THE Rubens' frontman Sam Margin couldn't believe his luck when his band was asked to open for Bruce Springsteen on the Australian leg of his world tour in March. They warmed up the stage for The Boss at two sold-out outdoor shows at Victoria's historic Hanging Rock, then sat back in awe to watch the man in action each night.
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"It was an honour to do the show but the best thing was when we finished, going and grabbing a bottle of wine or some beer and just sitting and watching Springsteen," Margin recalls.
"It was amazing."
In February, they will get the chance to do it again - this time in the Hunter Valley - after they were invited to perform as the main support act when The Boss returns to Australia for an encore tour.
The Rubens' rise has been a quick one.
Formed in 2011 by Margin (vocals, guitar) with younger brothers Zaac (lead guitar) and Elliott (keys) alongside childhood friend Scott Baldwin (drums) in the tiny NSW town of Menangle, they have established themselves as one of the most promising homegrown acts to emerge out of Australia in the past year.
From making demos in Sam's bedroom to recording their debut album in New York City, The Rubens have had a fairytale start.
It all began with My Gun - the song that not only has become a favourite among fans but also found its way into the hands of American producer David Kahne (The Strokes, Paul McCartney), who liked the band's style of soulful, blues-rock so much that he went to the band with an offer to work on their debut album.
He came across the song in France when Sydney engineer Dean Tunza (who worked on the original recording) played a copy of the song to Kahne at an audio engineering seminar.
Shortly after, Sam found himself on a plane to New York City to meet with Kahne before being joined by the rest of the band for a two-month stint of pre-production and recording what would become the band's self-titled debut album.
"It was a bit of luck definitely. Dean was going to produce the album for us in Australia before anyone knew who we were or Triple J got on board," Sam says.
"He liked us and he wanted to help us.
"Around the time same time, Zaac emailed one of the guys at Triple J and just said 'Can you check out one of our songs?' and it worked.
"He rated one of our songs on the Unearthed site and about a month or two later they started playing it on Triple J.
"So it was a few great things that happened to us and I guess, in a way, you make your own luck in that respect.
"Zaac really did take a bit of a chance on sending an email that I would have said 'That will never work, don't bother' but it proves you've gotta do it somehow."
The persistence paid off.
The Rubens signed an Australian deal with label Ivy League Records, while major label Warner Bros signed them in the US. There, they have begun building on the buzz created following performances at SXSW Music Conference and, more recently, Bonaroo Music Festival.
They return to the US next week to join Grouplove on tour.
Sam says the band has high hopes for breaking into the US but concedes there is a lot of work that has to be done.
"It was always very important to us to try and break it in the States but we can't expect it to happen the way that it happened in Australia," Sam said.
"In Australia, if Triple J gets on board with you, they can expose you pretty quickly to the public. But there's hundreds of radio stations in the States and there's not one radio station that you can tap into in America and blow up."
Sam says the band will take time off over summer to write the second album, which he wants to release some time next year.
In the meantime, the band is preparing to release its debut album in the US next month - almost a year to the day since it was released in Australia.
The Rubens play at The Festival of the Sun in Port Macquarie from December 13 to 14. Tickets on sale from September 3 from fotsun.com They also support Bruce Springsteen at Hope Estate Pokolbin on February 22.
