Skinnie Magazine Issue 131 - September/October 2013 by Skinnie Magazine

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THErundown

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FEATURES p.008

NEW BEAT FUND Red Bull Records New Find

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PASSPORT Roatรกn, Hondura Bay Island

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PHIL ANSELMO Goes Solo from Pantera

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RICKY WILLIAMS From Running Back to Coach

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SKINNIE GIRL Amanda Frances

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THE RUBENS From Austrailia or Memphis?

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SKINNIESCENE The Rundown On What You Missed

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sept/oct 2013 J ISSUE NUmber 131 www.skinniemagazine.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PUBLISHERS Jimmy Clinton Jason Zahler ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDITORIAL Jimmy Clinton Jasen T. Davis, Alex Mendoza, Eric Bonholtzer, Katie Evans, Kristie Bertucci, Patrick Douglas, Lacy Ottenson, Elysia McMahan, MM Zonoozy Editor-In-Chief

Contributing Writers

For editorial submissions, email editorial@skinniemagazine.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ART & DESIGN Art department

Morgan Desmond

PHOTOGRAPHY Michael Vincent, Alan Rivera, Sean Myers, Joanna Miriam, Wil Marques, Damian Tsutsumida, Karen Curley, Harmony Gerber, Edison Graff, Erik Faiivae, Christian Sosa, Cody Black Contributing Photographers

Sales & Marketing Marketing Director

Jason Zahler Matt Lee, Julius Lopez Assistant Alexis Hernandez Advertising

For all sales inquiries email sales@skinniemagazine.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Administrative House Of Designs Morgan Desmond Angela Jugon Raquel Lopez, Cynthia De Los Santos and Ryan Mercer Webmaster

online editor

Contributing Staff

FASHION Fashion Director

Michelle Ngo Linh Duong

Fashion Coordinators

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SUBSCRIBERS If the post office alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within two years. LEGAL DISCLAIMER The content in this magazine is for entertainment and intended for mature audiences only. Advertisers are responsible for their ads placed in the magazine. Skinnie Magazine is not responsible for any actions taken by their readers. We may occasionally use images placed in public domain. Sometimes, it is not possible to identify and/or contact the copyright holder, if you claim ownership of something we’ve published, we will gladly make a proper acknowledgement. Skinnie Magazine does not share opinions and/ or views stated by the writers and or photographers. Some of the content published may be of a mature nature; we do not, in any way, condone underage drinking or any other illegal activity. All submissions become property of Skinnie Magazine, be it text, photos, art, etc. Skinnie Entertainment Magazine All Rights Reserved. 2013

the skinnie staff hopes our readers have a

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! www.skinniemagazine.com

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bass&treble

Interview with Red bull records

New Beat fund Letting The Music Run Free

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did you guys form ? when? 4How Our formation was named the “Little Bang Theory”.We formed when a piggy bank labeled “NeW bEAt FUNd” was launched into the side of a corporate building exploding into cosmic dust.The dust particles were then baked into dark chocolate brownies and consumed by BuRniE BakeR, Snapz, BuTTon and $iLKy to solidify the groups existence in January 2012. Scientist are baffled.

What are your influences ?

Farts, boogers, ghosts, hoez and pizza.

When did you get signed to Red Bull Records?, and what took place to make that happen?

We signed 3 weeks before Warped Tour and hit the run grounding. Our A&R Tick Dragon, flew us into Red Bull Records because he knew we were the Matadorz of G-Punk that could run with the best of em. After an honest night of Boobie tassels, flying midgets and Davey Havok dance moves, the choice was clear as Visine. We slapped wings and never looked back.

You guys just toured the entire Warped Tour, how was that ? what moment stands out to you? Warped was as hot as fresh enchiladas and as cold as a lesbian on her period... But damn it was good time.

What was your favorite warped tour city and why?

Besides for our hometown Cali shows, we gotta give it up for Houston. It was the closing day of the tour and we got the opening time slot, aka death slot. We woke up like zombies from the night before, chugged a piss warm beer, and hit the MJ Thriller switch. The Houston kids embraced our strange and peaked the good vibrations meter. We had the crowd going like it was the Kobe & Shaq dayz. A magical way to end the tour.

