On Monday Ruebin Martin came back to reality with a bump, returning to his office job at an accident compensation firm. The night before he was leaping around the stage at Somerset House, the focal point for a thousand music fans.
“I sit there at my desk thinking – this isn’t me,“ the softly spoken 20-year-old tells me from his home in Highams Park. “But I have to earn money. Hopefully it won’t be for much longer.“
At his current trajectory it won’t be. Ruebin started what he calls his 'project', Ruby Blu*, just 18 months ago with some scribbled poems and a quiet confidence.
At the weekend he supported top-ten album selling soul sensation Aloe Blacc at one of the most prestigous venues in the capital.
“It’s all come on extremely quick,“ he explains. “Since writing those first songs it’s flown past. We’ve jumped over all the hurdles, taking five steps at a time.“
To look at, Ruby Blu* (the asterix added to “make it a bit more funky“) is tricky to categorise. His style? Androgynous and bold, you’re as likely to see a bullet belt around his neck as a ban-the-bomb chain. ’Urban-dandy’ maybe, or perhaps ’Hip-hop-fop’? His backing band, a mix of grubby indie kids and sequined starlets, only confuses matters further.
“The image is quite striking but this is how I dress on a day-to-day basis,“ explains Ruebin, who studies music at Middlesex University. “It’s just me. All the band have a quirky style of their own. We don’t match, but we do. We’re a bunch of freaks really!“
To hear Ruby Blu* doesn’t make pigeonholing any easier. His press release calls it a marriage of “Urban grit, indie quirk and folk lyricism“. The legion of new fans made on Sunday don’t seem to care. Arms aloft, chanting the chorus to The Boyfriend Song as if they’ve heard it a hundred times, all they know is they like it.
“I knew how many guests I’d invited and I saw a lot more singing along,“ explains Reubin. “It’s an amazing feeling, it’s hard to describe.
“I try to sing in the way people would speak. It’s just the way it came out. People say they like the fact it’s all in a British accent. I’m proud of that and think there’s a gap in the market for someone like me.
“It gets hard when people want to know what kind of band they’re booking. Each song is completely different. It’s individual and soulful, so I guess we fit the indie-soul bracket – whatever that means.“
His idols are wide and varied. You’re as likely to catch him listening to Tracy Chapman (“there’s a great simplicity to her lyrics and melodies“) as you are Jimi Hendrix, The Kooks or Adele (“I’m crazy for her at the moment“). Despite his eclectic influences, he has a musical style all his own.
“There’s not many subjects that haven’t been written about,“ explains Reubin, “few things that haven’t been said in a song.
“When everything’s already been done, what’s left? I just try to put things from my own point-of-view. No one can see it the way you see it. I just do it in my own way and people seem to relate to that.“
If Ruby Blu*’s rise and rise continues, you’ll be seeing a lot more of him.
The band are polishing off their best tracks for release and Reubin has his sights set on a Later with Jools Holland appearence. One day soon he may never have to return to that office.
See Ruby Blu* videos and listen to his music at www.rubybluofficial.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RubyBluOfficial
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