The Rusbies - Interview

If you're after a 70's punk revival, The Rusbies is where it's at. Hailing from Sheffield, The Rusbies started out in October 2013 as a garage band but after recently undergoing a revamp, The Rusbies have become a Sheffield punk phenomenon. 

After releasing their most recent single 'Bedsit' The Rusbies have gained a lot of attention on the Sheffield music scene and also through numerous music blogs as they have quite reassuringly resurrected Punk. From their fast paced guitar and vocals reminiscent of the late Dee Dee Ramone and their riotous stage presence from kicking over mic stands to stage invasions, The Rusbies are definitely a band that you should keep an eye on in the Punk scene.

I caught up with The Rusbies' front man Nathan Keeble to ask about the new Rusbies and how they decided on going from garage to punk:

Interview Starts:

Before anything then, how did you come up with the name Rusbies, on your twitter you said it was something to do with Russel Brand?

Nathan: Sort of, we spent days trying to think of a name and in the end we just ended up using Jake Rusby's last name, our drummer. He's like the philosophical one out of us and I guess that's the only way it relates to Russel Brand as Jake's all about the revolution and sh*t. Also, we found out that if you Google 'The Rusbies' it's just our stuff that comes up so that was sort of an added bonus. 

What's an example of Jake's philosophy?

Nathan: I know one thing he said once which was pretty cool, he said 'Johnny Marr's guitar playing is like a metaphorical laugh to Morrissey's  jokes of life' I thought that was some deep sh*t.

Moving on to the recent change of genre, what brought it on? 

Nathan: When we first started, we were pretty sh*t. We started out quite garage and rough and ready, but now that we've gone down the punk road we've become a lot more tighter as a band.

Luke (bassist/vocalist) has got a real punk mentality and so do I really, so when Tom left it was like a wake up call to really bang our heads together and just do it, we thought f*ck it.

People that have written reviews on you have said you have got quite a Buzzcocks sound, which I agree with, especially on your track 'Bedsit'. Now that you are a self proclaimed punk band, are the Buzzcocks a heavy influence of your new sound?

Nathan: Yeah, Buzzcocks, Stiff Little Fingers, The Clash, all seventies punk really. We're just after a punk revival. I think we enjoy punk a lot as we're angry at something and the music we play is the best way to explain it.

I also read in a review of a gig you did where a man came on stage as it was his birthday or something, do you interact with the crowd often? 

Nathan: It's punk init! You've got to knock mic stands over and sh*t, you've got to get it going and you've got to interact with the crowd.

While being on stage then, what's the maddest thing that's happened while you've been performing? 

Nathan: We always get stage invasions and sh*t but I think the more interesting thing to happen is when phil's mate 'Ice Cold Eddie' or, actually call him 'Eddie Unknown', yeah, 'Eddie Unknown' got on stage during one of our songs and just sort of spat some bars, it was really cool and real just out the blue. 

Especially in punk, lyrics are important as it's about getting a message across. When writing your lyrics, where do you get your inspiration from?

Nathan: Me and Luke are the lyricists, we've got kind of a Lennon McCartney thing going on. I base most of my lyrics on real life things that have happened to me, I've had a pretty fucked up life so that helps quite a bit when writing. 

You tend to give quite a bit of your music away for free, why? 

Nathan: We just always give sh*t away, we don't want to charge people. We're not in it for the money, we just want to be heard. For example we once put a gig on ourselves and gave the tickets away and the same with music streaming, as long as people listen to it and enjoy it. We're not like U2 though, they're just tw*ts. 

For people wanting to start up a band or for new bands, what advice can you give for getting gigs and airplay? 

Nathan: Well what we did was just follow a f*ck load of promoters on twitter and egged them with demos until eventually one of them listened to us and once we got our first gig sorted, everyone ends up knowing about you then.

Have you got any upcoming gigs/tours or new music coming out in the near future? 

Nathan: We don't really have any plans for any new music any time soon but we do have a gig at the Washington in Sheffield on the thirteenth of March. 

Soundcloud: The-Rusbies
Twitter: @TheRusbies
Youtube: TheRusbies
Facebook: TheRusbies
Instagram: @TheRusbies














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