What was for favorite other bands that you toured with and why?

Never Shout Never, RDGLDGRN, Wallpaper, Chiodos, William Beckett... And like most the bands on the Kevin Says Stage. Why? Cuz they have great facial features.

What is touring life like, being on the road all summer?

It’s like a traveling carnival.You show up smiling, ride a few sketchy things, most likely vomit, pack it up and do it all again the next day.

What is instore now and future of New Beat Fund, Tours? Album?

Currently we are shacked up for a few weeks writing and recording new music. We’re working out of a house in Topanga Canyon and Jimi Hendrix’s spirit has popped in a few times. Its a lotta work since we’re simultaneously trying to perfect a buffalo wing sauce here. We are doing 12 dates with Blink 182 in September and have never been this hard before. Ladies get ready. We will also be touring the states October through to Thanksgiving... Stay tuned for more details.

Any advice for budding artists that want to start a music career? Have FUN! Do you.

Any shout outs that you would like to give? AHHHHHHHHHHhhHhHHhhH!!!

Free “CoiNz EP ($)” download on Newbeatfund.com Watch “Scare Me” on YouTube Twitter/Instagram @newbeatfund

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passport

RoataN The Old-World Caribbean Destination

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European colonial times, the Bay of Honduras attracted 4Throughout an array of individual settlers, pirates, traders and military forces, engaged in various economic activities and playing out political struggles between the European powers, chiefly Britain and Spain. Roatán and the other islands were used as frequent resting spots of the Caribbean, the English occupied the Bay Islands on and off between 1550 and 1700. During this time, sailors and pirates alike found the vacated mostly unprotected islands a haven for safe harbor and transport. English, French and Dutch pirates established settlements on the islands. They frequently raided Spanish cargo vessels carrying gold and other treasures from the New World to Spain.

West End Beach In 1797, the British defeated the Black Carib, who had been supported by the French, in a battle for control of the Windward Caribbean island of St. Vincent. Weary of their resistance to British plans for sugar plantations, the British rounded up the St. Vincent Black Carib and deported them to Roatán.The majority of Black Carib migrated to Trujillo on mainland Honduras, but a portion remained to found the community of Punta Gorda on the northern coast of Roatán. The Black Carib, whose ancestry includes Arawak and African Maroons, remained in Punta Gorda, becoming the Bay Island’s first permanent post-Columbian settlers..They also migrated from there to parts of the northern coast of Central America, becoming the foundation of the modern-day Garífuna culture. The majority permanent population of Roatán originated from the Cayman Islands near Jamaica. They arrived in the 1830s shortly after Britain’s abolition of slavery in 1838. The changes in labor force disrupted the economic structure of Caymanian culture. Caymanians were largely a seafaring culture and were familiar with the area from turtle fishing and other activities. Former Caymanian slaveholders were among the first to settle in the seaside locations throughout primarily western Roatán. Former slaves also migrated from the Cayman Islands, in larger number than plant-

ers, during the late 1830s and 1840s. Altogether, the former Caymanians became the largest cultural group on the island. For a brief period in the 1850s, Britain declared the Bay Islands its colony. Within a decade the Crown ceded the territory formally back to Honduras. British colonists were sent though, and asked William Walker, a freebooter with a private army, to help end the crisis in 1860 by invading Honduras; he was captured upon landing in Trujillo and executed there. In the latter half of the 19th century, the island populations grew steadily and established new settlements all over Roatán and the other islands. Settlers came from all over the world and played a part in shaping the cultural face of the island. Islanders started a fruit trade industry which became profitable. By the 1870s it was purchased by American interests, most notably the New Orleans and Bay Islands Fruit Company. Later companies, the Standard Fruit and United Fruit Companies became the foundation for modern-day fruit companies, the industry which gave Honduras the sobriquet “banana republic”. The 20th century saw continued population growth resulting in increasing economic changes, and environmental challenges. A population boom began with an influx of Spanish-speaking Mestizo migrants from the Honduran mainland. In the last decades they tripled the original resident population. Mestizo migrants settled primarily in the urban areas of Coxen Hole and Barrio Los Fuertes (near French Harbour). But in terms of population and economic influence, the mainlander influx was dwarfed by the overwhelming tourist presence in most recent years. Numerous American, Canadian, British, New Zealand, Australian and South African settlers and entrepreneurs engaged chiefly in the fishing industry, and later, provided the foundation for attracting the tourist trade. Today Roatan is a virgining tourist mecca for those who are seeking a bit of old world Caribbean charm. With the expansion of two cruise ship ports, don’t expect this secret to be kept long!

