Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload, the podcast at Leap the Right. Hey guys,
Speaker 1: welcome back to TV Reload. I want to thank you
Speaker 1: for clicking and downloading on today's episode with Ruben from
Speaker 1: The Voice Australia, which has been a massive hit for
Speaker 1: Channel seven again this year. I have to admit I
Speaker 1: always love catching up with these artists as the competition
Speaker 1: goes on. I just pick a few along the way
Speaker 1: and find out how they're going and what they think
Speaker 1: of they're coaches. It's usually quite a fascinating time to
Speaker 1: talk to them as well, just as we're getting to
Speaker 1: the pointy end of the competition. Rubert is actually quite
Speaker 1: an amazing person and away from his singing, as our
Speaker 1: chat went on, I kind of started to feel more
Speaker 1: and more drawn to him as an overall package. And look,
Speaker 1: I'm going to root for him to win the show.
Speaker 1: I'm just going to say that. At this point we
Speaker 1: will talk about how he got onto the show and
Speaker 1: whether he'd been a fan of the Voice before auditioning.
Speaker 1: I will discuss his relationship with Leanne Rhymes and ask
Speaker 1: what it was about her skill set that she had
Speaker 1: been able to bring into her mentoring, you will get
Speaker 1: everything from what song he will sing this week to
Speaker 1: where he wants to take this whole experience. There's actually
Speaker 1: so much to talk about, with so many inside revelations,
Speaker 1: So sit back and relax as we unpack the wonderful
Speaker 1: world of the Voice Australia. Hi, Reuben, how are you good?
Speaker 2: Thanks spending yourself.
Speaker 1: I'm good. I've just been sitting here. I'm in Queensland.
Speaker 1: I'm normally from Melbourne, but I'm sitting outside recording this podcast.
Speaker 1: But I was blaring I see fire ed shearan that
Speaker 1: bloe addition, and I was waiting for the neighbors to
Speaker 1: applaud because it's so brilliant.
Speaker 2: Did they tell you to shut up? No?
Speaker 1: They were like, it's so annoying about the voices. The
Speaker 1: songs is who's short? You know what I mean? Like,
Speaker 1: I want to hear the full and I've just been logged.
Speaker 1: I've been going into your YouTube channel, So anyone listening
Speaker 1: to this go into the YouTube channel because there is
Speaker 1: some music there. But I'm hoping there'll be a lot,
Speaker 1: a longer version of that Edsurant song.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm planning to yeah record it whenever I do
Speaker 2: like gigs. I always play about a six minute version
Speaker 2: of that song because I've got a loop pedal as well.
Speaker 2: And yeah, I don't think you want to listen to
Speaker 2: six minutes of that and then out a wrap here
Speaker 2: and there. That's weird.
Speaker 1: I've listened to a ten minute, but I think i'd
Speaker 1: go thirty minutes. I reckon.
Speaker 2: That's massive, man, Thank you.
Speaker 1: Well, congratulations on getting this far on the voice. I mean,
Speaker 1: it must be so exciting. What are your friends and
Speaker 1: family saying about you being on such a big show
Speaker 1: like this?
Speaker 2: Oh well, I don't think you guys know, but the
Speaker 2: wife actually applied to me and to be on the show.
Speaker 2: I was actually up on the mines working land, came
Speaker 2: back to my Donga and found this email going, oh
Speaker 2: you've been You've made it through to the the auditions
Speaker 2: or whatever, and yeah, it went from there. And my
Speaker 2: family they never thought I could.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: Mom and dad were always kind of pretty headstrong about
Speaker 2: finding work and no way you're going to pay the
Speaker 2: bills just doing music and kind of took that path
Speaker 2: and now they finally feel like there is an opportunity
Speaker 2: with that sort of stuff, you know, and it's done
Speaker 2: a whole three sixty and everyone's just fully committed to
Speaker 2: my journey on the show, which is which is nuts.
Speaker 2: I never thought this I'd see this day to be honest, Well, I.
