Rubblebucket is an American
art-pop
Art pop (also typeset art-pop or artpop) is a loosely defined style of pop music influenced by art theories as well as ideas from other art mediums, such as fashion, fine art, cinema, and avant-garde literature. The genre draws on pop art's ...
and
indie-rock
Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produce ...
band from
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. The primary members are musical couple (now separated) Annakalmia Traver and Alex Toth.
Formation
Alex Toth (trumpet, band leader) and Kalmia Traver (vocals, saxophone) first met at the
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...
where they were both enrolled as music majors. Upon graduating in 2006, they began touring the United States as members of different projects. The band began performing primarily in the Northeast, in major cities and college towns, earning a reputation for their raucous energy.
Toth had been developing a dance band that merges psychedelic indie rock, upbeat dance, and left field arrangements. In June 2007, the pair met percussionist Craig Myers; the improvised music they made at a party was arranged and elaborated on to become the first contribution to the band's repertoire.
[
]
Career
In March 2008, Rubblebucket self-released their debut album, ''Rose's Dream'', under the name Rubblebucket Orchestra and began to tour full-time. They were chosen by ''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' magazine as a "Must-hear artist from the 2009 CMJs".
[
] On October 13, they released their self-titled second studio album, and officially changed their name to Rubblebucket. In December, they won a Boston Music Award for Live Act of the Year.
[
]
In 2010, Rubblebucket appeared at festivals such as
High Sierra,
All Good Music Festival
The All Good Music Festival and Camp Out was a weekend-long event held annually in July. Since its inception in 1997, it had been held at venues along the Mid-Atlantic, including Trip's Farm (Terra Alta) Masontown, West Virginia, Brandywine, Mar ...
, and the Liberate Music and Dance Festival. On October 19, 2010, they released their ''Triangular Daisies'' EP; it included a cover of
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' "
Michelle", which ''
Paste'' magazine named on their list of 50 Greatest Beatles Covers of All Time.
[
]
In Spring 2011, Rubblebucket released their third full-length album, ''Omega La La''. It was recorded at DFA studios, produced by Eric Broucek, and mastered by Joe Lambert.
On April 4, 2011, the band released it as a free download before its physical release on June 21 through MRI Distribution. Promotional performances for the album included an appearance on ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...
'' in 2012.
The band also performed at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival for the 1st time where they “revved up like an indie-rock Miami Sound Machine” (Rolling Stone),
including multiple sets throughout the weekend
In 2013, Rubblebucket collaborated with
Questlove
Ahmir Khalib Thompson (born January 20, 1971), known professionally as Questlove (stylized as ), is an American musician, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman (with Black Thou ...
,
Tune-Yards
Tune-Yards (stylized as tUnE-yArDs) is the American, Oakland, California–based music project of Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner. Garbus's music draws from an eclectic variety of sources and utilizes elements such as loop pedals, ukulele, voca ...
singer Merrill Garbus,
Angelique Kidjo
Angelique or Angélique may refer to:
* Angélique (given name), a French feminine name
Arts and entertainment Music
* Angélique (instrument), a string instrument of the lute family
* ''Angélique'', a 1927 opéra bouffe by Jacques Ibert
* ...
and poet
Akua Naru
Akua Naru (also known as Akua Olatunji), is a rapper from Connecticut, United States. Naru has been particularly successful in Europe, where she has lived since 2008. Her hip-hop music incorporates styles including soul and jazz. In 2018 she beg ...
to create a new compilation album for
Fela Kuti
Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also known as Abami Eda, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the p ...
's ''Lady''. In 2014, Rubblebucket served as
Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member S ...
's "The Reflektors" at the Glastonbury Festival. Customary to most Arcade Fire shows of the time, "The Reflektors" wore massive papier-mâché heads as a fake-out to fans.
Also in 2014, Rubblebucket recorded with
John Congleton
John Congleton is an American Grammy Award-winning record producer, engineer, mixer, writer and musician.
In addition to his production work, Congleton has fronted the alternative rock band the Paper Chase, and writes music for a newer project e ...
and signed with
Communion Records to release ''Survival Sounds''. ''Paste'' said about the record, "Survival Sounds should be a victory lap."
The album's reception was positive, gaining the support of many online publications and radio stations, such as NPR's Tiny Desk.