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PhotosJimmy Hubbard

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bass&treble

phil anselmo

Solo Ablum from Pantera’s Frontman By Patrick Douglas

Philip H. Anselmo has lived a life of metal that few other frontmen could relate to. He was the voice of a generation in Pantera and has spearheaded supergroups like Superjoint Ritual and Down. Yet despite having been active in the business for the better part of the past 25 years, it might come as a surprise for people to learn that he just released his first ever solo effort. Going by the moniker Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals, “The Kid” from New Orleans just released “Walk Through Exits Only,” a blistering 8-track album that some are calling his most extreme material to date. One might think that Anselmo would have the bravado to assume that people will respond positively to the new material based on his successful past but he’s evolved long past expectations. He lives on facts and the fact is, the album is out and people will either love it or hate it and the rest is out of his control. “I’m a pessimist, man. Always have been. Even back to the earliest I can even imagine. Pantera days and all that shit,” he said. “You cannot really judge what people are going to think. Believe me, I know that this record is a drastic listen and either it’s going to turn people off immediately or people are going to love it. This record is very much like food whether people love it, hate it or are indifferent to it. I’m prepared for all of it. I’m too old to put too much worry into it.You’ve gotta laugh at it at some point and at 45, I’m giggling.” When the idea of doing a solo record first started to generate in Anselmo’s thoughts, he used his vast knowledge of metal to produce what he feels is a unique record for the times. “It was an organic process that worked itself out but it’s from years of experience and years in the business and years being a collector of music and extreme music at that,” explained Anselmo. “I’m very well versed in extremities. I’m not going to say that I’m an expert because you learn about new bands every day. Sure (they) might be an inspiration but I made it very purposeful that I did not imitate anything. There might be influences but I don’t think there are obvious influences out there where people say ‘This is Morbid Angel,’ or ‘This is Voivod.’ As far as the lyrical approach, shit, I took the hardcore approach where there might be one simple verse where it goes

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“ I wanted write something

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directly into a hook or a chorus. I love the big hook or the simple vocal pattern or the simple blatant sentence. For me, I wanted to make a non-traditional extreme record that sticks out like a sore thumb amongst anything that’s out there today.” This didn’t start out as a project where Anselmo decided to jam with friends, as some of his other bands have spawned. “It started as myself and a guitar and an amp and a fuckin’ recording apparatus here in the bedroom,” he recalled. “The songs that ended up on ‘Walk Through Exits Only’ are probably newer songs that I came up with in this agitated and extreme way.” Once he had a collection of songs written and the solo album began to take shape, Anselmo went about filling the blanks on the band. He enlisted guitarist Marzi Montazeri, drummer Jose “Blue” Gonzalez and bassist Steve Taylor to fill out the lineup. It’s a unique opportunity for Anselmo who will be playing the role of wise old man, sensei, Jedi master and mentor to his new crew. “It is a little different because I do get ultimate say so on things,” said Anselmo. “This is the type of situation where this one record just happened to work out the way it did to where I wrote every fucking single note on the Goddamn thing. Every note and every change up.” Being a good mentor, Anselmo is pushing his bandmates to take charge and add their own style to the new project, most notably Montazeri and his guitar playing. Anselmo knows a thing or two about playing alongside a great guitarist having spent so much time with Dimebag Darrell and guys like Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein. “I wanted Marzi to be Marzi as much as possible. I wanted him to put his fingerprints all over this fuckin’ record. Marzi is the type of guitar player that can play anything. He plays all sorts of style. Every time I turned around he’s got a new extreme riff. ’Walk Through Exits Only’ is really a launch pad so to speak,” he said. “Now that everybody is way more comfortable in the position and they know what the assignment is, which is to create non-traditional extreme music that follows no set pattern of rules, then now, it’s on. As far as brand new stuff in the future, I’m gonna be wide open to other people’s input and riffs. These motherfuckers are chomping at the bit.”

