Heifer

REUBEN LOVE is Drummer for popular Sydney based band HEIFER. HEIFER are a 5-piece band playing their own brand of rock/punk/funk metal. Their high-energy live performances feature tight, muscly musicianship with a spattering of odd time signatures, some heavy, riff-laden infectious grooves, and a frenetic frontman with a mighty powerful set of vocal chords, and a passion for getting the message across.



Full Name: Reuben Ernest Love
Nickname(s): Rube, Rube the Pube
Star Sign: Aries

Fave Food: Lasagne, but why limit yourself to this?
Fave Film: The Emerald Forest/The Shawshank Redemption
Fave Actor: Tom Hanks, Rowan Atkinson...but basically anyone that does a good job.
Fave Animal: I love them all

Best Feature: I'm honest
Worst Feature: The fact that I'm having trouble answering this question.
Person You Would Most Like To Meet: My great grandmother
Hobbies/Interests: Plants, reptiles, using loud machines like chainsaws, motorbikes, drums and stereos.

A Talent You Wish You Had: To be able to play piano and/or guitar, and vet surgeon skills
The Best Advice Given To You: Always keep a green tree in your heart and maybe one day a singing bird will come. (OHHHHH)
What Can You Never Leave Home Without: My wallet
If you were a cartoon character, which one would you be? The Tick
If you were told you had a minute to live, what would you do? Cuddle my children

BAND MEMBER: Reuben Love (Drummer)

Stage Name: Rube
Age: 27

Location: Back of the stage behind the drums (guffaw).

Music Genre: Rock/punk/metal - basically heavy, melodic music that challenges the thought processes and contains elements of "danceable" and "nondanceable" funked-up and odd-time rhythms.

When did you realise that music was your passion? It's always been a huge part of my family since I can remember. My parents are musical, as are my brothers. I grew up without a T.V so our downtime was spent with music. It has always been a passion.

List four musical influences:
- Motorhead
- Mozart
- Madonna
- Bad Brains

How many years have you been in this band? About 8 years.

When writing lyrics, what do you draw upon for inspiration?

Rob our singer has probably written most of our lyrics, but I (as the drummer) have written lyrics (and music) for a couple of our rockin' ditties. Lyrical inspiration for me comes from people. I like to "humanise" lyrics. Humour is important as is maintaining a down-to-earth approach. I like our music to be accessible to the average person lyrically, yet maintain a sense of awe musically for the more discerning listener.

Have you found the Internet to be helpful/useful in fast-tracking your music career?

Yeah. But I don't know about the term "fast-tracking" though. The Internet is another great tool that is relatively cheap for unsigned artists to use. It has helped us heaps in terms of exposure for the "Mark Mark" E.P. The song "Mark Mark" is on mp3.com.au and actually sat at #1 in the metal chart for ages. It reached #4 on the alternative chart and #8 on the "everything" chart. The Internet has also given our fans easy access to us on a personal level through our website.

In following your dream, who has helped you along the way?

The bloke at the drum shop, God, my brother, Dad for driving me to the gigs - just kidding! Mostly we have helped ourselves, but the people who come and see us play, buy our music and support us have been the biggest help. Our manager and bass player Matt, has been invaluable. Through him we have had some fantastic people who have assisted with artwork, recording, venues, beer, video footage and editing, CD distribution, merchandise sales, beer, live sound, roadies and beer. We have always prided ourselves on treating everyone right. When you do this you find people appreciate it and are only too pleased to help.


Is there anything you wish you could change about the music industry?

To be more aware of the potential of Australian music and Australian artists. There are a lot of bands with commitment, talent and a fantastic product that get ignored for stupid reasons of commercialism. The music industry is big business. When the "people" at the top get money hungry, the essence and soul of musical entertainment begins to get lost.

What advice can you offer to other budding young artists?

Treat EVERYONE right. This includes the sound guy/girl, the band that you are supporting/being supported by, roadies, punters, venue staff, promoters etc, etc. Always play every gig as though it was Wembley stadium regardless of how many people are there (or not). In the music industry you never know who is watching or how your attitude may affect their opinion of you and your band. Respect stage times during gigs, rehearse a lot, be visually interesting and engage the audience and never give up.

Where do you envision yourself in 5 years time?

In a situation where all our gigs are festivals and packed-out pubs and we are making a living doing something we love!

Where can people purchase/listen to your music?

People can order our CD's from any good record shop - there's the "Mark Mark" E.P. that came out last year, and we have just released a new single called "Go". Both are through MGM. "Go" has also got a CD-ROM component, which includes the "Mark Mark" video. People can also request us on Triple J, or come and see us live. We've hardly ever played outside Sydney but we hope to be correcting that situation shortly.

*** For more information about HEIFER, visit their official website - http://www.heifer.com.au ***


N.B.: If you would like to nominate a Star of Tomorrow, email michelle@girl.com.au, include a brief biography of the person you are nominating and tell us why they are the next big thing!