"Came Out of a Lady" was featured in feature film ''
Drinking Buddies
''Drinking Buddies'' is a 2013 American comedy-drama film written, directed and edited by Joe Swanberg, and starring Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick and Ron Livingston. The film is about two co-workers at a craft brewery in Chicago.
T ...
''. While on tour, singer Annakalmia Traver was diagnosed with first stage, clear-cell ovarian cancer, and underwent and completed treatment while on tour.
Rubblebucket embarked on a Spring tour that began in March 2015 across the United States, with support from
Vacationer. Also in 2015, Rubblebucket performed at the BAM Opera House Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell in New York City along with other acts including
Cults
In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
,
Dev Hynes
Devonté Hynes (born David Joseph Michael Hynes, 23 December 1985), also known as Blood Orange and formerly Lightspeed Champion, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and director based in New York City. From 2004 to 2006, Hynes was ...
, and Arcade Fire.
On October 8, 2016, Rubblebucket supported Brooklyn multi-genre band
Lake Street Dive
Lake Street Dive is a multi-genre band that was formed in 2004 at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. The band's founding members are Rachael Price, Mike "McDuck" Olson, Bridget Kearney, and Mike Calabrese. Keyboardist Akie Bermiss ...
for a series of tour dates across the US, including a performance at
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...
.
In 2017, the band released the ''If U C My Enemies'' EP and performed on
WXPN's World Cafe Live.
In May 2018, Rubblebucket signed to Grand Jury Music and released their fourth full-length album ''Sun Machine'', which saw the band's largest radio reception to date, including full rotation on
SiriusXMU
SiriusXMU (formerly XMU, and known as Sirius U on Sirius Canada, although Sirius receivers list it as Sirius XM U) is an indie pop, indie rock, unsigned artist music channel on XM Satellite Radio channel 35 (previously 43).
On November 12, 2008, ...
and commercial radio across the US. The band announced a Fall and Winter tour headlining bigger rooms and theaters, including
Brooklyn Steel
Brooklyn Steel is an 1800-capacity music venue in Brooklyn, New York, United States. In 2018 Brooklyn Steel was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by Rolling Stone Magazine.
Construction for the venue began in July 2016, and it ...
in Brooklyn, NY. With the release of ''Sun Machine'' was a public acknowledgement that Travers and Toth were continuing a musical partnership although no longer a couple.
Paste Magazine
''Paste'' is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publication fro ...
noted that ''Sun Machine'' is a break up album that is impressively both fun and danceable.
After Toth and Traver ventured with their own solo music projects (''Tōth'' and ''Kalbells'' respectively), they returned as Rubblebucket with a new single, "Morning in the Sun", released June 23, 2022. Three more singles followed: "Earth Worship", "Cherry Blossom", and "Geometry", all of which were included on ''Earth Worship'', their fifth studio album. The album was released on October 21, 2022.
Rubblebucket's music has been used in several major sync placements, including a
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
ad campaign (that first aired during the
2016 Super Bowl),
Chanel
Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel is ...
worldwide campaign &
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
Women Techmakers spot.
Band members
Current members
*
Annakalmia Traver – lead vocals,
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
and
baritone saxophone
The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...
s,
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
* Alex Toth – trumpet, backing vocals, flute, percussion, bandleader
Current touring members
* Adam Dotson – trumpet, backing vocals, flute
* Ryan Dugre – guitar
*
Noga Shefi – bass
* Jeremy Gustin – drums
* Sean Smith - trumpet
Past members
* Adam Dotson – trombone, backing vocals, flute, keyboards
* Ian Hersey – guitar, backing vocals
* David Cole – drums
* Craig Myers -
ngoni, percussion
Discography
Full-length
* ''Rose's Dream'' (2008)
* ''Rubblebucket'' (2009)
* ''Survival Sounds'' (2014)
* ''Omega La La'' (2011)
* ''Sun Machine'' (2018)
* ''Earth Worship'' (2022)
EPs
* ''Triangular Daisies'' (2010)
* ''Oversaturated'' (2012)
* ''Save Charlie'' (2013)
* ''Carousel Ride'' (2014)
* ''If U C My Enemies'' (2017)
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
American dance music groups
Musical groups from Brooklyn
Musical groups from Massachusetts
Musical groups established in 2007
2007 establishments in Massachusetts