It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV Reload, the podcast at Leap the Right. Hey guys, welcome back to TV Reload. I want to thank you for clicking and downloading on today's episode with Ruben from The Voice Australia, which has been a massive hit for Channel seven again this year. I have to admit I always love catching up with these artists as the competition goes on. I just pick a few along the way and find out how they're going and what they think
of they're coaches. It's usually quite a fascinating time to talk to them as well, just as we're getting to the pointy end of the competition. Rubert is actually quite an amazing person and away from his singing, as our chat went on, I kind of started to feel more and more drawn to him as an overall package. And look, I'm going to root for him to win the show.
I'm just going to say that. At this point we will talk about how he got onto the show and whether he'd been a fan of the Voice before auditioning. I will discuss his relationship with Leanne Rhymes and ask what it was about her skill set that she had been able to bring into her mentoring, you will get everything from what song he will sing this week to
where he wants to take this whole experience. There's actually so much to talk about, with so many inside revelations, So sit back and relax as we unpack the wonderful world of the Voice Australia. Hi, Reuben, how are you good?
Thanks spending yourself.
I'm good. I've just been sitting here. I'm in Queensland. I'm normally from Melbourne, but I'm sitting outside recording this podcast. But I was blaring I see fire ed shearan that bloe addition, and I was waiting for the neighbors to applaud because it's so brilliant.
Did they tell you to shut up? No?
They were like, it's so annoying about the voices. The songs is who's short? You know what I mean? Like, I want to hear the full and I've just been logged. I've been going into your YouTube channel, So anyone listening to this go into the YouTube channel because there is some music there. But I'm hoping there'll be a lot, a longer version of that Edsurant song.
Yeah, I'm planning to yeah record it whenever I do like gigs. I always play about a six minute version of that song because I've got a loop pedal as well. And yeah, I don't think you want to listen to six minutes of that and then out a wrap here and there. That's weird.
I've listened to a ten minute, but I think i'd go thirty minutes. I reckon.
That's massive, man, Thank you.
Well, congratulations on getting this far on the voice. I mean, it must be so exciting. What are your friends and family saying about you being on such a big show like this?
Oh well, I don't think you guys know, but the wife actually applied to me and to be on the show. I was actually up on the mines working land, came back to my Donga and found this email going, oh you've been You've made it through to the the auditions or whatever, and yeah, it went from there. And my family they never thought I could.
You know.
Mom and dad were always kind of pretty headstrong about finding work and no way you're going to pay the bills just doing music and kind of took that path and now they finally feel like there is an opportunity with that sort of stuff, you know, and it's done a whole three sixty and everyone's just fully committed to my journey on the show, which is which is nuts. I never thought this I'd see this day to be honest, Well, I.
Hope you've thrown away the key to the genre because I don't think you under need it.
Yeah, yeah, I know, because I keep I keep bringing them home with me when I'm supposed to check out, keep getting emails.
That's amazing. That's a really great story to hear that you know, someone so close to you had that belief in you and put you forward. I think you've got a real chance of winning this show. So you're going to have to say thank you.
Oh yeah, so in debt to them, And I think sometimes and people that really close to you that believe in you, I don't think you could give them anything in return, just love, you know, And it's nuts. I'm so glad I found someone like her. Yeah, she's just been a massive support for me.
What has this experience been like? So, like you haven't really put the application in yourself. Had you been watching this show over the years thinking that this is something you would like to do, but didn't feel like you could put the up Like what's been your relationship with the approach to the.
Show, with the voice and stuff that I haven't I'd never really kind of I just saw the blind and you know, kind of the same amazing versions of people's songs on YouTube, and I never religiously watched the show, but there are times where some of my good friends would sit down and like follow it religiously and they'd keep pounding me to be on it. And last year, a couple of my mates that I worked with, they'd
played my original songs. I've got most of my originals up on Spotify, but one of the boys had come down to the live show and they said, you need you definitely need to give that show a go, rub and it's been too long. People need to see you live.
And I just sort of brushed it off. And it was kind of sad, really because because last year he lost his life to obviously the silent disease, you know, to suicide, and he was a massive part of like my wife and sort of him his voice in the back of my head was a massive reason why I thought, you know, I'm just going to dive in and just surrender and give it a go. So yeah, and so it happened.
You know, I'm seeing you very emotional hearing that story. But I guess that gives you so sort of drive and more commitment to it. There's something about you as a person, though on camera you are the whole package. There's something very intoxicating about you and very genuine about the way in which you connect to the songs and then connect to the audience. I mean, I think that this is off being the part of your destiny.