Lyrically, Anselmo has never minced words on a record but the solo effort leaves room for interpretation in much of its content and that’s by design, explained the singer. “There are some things that I say that are point blank and then there’s things that I’m not going to spoon feed the fuckin’ listener,” he said. “There are lyrics where I’m being absolutely 100-percent sarcastic. Whether I’m being sarcastic towards a current state of affairs in life or music or myself. I wanted to come up with something fresh and show a different insight into my personality and write something that’s tangibly fucking real instead of supposition, ghosts and fucking religion in general (which are) fucking boring and overdone.” Having played countless shows with countless musicians over the years, Anselmo is now in a position of being the lone grizzled veteran on stage. It’s a place he feels best and he’s looking forward to finding out how well he gels with his new coworkers. “Honesty, my favorite place of all and the most comfortable I am is in a live setting,” Anselmo explained. “I want every show to have its own spontaneity about it. I want every show to have its own fucking feel to it. I don’t necessarily preplan for it too terribly much because I like to feel out an audience and let things come naturally. Anything can fucking happen and I think they’ll adapt really fuckin’ quick.” “We’re going to have some unique, interesting shows along the way and will develop a live camaraderie together on that stage,” he added. “When that happens, that’s the hidden magic of jamming with people. Everyone’s got their own style and their own gig. I love musicians and I love people and I love the live setting and once again, I’m at my most comfortable and strongest.” You’ll never find Anselmo just sitting around in a rocking chair chasing kids off his lawn. As he explained, if he is ever idle, something creative will ultimately blossom from that calm. “If I do (relax) something comes out of that fucking nothing. I’m the type of motherfucker that cannot sit still, honestly. When I chill out, I watch horror films or read. I’ve been on a heavy re-visitation of Lovecraft-ian fucking horror lately,” he said. “I read, listen to music and watch fights. Nothing new. I’m the same old guy I’ve always been. Boxing, horror movies, American football and fucking God damn heavy metal music for God’s sake. It’s a way of life.”

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former nfl running back

ricky williams Trying His Luck At Coaching Words by Patrick Douglas

It’s no coincidence that the hottest time of the year in this country also marks the start of the most brutal training schedule for the thousands of football players looking to play pro ball. Prospects go through the tortures of NFL training camp (more like boot camp) in hopes of making a team while veterans use the opportunity to get back into game shape – and stand on the sidelines during an overabundance of preseason games. Former running back Ricky Williams took part in 11 preseasons in his pro career, and while most players would agree that it’s the most unpleasant part of being a pro baller,Williams would disagree.The way he sees it; it’s where the men are separated from the boys.

“Training camp will make a man out of you,” he said. “It’s designed to see who’s gonna survive the season ‘cause you know after training camp who’s gonna make it and who’s not.” Being a former first round pick, Williams never quite had to worry about making a squad. He takes pride in knowing that he never accepted the perks that veterans often earn, like taking practices off or lighter workouts. If he was on the payroll of an NFL club, Williams was going to put in more work than anyone else on the team.

