Angels and Airwaves just released their sixth studio album Lifeforms. Their supporting tour just go underway and they are coming through the PNW this weekend. Hitting up Oregon’s Edgefeild on Saturday and Seattle Showbox SoDo on Sunday. They last tour Seattle in 2019 playing a energetic sold out show at the Showbox SoDo. We talked with AVA’s IIan Rubin about their newest album, the first two shows of their tour, and what to look forward to on their current Lifeform’s tour.
Interview with Angels and Airwaves drummer with Ilan Rubin
SMN: You just started your tour a few days ago and you’re playing Edgefield Oregon tomorrow. Have you played there before?Ilan Rubin: I don’t think that I have, but I could be mistaken.
SMN: I actually grew up in that area. It’s a really cool venue. It’s outside, surrounded by trees. How do you like outdoor venues vs indoor venues? Do you have a preference or are they both kind of fun in their own ways?
Rubin: They’re both different. I mean, what I love about playing outdoors obviously is getting to enjoy the weather. Especially if it’s a bit cooler. As a drummer, it’s nice to have either a bit of a breeze or just cooler temperature, but I really couldn’t tell you that I have a preference between indoor or outdoor. They both have their own things. I enjoy both, but yeah, I’m definitely looking forward tomorrow.
SMN: Two shows in so far how’s those two shows been?
Rubin: They’ve been really good. I mean, it feels mildly surreal kind of being back out on the road after so many months or almost two years of not playing, but it feels really good. First show went, I’d say very smoothly considering how first shows can go. And last night was a great improvement beyond that. So I think everything that we do from here on out is going to continue to improve, which is what we hope for as a band.
SMN: Do you have a favorite song or favorite part of the set that you look forward to each night?
Rubin: Well, you know what, the beginning of the set has been a lot of fun for me for a few reasons. First of all, they are newer songs and I find that with the newer material, I’m actually singing quite a bit. They’re very vocally intensive songs for me, Tom and I harmony for parts of verses most of the chorus and kind of an exciting thing whereas before, singing would kind of come in on the odd part here or there, but now I think it’s become an integral part of the material. So it’s kind of fun, just kind of playing drums and singing so much.
SMN: That’s awesome! Is there any one particular song that’s your favorite from the new album that you get to play live now?
Rubin: Yeah, I think Euphoria has crept up my list. One of my favorites, it’s been a lot of fun to play, same thing with Timebomb. There’s songs that just kind of have good groove in them. And once you kind of get past the independence part of playing these songs and grooves and then singing and harmony with Tom, it just becomes a lot more second nature. It’s just really fun to accomplish that.
SMN: How’s touring nowadays with COVID and everything compared to your last tour, which was totally different?
Rubin: With the exception of the masks. I mean, it seems pretty much the same, to be honest with you. For us, I mean, we’re doing the same thing we’ve always done. It’s just, everyone’s wearing masks.
SMN: Awesome, that’s that’s wonderful. I’ve been to a couple shows since everything kind of started up again. It’s been really nice to kind of get back out there and kind of do it and it all kind of seems the same. We’re all just kind of wearing masks though, which honestly isn’t terrible.
SMN: One thing I’ve always loved about Angels & Airwaves is all the lighting and the visual effects that you guys always incorporate in your music videos and on stage at your last tour it all came together so amazingly. Especially with the Spellbound video that just came out, that was really cool! It’s interesting to see how the songs translate into the light and stage. How was it to writing these songs and then watching the lighting and production come together for the live show?
Rubin: Well, I have to say that Tom is far more on the loop with what goes on with the lights in the preliminary stages of getting everything set up and what the stage plots are going to look like. I honestly see the lights for the first time at the one production rehearsal we do before the tour to make sure everything’s in sync and working properly, but being the drummer of the band, I also have the absolute worst seat in the house for appreciated me sort of production because it’s all behind me.
SMN: Yeah, you just kind of blasted with lights from behind kind of all over.
Rubin: Exactly, but I’m happy that they aren’t hot because when we did our warmup for Lollapalooza, those lights were not LED and they were very, very warm, which is okay. But when you kind of have that first show back you have a whole other level of adrenaline and you’re just going for it. And then you kind of turn up the temperature by 20 degrees with those lights. It can definitely take a bit out of you, but hey, the lights are cool and I feel good playing in front of them.
SMN: Yeah, they always put on a really impressive show and they always really kind of enhanced the music in a way that makes the live show is just really impressive and a lot of fun to watch.
SMN: I’d love to talk about the new album you guys had come out. I’ve been listening to it a lot this last week and it’s absolutely fantastic. It’s been three years in the making since you guys started working on it and six years since the last album came out. The cool thing about this album is that now there is a full band together again. The previous album was just you and Tom, but this one’s kind of a full band. How’s it feel to have a full band together to create this album together compared to just being you and Tom?
Rubin: To be honest, I mean, not to put a needle in that image, but the writing process has remained very similar to what it was as long as I’ve been in the band. The only real difference is that because I don’t live in San Diego anymore, and I’m up the road a couple hours in LA, what happens now is when Tom has initial song idea, he gets in the studio with Aaron Rubin, he’s been producing the stuff and they kind of mold the material until Tom has gotten all of his ideas out. Obviously Aaron throws his ideas into the mix, but once they’ve gotten it to a certain point where they feel their ideas are out and it’s time for me to get involved. Then get all of the files.
