He had a 'Feels': Chad Rubin quits a career...and gets to work
Scottsdale singer-songwriter digs in with a new album
HARK!
I hear…an existential crisis…
“‘Mornin’, how ya doin’?”
“Same shit–different day.”
Chad Rubin had a good job–a career job, making good money as an electrical inspector and project engineer; he traveled the country designing, inspecting and building airport runway lighting systems before landing himself in Northern California, where he worked as a lead engineer at San Francisco International Airport.
But was he settled…or settling?
All the travelers were taking off...and Rubin felt he was circling and circling, in an endless holding pattern: Kafka meets Office Space.
Perhaps you have or have had a co-worker who thinks saying the same thing every day is hilarious (for me, it was an otherwise likable guy who would say, “Livin’ the dream–livin’ the dream!” every time you’d ask the obligatory “How ya doin’?”).
Rubin started to dread the co-worker’s same shit–different day statement.
“I remember thinking,” Rubin reflected with a thank-God chuckle, “‘If I hear that one more time– I’m going to lose it!’”
It wasn’t just those repetitive, faintly-disgusting words: it was what they stood for, and the "ring" of truth.
Did Chad Rubin really want to be swirling around a corporate toilet bowl for the rest of his life, waiting to be flushed away?
Hell no!
Music–that’s what he lived for–that’s what he wanted to define his life.
He spent his high school years playing in a handful of rock bands around Scottsdale; after graduating from Chaparral High, he continued his education at the University of Arizona, where he hooked up with a punk-reggae band called Sinclair's Revenge
That band found some success, putting out a few recordings, playing local shows and even touring.
Then, Rubin addressed the quandary that has plagued so many musicians: How am I going to pay the bills?
Instead of the typical day job (waiting tables, making espresso, telemarketing, etc.), he used his education to get into the engineering field, specializing in airport runways.
Picture his Creative Spirit, tearfully waving goodbye as Chad Rubin got ready to get on a plane headed to Corporate America--turning just before he boarded to vow, I’ll be back, Spirit!
A few years ago, he made good on that promise to his muse; he quit his job, walked away from the high-paying career, returned to his homeland of the Valley and re-launched his music career.
This time around, Rubin wasn’t going to be a drummer pounding beats to someone else’s songs; he was running the show, as a singer-songwriter crafting his own vision and letting his spirit sail.
It was 2018–and Chad Rubin started having what the hell did I just do? thoughts.
“The first year was horrifying,” Rubin said, chuckling in embarrassment during a Zoom interview with HARK Valley. “The first year was a big leap of faith…
“My first few gigs were at wine bars, and I remember thinking, ‘What am I doing here?’ But I kept pushing forward, kept making music…”
He landed regular nights around Scottsdale and Phoenix, slowly building a following. He's now up to a booming 16,000+ followers on Instagram.
Rubin’s second go-round in music was detoured–but not derailed–by the pandemic, which he spent pouring his feelings into lyrics and beats.
As music venues reopened early this year, Rubin was ready, going stretches where he would play a show every night for weeks.
Meanwhile, he was putting the finishing touches on a diverse album that jets him to distant lands of the music world, from indie-pop to reggae to old-soul to Bealtesland, often with echoes of Jason Mraz and Jack Johnson.
Chad Rubin’s new album is called Feels, streaming here.
It starts with a song called Body Language, an intriguing love song, with fast-paced vocals in a reggae-rap style:
I can’t go a day
Can’t stay
Away
From you
Let your body tell
Me what to do
The title song starts with Sgt. Pepper-style instrumentation, before digging into soul vocals, as the Beatles orchestration waxes and wanes:
She asked if you love me
to the stars
Beyond the moon
She says if you love me
don’t you play me
For a fool
Sanity is one of the album’s standouts, with a Death Cab for Cutie meets Twenty One Pilots feel:
Are you lost
Lost
Lost
Where I can’t find you?
Are you lost
Lost
Lost
Where I can’t see?
Cause you’re on
my mind
All the time
Trying hard to
Live my life
Please set me free
Yep, if Ben Gibbard is looking for covers–this is a good one.
Just Another is a passive-aggressive rant with a big crescendo; possible alternative-rock radio hit.
After a quick trip to New York, where he planned to do as many open mics as he could find in a few days, Rubin returned home to get ready for the culmination of his dream.
He unveils Feels at an album release Friday, May 20, at Rockbar.
It’s not just walking distance (or staggering distance, home) from his Old Town Scottsdale residence, this is a special place for him.
“Rockbar was one of those first places that gave me a shot,” Rubin said, his face lighting up in a big grin. “It’s always been near and dear to my heart…I know those guys since I could legally drink a beer.”
He expects to be a bag of nerves as the album-release show approaches:
“My head will be spinning, but then I get on stage and everyone disappears–’Aw, I’m home…’
“When I was younger,” he continued, “I couldn’t do a school project without being nervous; but once you get that feeling of being on stage, it’s addictive.”
Rubin can’t wait to share the journey of Feels with a live audience.
“It’s a true pandemic album,” he said.
He was asked if there’s a theme to the album, or if it’s more a collection of independent stories.
“The theme is believe in yourself–you only have one life.”
He doesn’t just say it: He lived it.
Chad Rubin links