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“I was such an insane football player that even if a coach offered me (time off), I would turn it down,” he said. “As difficult and as hard as training camp was, I loved it. The key for me was learning to take care of my body. Training camp for me got comfortable literally when I found out how to make my body comfortable. That was a huge key for me.” Williams retired in 2011 and just enjoyed his second straight August without a looming NFL season and he certainly didn’t shed a single tear at that thought. Make no mistake, while training camp was a necessary evil he was willing to tackle head on when he was a paid employee, not having to participate in it anymore is something Williams is more than happy about. “It’s so comforting that it really hasn’t occurred to me that it’s August and it’s time for camp,” he said. “One of the things that I kind of learned toward the end of my career is there are actually people that exist on the planet that have no idea about the football schedule. When I met people like that, I was like ‘Cool, whenever I would like to, whether it’s for the rest of my life or even for a day, I can be one of those people, too.” These days Williams is trying a new adventure as a coach, opting to teach the running backs at minuscule University of the Incarnate Word (San Antonio). It all began, as Williams explained, in an e-mail from the NFL. “It was an interesting story like most things in my life. I got an e-mail one day from the NFL Players Association and on the top of the email it said ‘So you think you can coach?’ It kind of got my attention,” he recalled. “The NFLPA said they have a coaching internship program where they find internships at NAIA, Division II and Division III schools. When I saw it, it just sort of grabbed my attention ‘cause I’ve never really wanted to coach but having some time off and traveling the world and talking to people, I started to become curious about how I would deliver information to college aged kids. I’m just really curious if I can do it, how I can do it and what the end result is going to be. My main motivation is kind of curiosity.” Williams will coach the running backs part-time as he will also be doing pregame analysis for the Longhorn Network. Choosing to start at the small school was all by design as Williams wanted to test his mettle with more responsibilities than he might get with a larger school.

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“If you’re an intern at a Division I school, you wouldn’t be coaching anything,” he said. “You’d just be getting the coaches coffee. If you go to the smaller schools, the players get to actually coach positions and sometimes more than one position.”

matter what you do, people are going to make up stuff, people are going to have your stories and there’s going to be detractors and doubters. Once you get that all of that is part of the game, you don’t let it affect you so much.”

Williams initially got a kick out of meeting his new players and, while there was an understandable level of star struck awkwardness, things quickly became second nature for the coach. Football is football no matter what level you’re on.

Despite a track record of failure at the NFL level over the past 20 years for Heisman winners, Williams doesn’t look at the trophy as being a curse.

“I’ve hung out with the kids once or twice and obviously they’re kind of star struck and I think underneath that, there will be some that will embrace me as more of a mentor type,” he said. “I look forward to that. It’s fun to play with especially when you have kids that will do whatever you say. It’s kinda fun.” Charles Barkley once famously proclaimed that he was an athlete and not a role model in a commercial. Whether athletes like it or not, they become role models for hoards of people once they reach a professional level and Williams points out his own role models and hopes he inspired others the way he was once inspired. “My role models in sports were great athletes but they weren’t (my role models) because of what they did on the field, but because of what they did off the field,” he said. “My favorite people in the world are Jim Brown and also Muhammad Ali. These weren’t just champions on the field, but they stood for what they believed in off the field. They used their fame, which is nothing compared to what professional athletes are receiving now, but they used their fame to make a difference. It’s not even about being positive or negative. It’s about making a difference. I look back on my career and that’s one thing that I see that I did and I did well and I’m very proud of that.” Williams won the Heisman trophy in 1998 as college football’s best player after amassing a then career record 6,279 yards for the Texas Longhorns. He still holds or shares 20 NCAA records in one of the most storied college careers of all-time. Winning the trophy brings a lot of pressure and scrutiny as is evident by Johnny Manziel’s insane offseason. The much maligned reigning Heisman winner has had his daily life placed under a microscope since taking home the accolade and Williams doesn’t see that as a bad thing. “I think it’s good for him, I think it’s good for the game of football and I think it’s good for our country,” said Williams of Manziel and the press surrounding him. “From what I can tell from a distance, it seems like he really doesn’t care, which is awesome. You can’t really ignore the pressure but you can get to a place where you can see that no