And I really have a very fresh perspective on the stuff that they have been working on. So with that fresh perspective comes the opportunity to feel what parts could possibly be edited or mildly changed. I then add my harmonies. I redo all of the programming, pretty much all the electronics, any other sorts of rhythmic ideas. And then usually I get this song partially incomplete, and that’s where I will write the bridge and then kind of finish out the remaining structure of it.
It works out well that way, because there’s almost no point getting involved in the process any earlier than I do, because things are just changing minute by minute, day by day, and have to constantly be sending things back and fourth before the idea had really been formalized. It’s just no point to it so I get involved and I pretty much finish the song really. And then we take it from there and what ends up on the album ends up on the album. I wouldn’t say that the process has changed much if anything at all, it’s just before I used to be in the studio every day and kind of watching the whole thing, be built from the ground up, whereas now come in and I sort of finish the project.
SMN: I had a question about one of particular songs, “No More Guns”. There seems to be a lot of really prominent drumming on that song. It’s a song that kind has the Angels and Airways vibe, but it’s also feels like a totally kind of new direction. Can you tell us a little bit about how you guys put that song together or at least what you contributed to the song?
Rubin: Yeah, well, I would say that that is a song that actually transformed quite a bit when I got my hands on it and of all things, the song had a very Monkeys quality to it, believe it or not.
The great thing about the way Tom writes is that once he’s used a piece of music to get, as a vehicle, to get his melodic and lyrical content out, he’s not too precious about what changes musically beneath it, as long as the vocals are kept intact. And I really just try to find a way to toughen it up a little bit, not necessarily in a muscular sense, but give it a bit of early nod of rock and roll edge to it a bit. Just a fancy way saying I tried to put like a The Who filter on it and kind of reinterpret it that way. But obviously with the style of vocals, it doesn’t sound like that but musically that’s what I was trying to get across. And yeah, that song really transformed from the initial demo process, but that was fun. I’m sure we’ll be playing it at some point.
SMN: Yeah, that one’s a great at one. Tom had mentioned about creating this album “without using all the same old tricks that they had in the toolbox” from the last time and that they were going to try some new stuff. Was there anything new in particular you tried or anything different that created an interesting or new sound?
Rubin: When I joined the band, he was looking for a different element to be introduced in the songwriting, perhaps he felt the things were becoming a bit repetitive and you want to do something bit different. Now it’s one thing to feel that way, but then when you get into actually writing the material, it kind of feels a little uncomfortable kind of stretching out of your sort of comfort zone, and I think those sorts of growing pains or creative hurdles have already been crossed.
So now it just feels like it’s expected to do things a little differently than they’ve been done in the past. And I just think he feels a lot of freedom in being able to just do whatever it is he wants to do without feeling like he’s going to be alienating fans. There’s the discomfort doing things a little bit differently. It’s been a natural process. So this is a very diverse album, but I think it’s almost felt more natural to write and instead of The Dream Walker.
SMN: This album, it definitely sounds like that, I would totally agree.
SMN: Kind of want to switch gears back to the show that you guys were playing. Angels and Airwaves are playing Seattle, the Showbox on Sunday, October 3rd. When you come to a new city, do you guys like try and get out and maybe visit a couple shops or places around town?Did you do that in Seattle last time?
Rubin: I can’t say that I did do that in Seattle last time, but what I will say is you can imagine when you have been touring for many, many, many years, going to a place like Seattle, which is going to be on the itinerary almost every time you go out, it doesn’t necessarily feel like a new place that you’re going to because, I mean, I could even tell you how many times I’ve actually been to Seattle. Now that doesn’t mean that I’m not into exploring or checking out some touristy stuff, if you will, but alongside that way towards so many times, you kind of just have to figure out what’s most productive or your downtime. So for example, I’ve brought a pretty hefty mobile studio with me. So the intent for me is to really remain very musically productive while out on the road. So yeah, I don’t think there’s going to be much time for me to explore. However, I am definitely going out in Seattle because I do need some jeans. I did not pack enough jeans, so I’m going to go find some.
SMN: One last question. The last tour you played, The New Regime actually opened the show before Angels & Airwaves went on. How was that? I was always curious. How was that playing two sets in one night?
Rubin: It was fantastic! It actually just kind of gave me more energy than I’ve ever felt I had. It was really exciting to get out there, do my own thing, already feel like I was warmed up and ready to go and then just kind of get back on stage and do another set. It felt really, really good.
SMN: I can imagine after you have a set, you have that huge adrenaline rush afterwards. And then to be able to just throw that into the next set was probably pretty cool.
Rubin: Exactly! Because some people feel like, oh, we’re really tired. And surprisingly, I felt more energy than I ever had, which was a lot of fun because you know, having more energy than I usually do, but to then play drums, which is more physically exhausting thing to play then guitar. It really just worked out well, it was like a synergistic benefit between the two. I just really enjoyed it.
SMN: We loved seeing Angels and Airwaves last time you came through Seattle in 2019 and everyone can’t wait to see you on Sunday when you guys play the Showbox SoDo again. So thanks so much for giving us a few moments to speak with us. Really looking forward to the show and hope you and the rest of your tour goes well.
Rubin: My pleasure, thank you very much.
SMN: Thanks so much, you have a good one.
Rubin: Have a good one, take care.
You can catch Angels and Airwaves this weekend in Oregon at McMenamins Edgefield on Oct. 2nd 2021 and in Seattle at Showbox SoDo on Oct. 3rd 2021.
Here are a few photos from their last tour in 2019.
