Unknown Mortal Orchestra On The Business Of Time

Photos by Maclay Heriot

Ruban Nielson of Unknown Mortal Orchestra answered my call after a twenty-hour travel day still in the highest of spirits.

 The last thing I would want to do after travelling that long is answer questions, and yet here he was. That says a lot about his demeanour in my eyes. Generous and grateful – a hard thing to be after a long time in an industry that isn’t always that. Now based in Portland, but out here for Laneway Festival and a couple of their own shows, we managed to snag a bit of time with the lovely Ruban for a chat.

I went to Hawai'i last year and my mum is from New Zealand so naturally those two zones are up there with some of my favourite places in the world so I wanted to ask you if those cultures and places affect your music in the sense that how people that live out in the country often play country and folk music?

Well I have been thinking about that a lot actually. I was in Auckland last week and then I spent a week in Hawai’i the week before. Having parents from two different places, even though New Zealand and Hawai’i are very similar, ultimately they are different. Hawaiian music and the way my uncles make music influenced my sound. Then the way I grew up making music in New Zealand. The whole DIY pub rock music scene. Kids making their own records on reel to reels and pressing it themselves, doing it without the industry people. I’m really influenced by both cultures.

How are you finding living in Portland compared to New Zealand?

I think part of the reason why Portland drew me in was because it was so similar to New Zealand actually.

Oh true! I’ve never been to Portland so I didn’t know that.

Yeah the Pacific North West is like Twin Peaks country. It’s the spooky Lumberjack country. The mountains and the trees, people driving trucks around. The pace of it feels similar to what I grew up around. So I feel quite comfortable here. It’s not like LA or New York, which feels like the opposite of New Zealand. Everyone is so low key in New Zealand, often annoying humble in ways. America everyone is really in your face and confident. But Portland is a hipster wonderland. There’s a TV show called Portlandia that killed it.

Killed it in a good way or a bad way?

No in a bad way. It was just very over the top. Portland was very silly and it attracted those kinds of people, but the kind of people that had lots of money to feed into the overtopness.

Kind of like Byron?

Yeah basically. The show Portlandia did a really good job of poking fun at the place and now it’s much more chill again.

Back to the music, do you put on music when you cook dinner and if so what do you put on?

I’ve been listening to a lot of Hawaiian music lately. There’s a record by George Helm that I put on a lot. It’s a recording of his live set that he did at a hotel. It brings back good memories of driving around the Big Island with my uncle listening to him. My uncle told me about how George was more famous as an activist for the Hawaiian sovereignty than for his music. I’ve been listening to The Koln concert by Keith Jarrett too. He has some kind of degenerative disease, so now he only plays with one hand but he still plays better than anyone with both hands. I also listen to The Dudes, a pub band from Auckland. That’s my rotation.

Very nice. And what is your favourite thing about playing to a crowd?

Immediate feedback. I went to art school, I used to paint and sometimes we did little exhibitions. It’s a strange thing to sit by yourself alone for hours and hours making a picture and you never really know what people are thinking or how they are reacting to it when they see it. With music, you get an immediate response.

I have never really thought about it like that.

You know if you’re doing a good job or not. It’s like being a stand up comedian, you know, if everyone is laughing then you’re doing it right.

Yeah, I wouldn’t have a clue if people like my writing or not.

Yeah exactly right. It’s how I’d imagine it to be like when you’re directing a movie. You wouldn’t know how people are reacting unless you sit there and watch it with them. If they find the moments that are funny as you intended them to be.

For sure. What do you think of the music industry right now?

I kind of like the chaos and transition that is happening. I think people are overboard with the doom and gloom in the industry sometimes. I know a lot of new artists talk about not making as much money as they would like. I spent a long time not making money and I don’t remember worrying about it as much. I guess times were different, rent was cheaper but I don’t remember thinking about money and music until I was like ten or fifteen years into bands and playing shows. I only really thought about making enough money to pay for gas to get to the next gig. Maybe it’s because I didn’t really grow up with money so I didn’t really expect it to feel comfortable but I think there’s a lot more pressure on it now.

I think also there’s a change. You know, Pitchfork just folded. There’s something freeing about opinionated gatekeepers in the industry not there anymore. I can see the positives of those kinds of things collapsing – there’s opportunities to rebuild and for others to make their way through. Like you guys. I did one of my first interviews with Monster Children like twenty years ago. Do you still print magazines?

We do. We’re still out here. It’s getting harder and harder because people don’t buy magazines anymore. Even if they still support us and love us that whole act of going out and buying a magazine is much more limited just based on access these days.

Yeah I still buy magazines. I guess it’s like vinyls. I still buy them.

Yeah if you grew up buying them then you keep doing it right? That’s the mentality. It’s just that whole new generation where going to a newsagent and picking out a magazine for the month just wouldn’t even be something they would think to do.

Yeah I guess social media is the thing for them right? But it doesn’t feel as fun the way a magazine does physically feel. The layout and all the different things happening.

I agree. Anyway, back to you (laughs) I could talk about the dying print world all day. Outside of music and family, what is something that you do that makes you happy?

I like driving a lot. I’m weirdly drawn to things in my childhood so maybe that’s why. I have this weird nostalgia for old cars. All the interiors and smells and sounds of old cars. I take photos as well. Film photos.  

You’re giving off very analog vibes. Old cars, film photos, print magazines.

I think I’m just trapped in my kid brain. The things that I grew up with if they start to disappear then I pull them in closer. UMO has been a way to filter that but yeah all the things I love and enjoy happen to be analog as you say. 

Catch Unknown Mortal Orchestra at Laneway Festival. Tickets here.