Welcome to another speed date Wednesday, this time Denzel catches up with Auckland based artist Reuben Hudson and how life’s been for him since his 2018 album release of “Forget About The Sun”.
What’s up Reuben, to kick things off I reckon we go with the classic who are you and what do you do for the peeps out there?
I’m Reuben Hudson, I make music, love making music, study music as well, oh and had a kidney transplant as well and that’s pretty much what’s been going on in my life lately.
Looking through your discography, your style has definitely transitioned from starting as more of an indie artist with a guitar by his side to experimenting with rapping and using more alternative electronic beats, how did this transition in style come about and what sparked you to start experimenting with your sound?
It started partially by listening to rap music more, TPAB by Kendrick Lamar was a massive influence for me heading into that direction, similar to listening to a lot of Homebrew back in my teen years, but it also came by meeting more people in Auckland that produced themselves which lead me to playing in a band called LAPIS. This enabled me to grow more into producing as I was starting to get sample packs from friends that produced. Just being around that whole scene made me want to explore producing more electronic beats compared to my more acoustic sound in the past.
After releasing your album “Forget About The Sun” and following it up with a short and sweet ep “Unreachable” you, unfortunately ran into some slightly serious health problems. (Reuben has a beautifully well-spoken video about his health journey on his YouTube channel linked below.) But, instead of asking all the details about it, I’d rather ask, how was your creative energy during that period? Was there a lot of inspiration during this time or was it quite tough to find the energy to create a sound?
There were times when it was quite tough, but I really wanted to capture how I was feeling at the time, the feeling of frustration. I ended up making like 5 songs in that time which I’m keen to put out on Bandcamp, to just acknowledge how I was feeling around that time. I had a plan to make a whole album but with my health limitations and mental space I only got to 5 songs. All in all, it was a great learning experience artistically wise.
Luckily, you’ve come out of the operation well and you’re clearly on the road to recovery, so what’s on the cards for Reuben Hudson post op and post Lockdown?
First release since 2018!!! I’m releasing a song this Friday featuring my lovely girlfriend, which I’m very excited for. Most of my time now will be spent focusing on my music studies but very keen to get back on the horse and get some shows going again soon and also make some visual performances blending music, art and theatre together.
To finish things off on a nicer note, you’re a big fan of Frank Ocean, citing him as a huge influence with occasionally posting covers on your Instagram and even seeing him live (you lucky bastard) so gonna ask you the hard question but give us ya top 5 frank songs?
Nights.
Chanel.
White Ferrari.
Pink Matter.
Siegfried.
A glimpse into Reuben Hudson's World by Denzel De Ruysscher
Cover Photo by Jaime Tiavale
All other images by Denzel De Ruysscher