Ilan Rubin (born July 7, 1988) is an American musician, producer, songwriter, composer, and artist. He is known primarily for playing drums with bands such as Nine Inch Nails,[1]Paramore,[2]Lostprophets,[3]Angels & Airwaves[4] and Danny Elfman[5] In 2008, he formed The New Regime, where he sings and plays all instruments in the studio and plays guitar with a band for live performances. In 2021, Ilan released music for the first time under his name. His debut single "Talk Talk Talk" was remixed by Phantogram.[6]
As a member of Nine Inch Nails, in 2020, Rubin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the youngest living inductee in its history.[7] He is also the first Rock Hall inductee to be born in the 1980s, and the first to be born after the establishment of the Hall itself.
Early life
Rubin was raised in San Diego, California. He began playing drums at eight when he discovered his father's 1968 Silver Sparkle Ludwig drum kit in the garage. After three months of "toying" with the kit, he had taught himself to play and was jamming with his older brothers.[8] By age nine, he was ready to play for F.o.N., a band that eventually would do three stints on the Vans Warped Tour, where Rubin would also fill in on drums for bands such as NOFX. In 1999, F.o.N. opened Woodstock '99 on the Emerging Artist Stage; as a result, 11-year-old Rubin gained entry into the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest musician to ever play on a Woodstock stage.[9]
Shortly after that, Rubin submitted a video to Modern Drummer Magazine of him doing a solo during an F.o.N. performance, which the magazine picked as the winning entry in its "Best Undiscovered Drummer Under the Age of 18" contest. The winner of the 18-and-over category came from Argentina, and both drummers were invited to perform at the 2000 Modern Drummer Festival, by which time Rubin had turned 12. He has taken lessons from Blink-182's drummer Travis Barker and The Hooters' drummer David Uosikkinen.
Career
Early career
Immediately before working with Lostprophets, Rubin was the drummer for the band Denver Harbor, which included his older brother, Aaron, as bassist, who had played guitar in F.o.N., as well as two ex-members of the punk band Fenix TX. Denver Harbor was dropped from their label one Year after their only full-length album, Scenic, was released in 2004, but not before the band did a few round-trip tours of the United States and one week in Japan with a re-united Fenix TX.
Rubin was the drummer for the Welsh band Lostprophets. He replaced Mike Chiplin, founding member and original drummer, who left the band in 2005 to pursue other musical opportunities. Before finding Rubin, Lostprophets hired session drummer Josh Freese to record the tracks on Liberation Transmission. Then, after Rubin joined, he played the remaining two tracks on Liberation Transmission: "For All These Times Son, For All These Times" and "Everybody's Screaming!!!". Rubin toured from 2006 to 2008 with the band and appeared in the videos for "Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)," "A Town Called Hypocrisy," "Can't Catch Tomorrow (Good Shoes Won't Save You This Time)" and "4:AM Forever". He left the band in late 2008, but not before he tracked all of the drums and helped pen some of the music on the band's fourth studio release, The Betrayed.
The New Regime (2007–2020)
Rubin's first solo album, under the pseudonym 'The New Regime', called Coup, was recorded throughout 2007 and 2008 and released in November 2008. While touring with Nine Inch Nails and following the conclusion of the Wave Goodbye Tour, Rubin worked on his second album, Speak Through The White Noise, which was released in April 2011.[10] Before this, Ilan released a free single titled 'Remission Of Guilt' through his website. It has been confirmed that this track will not be on the new album. In 2011, he went on Tour with Taking Back Sunday as an opening act. In 2013 and 2015, he released the two halves of his next project, Exhibit A and Exhibit B. On March 6, 2020, The New Regime released its fifth studio album, Heart Mind Body & Soul, featuring the singles "Turning a Blind Eye" and "Heart Mind Body & Soul." Over five months before its release, Rubin released three EPs (Heart, Mind, and Body), each with four songs from the upcoming album that fit the themes of the titles. The New Regime was on tour with Silversun Pickups in March 2020 to support the new album, which abruptly halted courtesy of the COVID pandemic and resulting shutdown. Just before that tour, "Heart Mind Body & Soul" was released, which included all of the material on the previously released EPs, a final EP called "Soul," plus some bonus material. The album was receiving critical praise just before the shutdown.[11]
Rubin performs with Nine Inch Nails in Santa Barbara, California, 2009
On November 15, 2008, Trent Reznor announced via the Nine Inch Nails website that Rubin would be joining industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails as their drummer after the departure of Josh Freese in late 2008. Rubin's role in the live iteration of Nine Inch Nails has grown to include playing piano, synths, bass, guitar, and even cello.[12] As NIN's live drummer, Rubin is now the drummer that has played the longest amount of time with the band.[12]
In 2011, Rubin joined Angels & Airwaves, replacing drummer Atom Willard.[13] From 2014 to the present, Rubin has been the only other songwriter for the band besides frontman Tom DeLonge. During that time, he recorded the band's 2014 album, The Dream Walker, and the EPs ...Of Nightmares in 2015 and Chasing Shadows in 2016, respectively. Beyond drumming, Rubin has taken on playing multiple instruments for the band while recording and continued to do so on the band's 2021 album, Lifeforms. During this time, DeLonge would go on to credit Rubin as a major contributor to the band's songwriting process.[14]
On June 28, 2012, Paramore confirmed Rubin would drum on their fourth album,[2] though he didn't join as an official member of the band. Rubin recorded all the drums on their self-titled album and joined them for its subsequent tour. "Paramore," the album, ended up going platinum and featured Grammy-winning "Ain't It Fun," a song on which Rubin's drumming was lauded by industry and fans alike.[15]
On May 8, 2023, Danny Elfman announced that he would be doing two shows, one in Chula Vista, CA., and the other in Irvine, CA., entitled “From Boingo to Batman to Big Mess and Beyond!” In making that announcement, Elfman confirmed that Ilan Rubin would replace Josh Freese on drums.[16]
New projects and challenges (2019-present)
With plenty of time during the pandemic shutdown, Ilan wasted no time learning new skills. As an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, he took on the task of learning the intricacies of film scoring.[17] Two of the feature-length films he scored, "Bobcat Moretti"[18] and "Monsters of California," a film directed by bandmate Tom Delonge[19] were released on August 4 and October 6, 2023 respectively. His work on the Bobcat Moretti film earned him a nomination as best original score at the Beaufort International Film Festival.[20]
Rubin plays Gretsch Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Vater Drumsticks, Remo Drumheads and DW Hardcore
His solo project, his 1980 prototype Gibson Les Paul, is featured prominently with the New Regime. He has also used the Fender Jaguar Thinline, Martin D-16GT, and Fender Jaguar Bass, among other guitars. He also uses an assortment of Keyboards, Synthesizers, and effects pedals. In the past, he was featured in a promotional video for the Akai Pro Advance 61 keyboard.