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“That’s the fun part about it ‘cause once you’re in, you’re in … except for Reggie (Bush),” he said with a laugh, bringing up the one guy who had the trophy taken away. “It’s an elite club. I still do events today, 15 years after I won the trophy. For the rest of my life, I’ll always have work and there’ll be people interested in me because of the Heisman trophy.” An exception to the norm of Heisman failures, Williams not only had a respectable pro career, he ended up as one of the best to play at his position at the NFL level. Williams is currently the 27th best runner in league history with 10,009 yards, more than Hall of Fame runners the likes of Joe Perry, Earl Campbell, Jim Taylor, Gale Sayers and Larry Csonka. It’s not out of the question to bring up Williams on Hall of Fame discussions, even if he is a longshot to enter the hallowed fraternity. “It’s nice to have my name mentioned (with the greats). I don’t expect to ever get into the Hall of Fame unless they start factoring in someone’s social or cultural impact,” said Williams. “My goal with playing football wasn’t to get into the Hall of Fame. It was to create a platform to change the way things are done around the world.” Williams has retired before, back in 2005, before returning for stints with the Toronto Argonauts, Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens. That “retirement” was marred by embarrassing suspensions related to marijuana use that left Williams uninterested in playing for the shield. He was also diagnosed with depression and social anxiety disorder, making his status as a celebrity athlete a bit more complex than the norm. Things worked out and he came out of retirement to finish his career on a high note. There’s little doubt that this retirement is permanent and that you won’t find him signing with a team looking for emergency help in the backfield. “I made it clear that I’m not interested. I’m 36 and a running back that was better than I was in Tiki Barber didn’t even get a shot at 36,” Williams said. “Fortunately for me, I don’t have to worry about saying ‘no’ to phone calls because I’m beyond that age.The way I see it is, I’ve had a couple dry runs (at retirement). I think I got it this time.”

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AMANDA FRANCES

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PhotographerMichael Vincent www.michaelvincent.com Makeup/HairNadia Mohammadpour ProducerTal B Hajek LocationHollywood

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skinniegirl

Website www.amandafrancesmodel.com

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bass&treble

austrailia natives

the rubens Making It In America

Words by Patrick Douglas Photos by Claire Marie Vogel

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bass&treble

Sitting at The Hotel Café in Hollywood on a recent evening, Sam Margin recalled his long journey to the states with his brothers. Australia isn’t exactly a quick trip by plane and it takes even longer for someone’s music to cross the Pacific and get noticed in the states, especially when they’re just starting out. Margin has a New South Wales accent when he speaks but when he sings, it’s as if he came straight from the south.You’d be more likely to assume he was born and raised in Memphis than a place called Menangle on the southwestern tip of Australia. He’s teamed up with his brothers Zaac and Elliott and “mates” Will Zeglis and Scott Baldwin to form The Rubens and people in the states are welcoming the guys and their Americana, blues style. The Rubens self-titled debut album was just released but they’ve been touring the states most of 2013. Sounding like a cross between The Black Keys, Kings of Leon and The Lumineers, The Rubens didn’t get discovered overnight. They released a similar album in Australia more than a year ago and began cultivating a homegrown audience behind extensive radio play and massive touring in their home continent. Now that the tunes have been properly polished and recorded, it’s déjà vu for The Rubens as they are back at it, promoting essentially the same album to a different audience. “It’s kind of interesting and a little weird because it will be a year it’s been out in Australia (when it’s released in the states),” said Sam Margin, recalling the first half of the year when they toured the states without an album to offer. “It’s a different way of playing when people haven’t heard the whole record. The tactics are different. It’s kind of weird. It’s the same thing we did in Australia building up and promoting the record all to the release date. Ideally, you have simultaneous release and that’s what we’ll do with records two and three.” It all started a few years ago when Sam got together with his brothers Elliott and Zaac to form a band.The Margin kids were all raised to play some sort of instrument and, as it turned out, they all seemed to gravitate to different ones. Call it a way of preventing a sibling rivalry but the kids didn’t want to compete on the same instrument. As Sam recalled, there was no real planning or preparation for the formation of an actual band but once they decided to jam together, it was on. “We didn’t plan to have a band,” explained Sam. “We never talked about it. The day before we started writing our first song was the day we decided to try and make something together. It had never been considered.” With a total of six kids in the Margin family and three of them in a world-traveling band, one might think it was all music, all the time growing up. It wasn’t quite like that, according to Sam. “It’s definitely a healthy thing to get your kids into playing an instrument. We weren’t forced into it, though. We weren’t some hippie family that sings around the piano,” said Sam with a laugh. “We’re not like the Partridge family. I guess Mum and Dad had us play an instrument and play a sport as well ‘cause it’s like a character building thing that everyone should do and it ended up we played different things.” Citing another brother heavy band in Kings of Leon as a musical inspiration, it’s clear the brothers in The Rubens won’t end up brawling like the Gallagher’s of Oasis any time soon.

