Interview: Xenia Rubinos

It’s 7:30pm and I’m loitering at the Louisiana, waiting for boundary-smashing Brooklyn songwriter Xenia Rubinos to finish her soundcheck. The music is warm, funny, smart and charming – just like the artist herself.
Tonight, this venue will be doing what is does best: putting on a gem of a gig in an unassuming way.

But this is a big deal. Xenia Rubinos dropped her amazing sophomore album Black Terry Cat in June last year and it was received to glowing reviews across the board. She’s instated herself on so many one to watch lists it’s almost unnerving, but over her past year of performing she’s proved she’s worth the hype.

Ten minutes later and Rubinos greets me in the hallway like a friend. She smiles broadly as I introduce myself, and we head to the green room.

In an interview released after your first record you stated that you’re ‘curious about the different ways to deal with your power’. Is that a theme you carried onto Black Terry Cat or is that still something you’re looking to explore?
I was thinking a lot about that after I released my first record because I felt what I was learning in my first tour was very aggressive. I was wondering if I could assert my power in ways which were less aggressive, and I was wondering about performance dynamics and transfer of energy between performer and audience. Could I listen more, and be quieter as a person and quieter as a performer on stage?

I’m still very curious about it, and it’s something every night I’m performing. When you’re on a stage, you’re elevated from where other people are. Physically, you’re put on another level. You’re put in a position where people are coming to see you, so you are given power in that stance. It’s an ongoing thing: what I do want to do with that power and what I want to be in that space.

Black Terry Cat does not shy away from being political and dealing with the themes of race and division. How have people responded to that?
I wanted to be more pointed and intentional with my words and my lyric writing. I felt that was something I was hiding from, or just something I hadn’t confronted yet. My intention was to think about the words I use and their literal meanings – not just their sounds. As a result of that, a lot of what was on my mind at the time was about what was happening in my hometown in America: the gun violence, racism, oppression, but then also personal stories, love, longing, loss, lust, happiness. I think I’m a pretty happy person overall, and I have a lot of fun playing music that there’s a spirit of fun is in my music no matter what I’m talking about. I didn’t know when I was writing the album that we were going to find ourselves with this crazy election cycle and that I was going to find myself in that kind of climate. People responded by talking about how political my album is, and how timely.

When I wrote Mexican Chef – which is the song people most talk about being a protest song – I was just laughing, I thought it was a joke, and I was even going to throw it away. I guess I was surprised by the way people have been responding to it – I wasn’t expecting that.

You’ve previously mentioned touring being a male-dominated space. What is that dynamic like, and how does that affect you?
I guess I hadn’t really noticed the effect of being the only woman in most tour spaces until people started asking me for autographs and I would draw vaginas on their records. That was a subconscious thing, and I realised maybe I just needed some female energy.

This last tour I did in the US I had a female sound engineer – the first time I’ve been on tour with someone who was a woman other than me – and it was wonderful. Logically, I can’t really tell you what kind of impact that has on me, but emotionally and on a spiritual level there’s some kind of solidarity – some level of comfort and familiarity that’s helpful when you’re physically exhausted. It’s something tribe-like in a way. I love going to shows and having a front row of ladies. It feels good to be in a diverse space.

I have some quickfire questions for you. What are you listening to at the moment?
I just listened to Chopin’s The Nocturnes.

What is your favourite record of 2016?
Solange’s Seat at the Table.

What is your favourite song from your childhood?
La Bilirrubina by Juan Luis Guerra. He’s a Bachata superstar from the Dominican Republic. La Bilirrubina is the levels in your blood – like, this girl walks by and she makes my bilirubin levels go up… and I kinda thought the song was about me, because my name is Rubinos and I although he was saying that, it was my favourite song as a kid.

What is the first record you ever bought?
Probably Mariah Carey.

If you could make a record with someone alive or dead, who would it be?
Prokofiev, the composer.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
Watching 90s sitcoms, like Friends.

Xenia Rubinos’ album Black Terry Cat is out now on ANTI Records

Read more: Review: Jess and the Bandits, The Louisiana