In our next artist spotlight, we chat to Ilan Rubin of Nine Inch Nails and Angels & Airwaves about his music under The New Regime, and how he works as a creative force.
S] Hi mate, how are you today?
I’m doing well, thanks!
S] Can you tell me how The New Regime challenges you in different ways to working with Nine Inch Nails, and Angels and Airwaves?
With The New Regime I’m in charge of writing and recording everything. This means I have to wear the different hats of every member of a band and think differently for each part of the song. When it comes time to performing live I am the frontman of The New Regime where I play guitar, piano, and sing. In my other bands I’m safely tucked in the back with my drums.
S] How do you define success as a person?
There are many ways to define success and that can change as time goes on. Money is an obvious one but not a great way to define anything. I like to make sure I’m progressing with my goals, staying busy, and making sure that what I do gets out to more and more people every time I do it.
S] We work with a lot of young people who struggle with self-confidence/mental health, and I wanted to ask you what advice would you give to young people about how to get their start, and make a mark as you have?
I think that people who struggle with self confidence/mental health issues need to realise that far more people than they realise deal with the same things. People’s opinions don’t matter nearly as much as they might feel they do. But the bulk of confidence, in my opinion, comes from within. You have to put in the time, think, progress, and build confidence based on what you want to achieve. When you have measurable progress and goals that inch you forward along your path, confidence grows naturally and often exponentially. The key is to also know how to deal with setbacks and continue moving forward.
S] Do you have two or three moments in your career, that when you are on your death-bed you’d be like, ‘Holy shit, I can’t believe I/we did that?’
Two for sure. Joining Nine Inch Nails when I was 20 was incredibly exciting and still an amazing thing to be part of. This second one isn’t necessarily a career highlight but definitely a life highlight, and that is Paul McCartney joining The Jaded Hearts Club (Beatles cover band with people from various bands) for a couple of songs one night. As you can imagine he’s an immense hero of mine.
S] What are the biggest challenges you face on a day-to-day basis, as an artist?
The biggest challenge to me is extending the reach of what I’m doing and getting to more people.
S] How do you look back ‘Coup’ now?
When I look back at it I’m certainly proud of my first 10 songs and how well constructed they are as compositions, but if I listened to it I’d surely think “I should’ve done that differently” over and over again. The biggest issue I have with it is the sound of my voice. It has certainly come a long way but I can still hear the shyness and tonsils in those recordings.
S] Talk us through how ‘Heart’ pushes you in new ways as a musician? What about ‘Mind’?
Well, I always push myself to progress naturally. I don’t want any two songs I write to sound the same or even similar. This mindset keeps me pushing my boundaries in numerous directions constantly.
S] Thanks so much for your time!
My pleasure! Thank you for yours.
The New Regime is gearing up to release, Mind, on November 22nd, which is the second instalment of the band’s 4-part release of the full-length album Heart Mind Body & Soul out early 2020. Fans can pre-save Mind HERE.
