Interview: Alex Toth of Rubblebucket

By Andrew Hertzberg

photo: peter dean rickards

Musicians are just so lazy. I had to push back a scheduled interview half an hour because singer and trumpeter Alex Toth of Rubblebucket was sleeping? At 6:30 p.m.? Jesus. Ok, so apparently he and his bandmates were up all night shooting a music video in a graveyard. I guess I can let that slide. Besides, Omega La La is one of my favorite albums released this year. I still feel like I can’t describe it accurately. It’s like the Talking Heads added an afro-soul brass section and started experimenting with in depth layers. And even that, I feel, doesn't get the point across. After seeing their music videos for "Came Out of a Lady" and "L’Homme" as well as probably my favorite set at North Coast Fest last month, they’ve solidified an official seal of approval from yours truly. Wanna see them in action? They’re playing this Friday, October 14^th at Double Door (9 PM, 21+, $15). For now, read on to find out what a n’goni is, David Lynch’s influence on the band, ghosts, and probably the only band that will directly reference stone masonry in an interview.

(Thank you, Alex, for risking all of the effects of sleep deprivation for waking up and answering my questions.)

WCR: What is a Rubblebucket?

Alex: Rubble (space) bucket is an industrial grade construction tool that is also used in disaster cleanups, you know, for earthquakes and whathaveyous. In Vermont, in stone mason culture, apparently a Rubblebucket is also a tool used, a smaller tool used for building walls and stuff like that. And then there’s a band. And that’s us [laughs]. 

Is there any reason you chose it as your name?

It wasn’t some deep selection process. Initially there was a session of musicians that came together at this art party at a milk bottling plant in Burlington, Vermont. It was a pretty wild party. And we were just making up all of these very fiery arrangements on the spot, making up melodies, and there was a rhythm section and a bunch of percussionists. It was a pretty weird instrumentation. That night, the place was called ‘Rubblebucket’ something or other. And when you go to make a band name, it can be such a grueling process, like how do you choose this or that? So we had a couple of ideas and at the end of the day that one had the most meaning. One of the percussionists, who’s now our percussionist, he’s a stone mason and he named it that.