Yeah, I try to because obviously I close my eyes in a thing, and sometimes it's nice to open them to be relatable. But when I close my eyes, I kind of I feel everything, and I feel like I'll be doing the song Injustice or the artist who wrote it injustice if I don't feel it and if I don't embody it, and and I sort of sing songs that really make me feel kind of and I transcend
from a really dark place, you know what I mean. Like, Yeah, Icy Fire kind of took me back to that brotherhood because you know, it's obviously the Hobbits in the mind, and it kind of that's what it feel like for me out there as well. We have a brotherhood and chip in away and it's breaking rocks, you know, breaking rocks up on the mines and kind of resonated with me.
And that that's what I embodied during the audition, because I believe the eyes are the gateway into someone's soul, and you could invade someone's personal space just by looking into their eyes from agors away. And sometimes I often, you know, when I'm up north and I kind of look into the mirror, look deep down in my eyes and tell me, like tell myself all the positive things I want to hear for the day. And eyes are pretty important thing in communicating, and I'm going to try
and work on that a bit more. But I don't know, Like I think towards throughout the show, I get a bit self conscious. Sometimes I can watch myself on TV and I thought, oh, maybe probably give that I go something different.
You know, you're a good looking rooster. I think you've got it all going. It's fine, it's fine. How do you go about picking these songs? Because I'm in so far we've since you drew some amazing arrangements with songs that we know very well. Are they selected for you by your coach? Like? How does that go?
Yeah? So Leanne, she picks all these songs for me, and she surprisingly he's on that same wavelength and picks the songs that I that I could I really sell at the time. She's done a really good job picking stuff.
Have you been happy with it? I just want to know that's why Kamina. We've known Leanne rhymes for years. She's a household globally, what does she actually like as a person.
So again, my wife kind of really loves her, and it was really into the music and stuff, and I sort of didn't really know much about it. But when it came to the show and she picked me and thought, oh, you know, she's just made this decision a lot easier. And she's just been amazing. She walks around in pj's and she really values all the film crew and all
the people behind the scenes. You know, she'd never think someone like her would be that down to earth And that's something that I really resonate with because at the end of the day, no matter who you are, you're still a human. You still have to pay your wages, you still have to put food on the table, and then you still have to be vulnerable when you go to sleep, you know, and deal with and do it
all again every day. And I think people like that, people like Leanne are really necessary in this industry because there's obviously a massive ego war and it's all me, me, me, Like, oh, it's all the film true that really makes us look good on this show, Like the reason people get to know me are because of all the people that put in the effort behind the scene, you know. And that's pretty much what she embodies as well, and I resonate with that a lot.
What's interesting about reality TV in general is that you often see people go on these shows and then the trajectory afterwards isn't as smooth. And it's because when you're on a show like this, you've got like two hundred crew, like if there's a whole beast that gets together to make a show like this to make you look good, and then when you come out of these shows and you buy yourself, it's just you, you know, And it's hard to see that drop off in a way because
they're so used to everything being so polished. So it's an interesting Yeah. I want to know though, with Leanne has anything that has she been able to add something to you that's quite unique to her skills.
I think She's added, I don't necessarily pay attention to the color of my voice or kind of do anything funky with my voice, you know, And whatever I've seen just comes naturally from my core. And in terms of that, she has been able to sort of help me with sort of the technical side of stuff because I've never been I've never learned how to sing, been able to teach me how to breathe before, you know, and maybe guide me through my nerves because most of my breathing
comes from nerves. I've never been in front of a camera. She's been doing this for ages, but just being able to go forget about everybody, forget about all that sort of stuff, and just sink from your heart, but also just be able to breathe, breathe through your nervousness and give. She'd often message me about certain sort of breathing techniques and just positive words. She's been an awesome mentor.
To be honest, what do you think you'll do with this opportunity if you win, Like, have you kind of worked out what sort of an artist you would.
That's a really tough question because I never really knew I could be an artist. I thought I was. I was just always going to be sitting on my going to work and paying the bills off, and this winning, this would be an opportunity to obviously pay a chunk off of my mortgage. And then my idea was to sit back and do the retick and get into get into the studio and just do simple stuff like that.
