Spookey Ruben is a Canadian musician, producer, songwriter, composer, and filmmaker. Best known for his song and music video "These Days Are old", Deil's songwriting and eccentric production techniques often contrast high and low vocals, analogue keyboards, found sounds, sampled beats and stringed instruments such as electric and Spanish guitar. Spookey has released seven full-length solo albums.
Early life
Due to his father's work as an ESA space engineer Spookey grew up in Germany, the Netherlands, and Washington, D.C. In his childhood, Spookey's parents insisted he take up an instrument and so he chose classical guitar. At age 13 he got his hands on his first electric guitar and spent the remainder of his teenage years playing in an array of hardcore and speed metal bands. It was at this time that he received his nickname "Spooky", a result of his high-school friends teasing him about his appearance with his long hair and Satanic T-shirts. At age 19 he moved to Toronto and enrolled in film school at York University, but kept musical ideas rolling on a four-track recorder.
Recording artist
Spookey's home recording experiments led to the making of his solo debut album Modes of Transportation Vol. 1 which was partially engineered and mixed by Gadi Foltys, Don Kerr, Brad Nelson and Mark Plati. International critical acclaim followed, hailing the album as the "Pet Sounds of the 90s" and "lo-fi pop masterpiece". In 1996, Ruben contributed to the AIDS benefit album produced by the Red Hot Organization. Disputes with TVT resulted in his leaving the label and years of apparent silence. Eventually, Ruben simultaneously released two separate CDs entitled Bed and Breakfast that were later repackaged as a double album. Alone at the Zoo, co-produced by John McEntire of Tortoise/The Sea and Cake was released as a special limited album of demos in 2003. On June 16, 2009 his full-length album, Mechanical Royalty, was released in Canada on Hi-Hat/Sonic Unyon. He has since released a new EP, Shackleton and is playing live dates in North America and Europe.
Filmmaker
In 2008, Spookey Ruben began filming a series of short films for and . There have been seven episodes, which include musicians from various bands. Episodes
Omen of the Goblet – Featuring Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene
Exit to Panama – Featuring Hannah Krapivinsky and Anna Edwards of Foxfire
Space Package – Featuring John McEntire of Tortoise/The Sea and Cake