Speaker 1: Hope you've thrown away the key to the genre because
Speaker 1: I don't think you under need it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I know, because I keep I keep bringing
Speaker 2: them home with me when I'm supposed to check out,
Speaker 2: keep getting emails.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. That's a really great story to hear that
Speaker 1: you know, someone so close to you had that belief
Speaker 1: in you and put you forward. I think you've got
Speaker 1: a real chance of winning this show. So you're going
Speaker 1: to have to say thank you.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, so in debt to them, And I think
Speaker 2: sometimes and people that really close to you that believe
Speaker 2: in you, I don't think you could give them anything
Speaker 2: in return, just love, you know, And it's nuts. I'm
Speaker 2: so glad I found someone like her. Yeah, she's just
Speaker 2: been a massive support for me.
Speaker 1: What has this experience been like? So, like you haven't
Speaker 1: really put the application in yourself. Had you been watching
Speaker 1: this show over the years thinking that this is something
Speaker 1: you would like to do, but didn't feel like you
Speaker 1: could put the up Like what's been your relationship with
Speaker 1: the approach to the.
Speaker 2: Show, with the voice and stuff that I haven't I'd
Speaker 2: never really kind of I just saw the blind and
Speaker 2: you know, kind of the same amazing versions of people's
Speaker 2: songs on YouTube, and I never religiously watched the show,
Speaker 2: but there are times where some of my good friends
Speaker 2: would sit down and like follow it religiously and they'd
Speaker 2: keep pounding me to be on it. And last year,
Speaker 2: a couple of my mates that I worked with, they'd
Speaker 2: played my original songs. I've got most of my originals
Speaker 2: up on Spotify, but one of the boys had come
Speaker 2: down to the live show and they said, you need
Speaker 2: you definitely need to give that show a go, rub
Speaker 2: and it's been too long. People need to see you live.
Speaker 2: And I just sort of brushed it off. And it
Speaker 2: was kind of sad, really because because last year he
Speaker 2: lost his life to obviously the silent disease, you know,
Speaker 2: to suicide, and he was a massive part of like
Speaker 2: my wife and sort of him his voice in the
Speaker 2: back of my head was a massive reason why I thought,
Speaker 2: you know, I'm just going to dive in and just
Speaker 2: surrender and give it a go. So yeah, and so
Speaker 2: it happened.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm seeing you very emotional hearing that story.
Speaker 1: But I guess that gives you so sort of drive
Speaker 1: and more commitment to it. There's something about you as
Speaker 1: a person, though on camera you are the whole package.
Speaker 1: There's something very intoxicating about you and very genuine about
Speaker 1: the way in which you connect to the songs and
Speaker 1: then connect to the audience. I mean, I think that
Speaker 1: this is off being the part of your destiny.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I try to because obviously I close my eyes
Speaker 2: in a thing, and sometimes it's nice to open them
Speaker 2: to be relatable. But when I close my eyes, I
Speaker 2: kind of I feel everything, and I feel like I'll
Speaker 2: be doing the song Injustice or the artist who wrote
Speaker 2: it injustice if I don't feel it and if I
Speaker 2: don't embody it, and and I sort of sing songs
Speaker 2: that really make me feel kind of and I transcend
Speaker 2: from a really dark place, you know what I mean. Like, Yeah,
Speaker 2: Icy Fire kind of took me back to that brotherhood
Speaker 2: because you know, it's obviously the Hobbits in the mind,
Speaker 2: and it kind of that's what it feel like for
Speaker 2: me out there as well. We have a brotherhood and
Speaker 2: chip in away and it's breaking rocks, you know, breaking
Speaker 2: rocks up on the mines and kind of resonated with me.
Speaker 2: And that that's what I embodied during the audition, because
Speaker 2: I believe the eyes are the gateway into someone's soul,
Speaker 2: and you could invade someone's personal space just by looking
Speaker 2: into their eyes from agors away. And sometimes I often,
Speaker 2: you know, when I'm up north and I kind of
Speaker 2: look into the mirror, look deep down in my eyes
Speaker 2: and tell me, like tell myself all the positive things
Speaker 2: I want to hear for the day. And eyes are
Speaker 2: pretty important thing in communicating, and I'm going to try
Speaker 2: and work on that a bit more. But I don't know,
Speaker 2: Like I think towards throughout the show, I get a
Speaker 2: bit self conscious. Sometimes I can watch myself on TV
Speaker 2: and I thought, oh, maybe probably give that I go
Speaker 2: something different.
Speaker 1: You know, you're a good looking rooster. I think you've
Speaker 1: got it all going. It's fine, it's fine. How do
Speaker 1: you go about picking these songs? Because I'm in so
Speaker 1: far we've since you drew some amazing arrangements with songs
Speaker 1: that we know very well. Are they selected for you
Speaker 1: by your coach? Like? How does that go?
Speaker 2: Yeah? So Leanne, she picks all these songs for me,
Speaker 2: and she surprisingly he's on that same wavelength and picks
Speaker 2: the songs that I that I could I really sell
Speaker 2: at the time. She's done a really good job picking stuff.
Speaker 1: Have you been happy with it? I just want to
Speaker 1: know that's why Kamina. We've known Leanne rhymes for years.
Speaker 1: She's a household globally, what does she actually like as
Speaker 1: a person.
Speaker 2: So again, my wife kind of really loves her, and
Speaker 2: it was really into the music and stuff, and I
Speaker 2: sort of didn't really know much about it. But when
Speaker 2: it came to the show and she picked me and thought, oh,
Speaker 2: you know, she's just made this decision a lot easier.
Speaker 2: And she's just been amazing. She walks around in pj's
Speaker 2: and she really values all the film crew and all
Speaker 2: the people behind the scenes. You know, she'd never think
Speaker 2: someone like her would be that down to earth And
Speaker 2: that's something that I really resonate with because at the
Speaker 2: end of the day, no matter who you are, you're
Speaker 2: still a human. You still have to pay your wages,
Speaker 2: you still have to put food on the table, and
Speaker 2: then you still have to be vulnerable when you go
Speaker 2: to sleep, you know, and deal with and do it
Speaker 2: all again every day. And I think people like that,
Speaker 2: people like Leanne are really necessary in this industry because
Speaker 2: there's obviously a massive ego war and it's all me, me, me, Like, oh,
Speaker 2: it's all the film true that really makes us look
Speaker 2: good on this show, Like the reason people get to
Speaker 2: know me are because of all the people that put
Speaker 2: in the effort behind the scene, you know. And that's
Speaker 2: pretty much what she embodies as well, and I resonate
Speaker 2: with that a lot.
Speaker 1: What's interesting about reality TV in general is that you
Speaker 1: often see people go on these shows and then the
Speaker 1: trajectory afterwards isn't as smooth. And it's because when you're
Speaker 1: on a show like this, you've got like two hundred crew,
Speaker 1: like if there's a whole beast that gets together to
Speaker 1: make a show like this to make you look good,
Speaker 1: and then when you come out of these shows and
Speaker 1: you buy yourself, it's just you, you know, And it's
Speaker 1: hard to see that drop off in a way because
Speaker 1: they're so used to everything being so polished. So it's
Speaker 1: an interesting Yeah. I want to know though, with Leanne
Speaker 1: has anything that has she been able to add something
Speaker 1: to you that's quite unique to her skills.
Speaker 2: I think She's added, I don't necessarily pay attention to
Speaker 2: the color of my voice or kind of do anything
Speaker 2: funky with my voice, you know, And whatever I've seen
Speaker 2: just comes naturally from my core. And in terms of that,
Speaker 2: she has been able to sort of help me with
Speaker 2: sort of the technical side of stuff because I've never
Speaker 2: been I've never learned how to sing, been able to
Speaker 2: teach me how to breathe before, you know, and maybe
Speaker 2: guide me through my nerves because most of my breathing
Speaker 2: comes from nerves. I've never been in front of a camera.
Speaker 2: She's been doing this for ages, but just being able
Speaker 2: to go forget about everybody, forget about all that sort
Speaker 2: of stuff, and just sink from your heart, but also
Speaker 2: just be able to breathe, breathe through your nervousness and give.
Speaker 2: She'd often message me about certain sort of breathing techniques
Speaker 2: and just positive words. She's been an awesome mentor.
Speaker 1: To be honest, what do you think you'll do with
Speaker 1: this opportunity if you win, Like, have you kind of
Speaker 1: worked out what sort of an artist you would.
Speaker 2: That's a really tough question because I never really knew
Speaker 2: I could be an artist. I thought I was. I
Speaker 2: was just always going to be sitting on my going
Speaker 2: to work and paying the bills off, and this winning,
Speaker 2: this would be an opportunity to obviously pay a chunk
Speaker 2: off of my mortgage. And then my idea was to
Speaker 2: sit back and do the retick and get into get
Speaker 2: into the studio and just do simple stuff like that.
Speaker 2: But I think this is a massive sort of stepping
Speaker 2: stone for my soul to finally let my soul have
Speaker 2: a go and maybe try and invest my time in
Speaker 2: what kind of artists I'll like inter thinking that, figuring
Speaker 2: out what kind of artists I'd like to be like,
Speaker 2: and I am I'm not sure. Then I think I
Speaker 2: don't know what genre my music fits into or anything
Speaker 2: like that. But I'd just like to write my own
Speaker 2: originals and perhaps just like do gigs so I can
Speaker 2: play original music and people come to listen, like you know,
Speaker 2: the old Neil Young days where people would sit down
Speaker 2: and listen. Five hundred thousand people something which sit down
Speaker 2: and listen to his concerts and it's just him singing,
Speaker 2: and they'd be up there with their light as or
Speaker 2: candles or whatever, and they just cheer them sitting down
Speaker 2: on chair and sing and so something like that. I
Speaker 2: don't know. I don't know how this industry works.
Speaker 1: I don't have that answer for you either, But as
Speaker 1: someone who has brought into you on this season of
Speaker 1: The Voice, I can imagine sitting by the beach and
Speaker 1: you're doing some sort of summer type concert.
Speaker 2: Oh cool, it's just going to take.
Speaker 1: Something like, you know, a big jet plane song or
Speaker 1: something like that, the original song of yours that sounds
Speaker 1: a bit like that. That's going to get you out there.
Speaker 2: That's actually good to get to hear that because now
Speaker 2: I can actually keep that as something I've worked towards
Speaker 2: for it on the vision board.
Speaker 1: The battles are super awkward to me because that moment
Speaker 1: where you're standing there on stage and you were standing
Speaker 1: next to Larissa, you know, is it awkward you when
Speaker 1: you beat her?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: What did you get to have a conversation with her backstage?
Speaker 1: Or is she sort of moved away? What happens with that?
Speaker 1: Is it as awkward as it's?
Speaker 2: Yeah, well we didn't really get to have a conversation afterwards,
Speaker 2: but I did message her and I said, think sheeps,
Speaker 2: because in my head, battles are usually one with swords
Speaker 2: and fists, you know, and rarely ever do we have
Speaker 2: a singing battle. It kind of feels awkward to call
Speaker 2: it a battle. But I honestly thought that was going
Speaker 2: to be my last day on the show because she
Speaker 2: has her voices immaculate, and to be able to play
Speaker 2: that instrument and just have a voice like she does,
Speaker 2: it's powerful. And I thought, I'll tell the missus. I'm like, oh,
Speaker 2: I hope you're proud of me. I never thought I
Speaker 2: could make it this far. But she's like, yeah, I'm
Speaker 2: proud of you. And I was just spun out of
Speaker 2: it by the fact that I got through, and I
Speaker 2: just wanted to get out, go home and probably have
Speaker 2: a drink, to be honest with there, and just hang
Speaker 2: out with the missus because the kids were at home
Speaker 2: and she was there by myself. And then I finally
Speaker 2: messaged her and Luisa she replied, and she was pretty
Speaker 2: cool about it. I think obviously we never got to
Speaker 2: hang out.
Speaker 1: I think that might be a good thing, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, Like where you know, if all of
Speaker 1: all of a sudden you've won and then they put
Speaker 1: you in an elevator together, I'd be like, I just
Speaker 1: I could tell by the way that I'm talking to
Speaker 1: you today that you're a very genuine person. I think
Speaker 1: you would handle the situation really well, but I have
Speaker 1: no faith in myself. It would be so awkward. I
Speaker 1: feel like it's elevator so I can get out. Well.
Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know what it feels like
Speaker 2: losing because I believe I'm always winning because I've got
Speaker 2: my two boys and the epitome of life for me
Speaker 2: is to be able to come home and when one
Speaker 2: of your boys says, I love you Dad, you know,
Speaker 2: like that's it. I could be a homeless man on
Speaker 2: the street if my boy said I love you Dad
Speaker 2: that night, I'd probably be the biggest winner in the
Speaker 2: world in terms of a battle and all that sort
Speaker 2: of TV stuff. I think if people like put such
Speaker 2: a such a massive value on it, then can be awkward. Sometimes.
Speaker 2: Lauris Ha handled it like a chance, and she's awesome,
Speaker 2: and she's got a really like she's got a really
Speaker 2: strong will and she's been through the hard Yeah, she's
Speaker 2: a mother, she's a music teacher, and she's you know,
Speaker 2: she's probably taking heaps of criticism before because it's it's
Speaker 2: not every day you get to sing opera and be like,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, And that's sort of that
Speaker 2: sort of industry. And I love what she did, but
Speaker 2: that sort of industry is pretty brutal, and I'm pretty
Speaker 2: sure she's got really thick skin, so she'll handle it
Speaker 2: like a bus.
Speaker 1: So listening to that battle anyway on YouTube and replaying
Speaker 1: that for years to come, so it's all right, people
Speaker 1: will still be checking her outs. Finished the podcast by
Speaker 1: asking a question about what is something from behind the scenes,
Speaker 1: something we may not know watching the show that we're
Speaker 1: talking that I'm usually talking about, But with this, maybe
Speaker 1: you can tease us with something. What's the next song
Speaker 1: that we're going to get to see you sing on
Speaker 1: the show?
Speaker 2: It's a song called you Somebody, So it's yes, I've
Speaker 2: really ever played that live on any of my gigs.
Speaker 2: It's probably the first time I've ever played it and
Speaker 2: sung it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, like sex on Fire is like go to karaoke song.
Speaker 1: But I can tell you right now, Reuben, I am
Speaker 1: not a singer and I should have that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know. As long as you make some noise,
Speaker 2: I suppose, and you had a few You've had a
Speaker 2: few drinks.
Speaker 1: That's the only reason I'd be up there after a
Speaker 1: few drinks, and I don't think I don't think anyone
Speaker 1: sounds good after a few drinks, you know, Mate, From
Speaker 1: talking to you today, I think there's a lot more
Speaker 1: to you than just being a singer. And I can't
Speaker 1: wait to follow your journey on the show, but I
Speaker 1: actually can't wait to see what your journey looks like
Speaker 1: after this as well. I wish you honestly the best
Speaker 1: of luck, and you know, I hope you take this.
Speaker 1: I hope you take the show out.
Speaker 2: Oh Ben, thanks jeeves, mate, and speople like yourself and
Speaker 2: everyone behind the scenes that actually make makers get there.
Speaker 2: So be quoted to you, brother, Thank you, appreciate you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you for being so generous with your time.
Speaker 1: It was such such a nice chat.