Worcestershire music scene: Ruben Seabright chats to Jodie Hughes

Ruben Seabright seems to rarely have a night off from gigs. He plays all manner of venues, from Paradiddles to Chester’s Mexican Restaurant, which demonstrates the diversity of his music.

With a strong, raspy voice and impeccable guitar skills, Ruben has made a name for himself locally, with not only his original songs and unusual covers, but also hosting open mic nights across Worcestershire. For anyone who likes singer-songwriter music, but wants to hear a different take on this, Ruben definitely will not disappoint.

You’ve become a well-known name of the Worcestershire music scene. How did it all begin?

I’ve been playing music since I was really young. I started playing guitar when I joined in the open mic nights at the Great Malvern Hotel. I used to play in bands when I was around 15 too, quite emo, standard teenage angst stuff. What I do now, I’ve been doing full time since October.

You tend to play covers which are a little bit different, such as System of a Down and Queens of the Stone Age. What made you decide to push the boat out and do something different to the typical singer-songwriter?

It’s just about playing what you enjoy. I do a lot of cocktail bars where I have to do more mainstream stuff, but even then I’ll try to do something different like Cyndi Lauper. I love metal and rock more than anything so I try to sneak it in.

Out of all of the interesting songs you cover, which is your favourite to perform?

It’s hard to choose. I’d say when I’m playing somewhere like a cocktail bar, I like to do the 90’s pop songs, because I’ve got a beard and am quite a big guy, but when I do something like B*Witched it’s fun to see the reaction. With the rock stuff, I always do some Tenacious D, and everyone has a good time with it.

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You are often involved in hosting open mic nights around Worcestershire. What do you like most about giving other musicians a platform?

I host two open mic nights, one in Malvern and one in Worcester at the Oil Basin. It’s great because it always ends up as a big party. We get new people every week, and it’s a really nice comfortable environment. I’ve seen people grown since their first open mic night which is great. My one rule is that anyone can play anything, even if they just want to sing to a backing track. There’s no kind of elitism or anything. The one I do in Malvern, at the Malvern Lounge, is very much the same, but I’ll have a guest artist too. It’s good to get people on the live scene.

Finally, what can Worcestershire expect to hear from you in the near future?

I’ll be releasing an EP recorded from a live radio session, which should have five tracks on. A lot of what I have been writing recently has been more geared towards bands, so I’m hoping next year I might be back with a band.

Ruben will be hosting open mic nights at the Malvern Lounge on Thursday, October 3. He will be playing his own music at The Swan in Broadway on Friday, October 4, and at the Great Malvern Hotel on Saturday, October 12. There are many more dates coming up too, so be sure to check out his Facebook to find out more – facebook.com/RubenSeabright/