“I know other families probably fight all the time but we don’t,” said Sam. “We’re really chill. It’s easier the fact that we’re brothers because we’ve known each other our whole lives and we can actually cut the crap when it comes to dealing with situations. If there are any problems, they get dealt with quickly and swiftly. If we’re writing and I write something and bring it to the boys, Zaac will say ‘That’s crap.’ I’m kind of offended but I move on because I trust their opinion. We can be really brutally honest and it’s good for writing.You can be efficient. If we were five different dudes from five separate families, and a lot of bands are like that, it’d be really kind of complicated getting to know them while on the road because the three of us have known each other our whole lives. We’re not like the Gallagher brothers where there’s always shit going down.” To get over the hump (known as the Pacific Ocean), The Rubens had to take a leap of faith and borrow some money from their parents in hopes of putting together something special. They ended up in New York City where producer David Kahne (Paul McCartney, The Strokes) helped push them to stick with it. It wasn’t easy. “We didn’t have a record deal at the time so we had no money,” said Sam. “We had to borrow money from our parents to get overseas and once we got there, we only had a few thousand dollars for all of us. We had to use $10 a day to get through the three months we were going to be away. We needed to rent a studio and we needed to rent a rehearsal space and do a month of preproduction stuff with David and we didn’t have any money. He decided that he was going to pay for it all and front the money because he believed in us. Having someone like David come, it was a gesture like that that made us comfortable and believe in what we were doing and that things were going to be OK. Sure enough, it worked out.” The time spent in New York was tough but, in hindsight, it was the catalyst the band needed to take the next step. “We wouldn’t know how to become a rock band without New York,” said Sam. “We were pretty lazy at the time. We had to learn how to be professional musicians and David sort of whipped us into shape. If I had known what I know now about the music industry and how fickle it is, the challenges you face and how easily things can go wrong, I’d probably not have made the decision to quit my job and move to America and record an album. I probably wouldn’t do it. I think the fact that we were so naïve and blissfully ignorant, that was the only reason we ended up making this album at all. I think if we’d stayed in Australia and kept doing what we were doing, we would’ve recorded the album but it wouldn’t sound the way it does.” It’s safe to say that the members of The Rubens have done all they can to get their music out to the masses in the states. They’ll continue to do what they’ve done for two years and that’s tour nonstop. Only this time, when they tour the U.S., they’ll have a CD to promote. The new single, “My Gun,” is already generating a buzz and crowds are responding. “It’s got so much American influence. Our style is blues soul rock, which is really American,” said Sam. “It’s all about trying to break it in America. We’re all so excited.”

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SKINNIEScene

@ Play House

INDEX

LOS ANGELES

LAS VEGAS

ORANGE COUNTY

SAN DIEGO

INLAND EMPIRE

p.038 Weekly Club Listings

p.040 Weekly Club Listings

p.042 Weekly Club Listings

p.044 Weekly Club Listings

p.046 Weekly Club Listings

Calendar Club Pictures

Calendar Club Pictures p.047 DOA at Margarita Rocks

To Receive Updates on Skinnie Scene Club Listings or To Submit Your Events, E-mail: Update@skinniemagazine.com to be Added to Our Weekly Skinnie E-blasts.

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Los angelesSkinniescene

Photos Courtesy of Jamie Barren of EVENTVIBE, Alex Orlovsky of MUSE

LA CALENDAR

09/25 Lorde @ The Belasco Theatre

@Playhouse

@Colony Nightclub

@Playhouse

@Colony Nightclub

@Playhouse

@Colony Nightclub

09/22 Rob Schneider @ Ice House 09/30 Arctic Monkeys @ The Wiltern 10/13 P!nk @ Staples Center 10/19 Festival Supreme @ Santa Monica Pier

10/10 KORN @ The WIltern 10/25 Hollywood Halloween Pub-Crawl 2013 @ Outpost 10/26 W Hollywood Halloween 2013 @ W Hotel Hollywood 10/26 Hollywood Monster Night @ Lure

