photo by Morgen Schuler
Much has been made of The Ruby Suns‘ globetrotting tendencies, both internationally and musically. American born band founder, Ryan McPhun, left California for New Zealand in the mid ’00s and joined Auckland group The Brunettes before forming The Ruby Suns to make blissful, psychedelic multiculturally influenced tropical indie pop. When we first met McPhun back in 2008, he was performing as duo with Amee Robinson, a former Brunettes bandmate, but he’s since changed the band’s lineup and sound. In fact, inspiration for his fourth, and latest, album, Christopher, comes from recent time spent in Oslo, Norway, about as far away as you can get from the surf-able Kiwi coasts. But the new songs hardly reflect the chilly Nordic clime. Christopher‘s songs are bright, clean, synthy and danceable. During his recent tour through the Northwest, McPhun brought his current bandmates -- percussionist Alistair Deverick and electronics producer Bevan Smith -- to the KEXP studio to perform four songs from the new album. Watch the videos here:
Full Performance:
