. I was as a kid of course. Freddie Mercury was probably the one who inspired me to take that final leap and become a singer, but all through my life I was obsessed with the likes of Jimi, the Stones, etc but it all seemed so unreachable. One artist that definitely inspired me was Canadian singer, Gino Vannelli. Great voice. Nowadays you encounter a band with say one decent track that sticks out among their catalogue –  the Killers with that Somebody Told me you had a girlfriend… etc or the English band Catfish and the Bottlemen with the song the Oxygen is overrated. They’re great songs but you can’t call them an inspiration. I admire Nick Cave now. Into my Arms is a magnificent tune. I always thought Ultravox were amazing at string arrangements and now look what I do, I’ve got loads of them.  I respect the Gallagher Brothers for what they’ve achieved. Manchester lads. Great songwriters. The real deal. Bowie visually, the way he dresses in photographs, and vocally of course.  You can go on forever, it’s more about respect now than inspiration. I recently met the First Aid Kit in a hotel after a gig. I was like a teenybopper again. They were great live.

12.) Any final thoughts that you might like to share with readers about Silent Violence?

Anyone who grow up in the North West of England is born with in built in sense of melancholia. You see, when you come from a town like Manchester, Dublin, or Glasgow, as opposed to Rome or Nice there nothing to do in your free time except make music in a shitty little rehearsal room. It’s always raining. That’s one of the reasons why England has always produced great rock music.  We can’t go to the beach!

13.) Final – SILLY! – Question: Favorite movie about the music scene – This Is Spinal Tap, Backbeat, La Bamba or Almost Famous?

Unfortunately, my entire life seems to have been like Spinal Tap, in particular one European tour, where one day we did a gig in S. France and this smoke machine onstage started puffing out these pathetic little whiffs of smoke right in front of me. All it did was make me cough. It was like that scene in Spinal where they guy gets trapped in that cage. There were these glass balls on the ceiling supposedly reflecting the light. Ridiculous looked like something out of a 60’s B movie. Then the guy refused to pay is so we raided the bar. His error. Another night in Toulouse a guy refused to pay us. I was furious and threatened to drive our Mercedes Benz 508D through the window saying “Have you ever seen a Mercedes bar take a pastisse at the bar?” He’s now crying behind his wife.

I kissed him 4 times on the cheek, as and told him I was small, Jewish and Sicilian. Needless to say the following day he was all over us like a rash. I got my money. I needed it. I’d felt the van’s clutch was going. True to form, it broke the next day. We’d been writing a song called Spinalman. That night outside the prison with the head waiter who’d informed us that the owner was going to renege on the contract, I was ready to book a room in the gaol. I had become Spinalman and was ready to do anything to get my money. Even my own band were scared of me. It wasn’t pleasant but the band had no manger you see, so it was all incumbent upon the leader. Me. The lead singer. So yes I know all about Spinal Tap.