Alt-rock duo The Ruiins are back in action and will be bringing new music to Dashville when they play The Gum Ball in April.
The collective of Pat Sugden and Adam Dooker will take their place on the stage at The Gum Ball alongside acts like Tex Perkins & The Fat Rubber Band, Philadelphia Grand Jury and Augie March. “We were so stoked that The Gum Ball asked us to jump onboard,” Pat says.
“We'd both heard of it, but never ventured out that way much. There's such a good mix of acts and artists on the line-up – it's not just based around one genre or one type of music, it's all really diverse. So I think it's going to be great to check it out, and the fact we get to play it as well is just all the bit more special.”
Their showing at The Gum Ball comes in the middle of The Ruiins working on their sophomore EP, the follow-up to 2018's 'Nobody'. “There's going to be eight tracks all up, which is a bit long for an EP or at least longer than normal,” Pat says.
Bandmate Adam adds that the new EP collates a series of songs he and Pat have been working on since first coming together, which shows how their songwriting and sound have developed since inception. “Over the years we've started a bit softer and our sound has gotten more rocky, and [with] punchier beats,” Adam says.
“We've got a couple of songs from when we first started that we're putting on this EP that we're excited about too. Some more songs with emotion and digging some up from the grave. It's a good mix. A lot more upbeat stuff but also some slower, grittier ones.”
This current period of creative activity for Pat and Adam comes after taking a much needed six-month performance break in the wake of the 'Nobody' release. “Since we started we've been playing and touring full-on for like three years, and we decided to take a break from playing live,” Pat explains.
“We were still writing and that's where a lot of these songs have come from. So it's nice to be writing in not such a busy environment, taking the time to work things out, not rushing anything and not having to meet deadlines in terms of shows and releases.”
With a number of live shows already performed this year, to get back in the swing of things, The Ruiins embark on a tour in support of a new single being taken from the upcoming EP.
For both Pat and Adam, their primary focus now is making sure the new songs translate coherently from recorded form to the live stage. “The new songs are sounding really good, and the interesting thing now that we've recorded them is trying to capture the recorded sound live,” Pat says.
“It'll be good to work out how we're going to play them and see how they sound live, but we've been playing them at the past couple of gigs and they're sounding good.”
The Ruiins Tour 2019
Thu 14 Mar - The Tote (Melbourne)Sun 17 Mar - Porch Sessions (Adelaide)
Mon 18 Mar - Crown & Anchor Hotel (Adelaide)
Fri 22 Mar - Lord's House (Newcastle)
Sat 23 Mar - El Palmo Pacificano (Pacific Palms)
Thu 11 Apr - The Bearded Lady (Brisbane)
Sat 13 Apr - The Northern (Byron Bay)
Sun 28 Apr - The Gum Ball (Dashville, Hunter Valley)
