Where were you in 2001?
Keyboardist Rob Kleiner and the rest of the crew (Kevin Gibson-vocals, Trevor Erb- bass, Chris Wiken- drum, Jeff Enokian- guitar) were busy winning over the most important fan of their entire career, Mr. Bungle’s Trey Spruance. Tub Ring was actually first formed as a high school garage band back in 1992 and Rob who was not yet a member of the band, found himself sailing through his early teen years as a star struck fan of his musical mentors, Mr. Bungle. Rob tried to attend every show he could while Mr. Bungle was on tour and eventually his loyalty paid off and he became noticed and personally acquainted with the band.
In time, Rob met with Kevin and they hit it off and became good friends. Rob was added to the band of soap scum bathed beauties, otherwise known as Tub Ring and his positive influence began to take immediate effect. Rob dug into his years of following the style and sound of Mr. Bungle and transferred part of that glowing splendor into the bands left of the middle, alternative, melodious and tone crushing style. The band began to blossom with a neon incandescent rainbow that gracefully arced into a garbage landfill of mixed punk, classic rock, gutsy pop, hard metal, soft a-capella and grungilicious delights that has since set them apart from the Mr. Bungle as their own entity and not just a copycat.
As the band perfected its style, they realized that it was time to kick it in high gear and make their move towards making an album. Rob, who had become friends with Trey, found the confidence in the bands revamped style and asked him if he would listen to a Demo CD and give his opinion. Rob was hoping that if anything Trey would be able help squeeze a toenail in the door of someone who could help make their dream a reality. When Trey got around to listening to their demo, he liked what he heard so much that he decided to do them one better and produce their 2001 debut album, Drake Equation, under the Invisible Records label.
What happened next would best be considered a series of cataclysmic events featuring good luck, hard work, touring, the resurgence of a new generation of punk/metal and plenty of video game playing by Rob, who is an admitted video-game-aholic. The new sound of Tub Ring slowly began to take shape and find its place in the hearts and stereos of millions of new fans looking for something a little bit different than the typical dump bin of eccentrically crazed riffs, beats and vocal exasperations. Two other similar genre bands, Dog Fashion Disco and Mindless Self Indulgence joined ranks with Tub Ring and their pursuit of world domination over the global radio waves and the future success of these groups became sealed in both blood and multiple hit album releases.
When I spoke with Rob I could immediately tell that he was very excited about their newest album, The Great Filter, due out May 1st. To set the new album off properly they had plans to perform live with Brilliant Pebbles and The Show is the Rainbow at The Beat Kitchen in Chicago on April 27th. When I asked him to describe the new album he said, “Maybe less spazy, but you can still tell it is us—a group grows and does different stuff.” Taking a listen to their newest masterpiece under the End Records label, it is obvious that the 14 songs out of the 30 written for the album were carefully selected and then mixed into one giant heap of joy, sorrow, dry heaves, laughter, inspiration, flamenco dancing (not to be confused with flamingo), toe taps and head bangs.
With the new album out, Tub Ring will be on tour through the summer and fall in support of it. This means that they will be passing through Denver and promise to give one heck of an energetic performance. In reference to the show Rob exclaims, “Make sure that you make it out, hopefully the usuals are there (all you loyal fans are remembered and appreciated)… Afterwards, let’s go out for some Rocky Mountain Oysters.” Well I was with you until that last part Rob, but hell, I might even eat a few if you promise to play “Future was Free” which has been a favorite of mine since the bands second place ribbon performance at MTV2’s “Dew Circuit Breakout” competition.
While us fans have our eyes set on the upcoming tour, Rob has set his gaze towards his future of which in 10 years he hopes to be “flying around in a private jet— writing for TV soundtracks and commercials—(and most of all) that people haven’t thrown out all our CD’s.” I concluded the interview by asking Rob if he could somehow change the world by his music, how he would hope to make the biggest difference. “Good question,” said Rob. “Hopefully I think listening to music is like art in that it keeps people sane—you can be having a bad day and art takes you away from that—I hope we can make a similar difference in somebody’s life.”
Pick up their new album The Great Filter in stores now and don’t forget to visit their website (www.tubring.com) for updates, photos, MP3 downloads and complete list of touring dates and locations. Live dirty—bathe hearty and be proud of your Tub Ring!