10/27 Slayer @ Hollywood Palladium

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Los angeles | Skinniescene

Lucha vavoom 10th aniversary

@ mayan theatre

Images by Karen Curley

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Las VegasSkinniescene

Photos Courtesy of Danny Mahoney/XS and Tryst, WireImage

LV CALENDAR

09/26 Industry Lazer Tag Championships @ Haze

Snoop Dogg @Rock of Ages - Venetian

Katy Perry w/ Steve Wynn @Wynn

Katy Perry & Kate Hudson @Wynn

Jonas Brothers @ Wynn

Jonas Brothers w/ Le Reve Cast @ Wynn

Nick Jonas B-Day @ XS Nightclub

Jonas Brothers w/ Le Reve Cast @ Wynn

09/22 R. Kelly @ Body English 09/28 Street Drum Corps : Lost Vegas @ Vinyl 10/11 Per Shop Boys @ The Joint

10/07 Glow Run Las Vegas @ Fremont Street Experience 10/04 KONFLIKT @ Tryst 10/12 Dane Cook @ The Venitian 10/25-26 Soul2Soul w/ Faith & Tim @ The Venetian Theatre 10/26 Alice in Chains @ The Palms Hotel & Casino

10/26-27 Life If Beautiful Fest @ Planet Hollywood

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Nick Jonas B-Day @ XS Nightclub

Las Vegas | Skinniescene

presidents day weekend at body englis and the joint @

hard rock hotel & casino

Photos: Scott Harrison / Erik Kabik Photography, Carlos Larios / Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Hew Burney

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Orange countySkinniescene

Photos Courtesy of Taylor Eszlinger, Bobby Reyes of Eventvibe.com, Clubdistrict.com

OC CALENDAR

09/25 Xzibit’s Official Birthday Party! @ Heat Ultra Lounge

@ Yost

@Sutra

@ Yost

@Sutra

09/21 5th 106.7 KROQ Epicenter @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater 09/24 8th Annual Fall Fest @ House of Blues 10/04 Jim Breur @ Irvine Improv 10/06 Tesla @ The Grove of Anaheim

10/09 Johnny’s Saloon Aniversary Party w/ Hank III @ The Observatory 10/12 How the West Was Won featuring Snopp Dogg, Ice Cube & The Game @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater 10/25 Spooktacular Halloween Experience 2013 @ Wyndham Hotel Ballroom

10/26 Tiger Army @ The Grove of Anaheim

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Orange countySkinniescene

Vans Warped tour

@ The GREat park of irvine

Photos by Jen Reightley

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san diegoSkinniescene

Photos by bobby reyes, Jeremy Wassink of Eventvibe.com

SD CALENDAR

09/22 Sunday School: Intervention Afterparty 2013 Season Finale @ Hard Rock Hotel SD

@ Fluxx

Intervention Sundays @Hard Rock Hotel

@Bassmnt

09/27 Oktoberfest in El Cajon @ German American Societies of SD 10/04 Mary Lynn Rajskub @ American Comedy Club 10/17 Healthy Halloween Cooking Class with Beaming @ Casa De Luz

10/11 Boozin’ and Cruisin’ Yacht Party @ Lord Hordblower 10/27 Billy Currington @ Pachanga Resort & Casino 10/31 San Diego Gaslamp Halloween Pubcrawl @ Taste & Thirsty

10/26 Haunted W SD Halloween w/ Scotty Boy @ W Hotel SD

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inland empireSkinniescene

Photos Courtesy of Vive Tequilla Lounge, Margarita Rocks

IE CALENDAR

09/27 Agave Girls Tequila Tasting @ Vive Lounge

@Vive Tequilla Lounge

@Margarita Rocks

09/28 Gabriel Iglesias @ Ontario Improv 10/04 RUSKO @ Marquee 15 10/24 Janeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Addiction @ San Manuel Casino

10/18-19 MAVTV 500 Indycar World Championships @ Auto Club Speedway 10/25 House of Dreamz @ Marquee 15 10/31 King of the Cage @ San Manuel Casino

10/30 Halloween Party featuring Scotty Boy @ Rawken Sushi

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Skinniesceneinland empire

Call it Wild Wednesday Rockfest with

Dose Of adolescence

Photos Courtesy of Margarita Rocks

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