But I think this is a massive sort of stepping stone for my soul to finally let my soul have a go and maybe try and invest my time in what kind of artists I'll like inter thinking that, figuring out what kind of artists I'd like to be like, and I am I'm not sure. Then I think I don't know what genre my music fits into or anything
like that. But I'd just like to write my own originals and perhaps just like do gigs so I can play original music and people come to listen, like you know, the old Neil Young days where people would sit down and listen. Five hundred thousand people something which sit down and listen to his concerts and it's just him singing, and they'd be up there with their light as or candles or whatever, and they just cheer them sitting down on chair and sing and so something like that. I
don't know. I don't know how this industry works.
I don't have that answer for you either, But as someone who has brought into you on this season of The Voice, I can imagine sitting by the beach and you're doing some sort of summer type concert.
Oh cool, it's just going to take.
Something like, you know, a big jet plane song or something like that, the original song of yours that sounds a bit like that. That's going to get you out there.
That's actually good to get to hear that because now I can actually keep that as something I've worked towards for it on the vision board.
The battles are super awkward to me because that moment where you're standing there on stage and you were standing next to Larissa, you know, is it awkward you when you beat her?
Like?
What did you get to have a conversation with her backstage? Or is she sort of moved away? What happens with that? Is it as awkward as it's?
Yeah, well we didn't really get to have a conversation afterwards, but I did message her and I said, think sheeps, because in my head, battles are usually one with swords and fists, you know, and rarely ever do we have a singing battle. It kind of feels awkward to call it a battle. But I honestly thought that was going to be my last day on the show because she has her voices immaculate, and to be able to play that instrument and just have a voice like she does,
it's powerful. And I thought, I'll tell the missus. I'm like, oh, I hope you're proud of me. I never thought I could make it this far. But she's like, yeah, I'm proud of you. And I was just spun out of it by the fact that I got through, and I just wanted to get out, go home and probably have a drink, to be honest with there, and just hang out with the missus because the kids were at home and she was there by myself. And then I finally messaged her and Luisa she replied, and she was pretty
cool about it. I think obviously we never got to hang out.
I think that might be a good thing, you know what I mean, Like where you know, if all of all of a sudden you've won and then they put you in an elevator together, I'd be like, I just I could tell by the way that I'm talking to you today that you're a very genuine person. I think you would handle the situation really well, but I have no faith in myself. It would be so awkward. I feel like it's elevator so I can get out. Well.
I don't know. I don't know what it feels like losing because I believe I'm always winning because I've got my two boys and the epitome of life for me is to be able to come home and when one of your boys says, I love you Dad, you know, like that's it. I could be a homeless man on the street if my boy said I love you Dad that night, I'd probably be the biggest winner in the world in terms of a battle and all that sort of TV stuff. I think if people like put such
a such a massive value on it, then can be awkward. Sometimes. Lauris Ha handled it like a chance, and she's awesome, and she's got a really like she's got a really strong will and she's been through the hard Yeah, she's a mother, she's a music teacher, and she's you know, she's probably taking heaps of criticism before because it's it's not every day you get to sing opera and be like, you know what I mean, And that's sort of that
sort of industry. And I love what she did, but that sort of industry is pretty brutal, and I'm pretty sure she's got really thick skin, so she'll handle it like a bus.
So listening to that battle anyway on YouTube and replaying that for years to come, so it's all right, people will still be checking her outs. Finished the podcast by asking a question about what is something from behind the scenes, something we may not know watching the show that we're talking that I'm usually talking about, But with this, maybe you can tease us with something. What's the next song that we're going to get to see you sing on the show?
It's a song called you Somebody, So it's yes, I've really ever played that live on any of my gigs. It's probably the first time I've ever played it and sung it.
Yeah, like sex on Fire is like go to karaoke song. But I can tell you right now, Reuben, I am not a singer and I should have that.
Yeah, I don't know. As long as you make some noise, I suppose, and you had a few You've had a few drinks.
That's the only reason I'd be up there after a few drinks, and I don't think I don't think anyone sounds good after a few drinks, you know, Mate, From talking to you today, I think there's a lot more to you than just being a singer. And I can't wait to follow your journey on the show, but I actually can't wait to see what your journey looks like after this as well. I wish you honestly the best of luck, and you know, I hope you take this. I hope you take the show out.
Oh Ben, thanks jeeves, mate, and speople like yourself and everyone behind the scenes that actually make makers get there. So be quoted to you, brother, Thank you, appreciate you.
Thank you, thank you for being so generous with your time. It was such such a nice chat.