Born Ruffians

Wed 22nd Dec, 2010 in Features

Born Ruffians are a pop outfit that is substantially underrated. Their debut album Red, Yellow and Blue saw them praised for their brash youthful sensibility, with single Hummingbird becoming quite the anthem for ruckus teenagers across the globe. After extensive touring, the band released their sophomore album Say It earlier this year, an album which sees the group embrace their signature buoyant sound, and take it to the next level. Lead vocalist Luke Lalonde discusses the facts, from being a musician with curly hair, to their near meet and greet with Bill Murray. This group is down to earth and sweet, but they are far from complacent and people pleasing.

Lalonde has a gentle disposition, unlike the energetic persona he puts forward on stage. As a frontman, one with boyish features and an ‘indie’ look to match, Lalonde isn’t a stranger to attention, “I get noticed on the street, but mostly in Toronto, Canada, because it is our hometown. It is funny, people kind of stare in passing, and I just assume that I know them from somewhere. On stage it is a different story, I get crazy drunk girls all the time that do annoying things.”

Born Ruffians are known for having live shows that pack and punch, so Lalonde doesn’t mind people having fun, he just doesn’t appreciate stupidity, “I think it is great when people get on the stage and have a dance to our music, it creates the atmosphere we love at our shows, but some people take advantage of our being lenient I guess and they ruin it for everyone. There was this one show in particular in the UK, and this girl kept taking the microphone from me when I was trying to sing Hummingbird, and she was just screaming nonsense into it, but I gave her this blank death stare and had words with her. These are just people trying to steal attention, and when they become aggressive and disorderly, it isn’t on.”

Lalonde understands how fans can be; after all he hasn’t stopped being one himself, “I still freak out when I meet other musicians I admire, like when I met Julian Casablancas I was mostly surprised. I was expecting him to be really arrogant, but he was so friendly and kind, so that was good.” Although more often than not surrounded by musical idols, one person in particular left quite the impression, “We were at SXSW festival, and we had heard that Bill Murray was in the crowd, so once we got off stage we casually tried to hunt him down. Once we found him, we stood beside him for the longest time, just waiting for the right moment, and just as we were about to make our move, this guy came out of nowhere and totally swooped in and took control. It was probably a good thing: I would have just said something stupid and embarrassed myself anyway.” The singer believes it should have been a kindred meeting, “It was so weird though, because I had just read this amazing article in Time Magazine about him, and was thinking about how much I admire his ethics and what he stands for. Oh, and I love his movies of course.” It seems that SXSW is memorable experience for musicians, which may be the reason Lalonde trails into discussion about some bands negativity towards it, “I just don’t get why some bands are so cynical, like I get that SXSW is chaotic, but that is the nature of it. It’s like a crazy adult Disneyworld, but that is said with the most positive infliction. I think the way you say things is everything.”

Although the group formed whilst in high school, Lalonde believes there is more of a stigma attached to bands that come together in art schools, “I think it is fairly common, and more often than not pretentious to some degree.” This then leads to talking about the comparison their music often makes with that of Vampire Weekend, something which Lalonde brushed off a longtime ago, “It used to really bother me at first, because we essentially started out at the same time, they just happened to get really popular. They were actually supporting us the night they got signed to XL, which is kind of funny.” He casually mentions how they ‘hang out’ with Vampire Weekend when they get the chance, “There have been a couple of occasions where they have played big shows in Toronto, and I have gone along and met with them.”