Seven Quick Questions: Milk

Reuben Winter might be best known for his electronic project, Totems, but his true passions lie in creating guitar music and playing in rock bands - which ultimately sparked the birth of Milk. After playing in various bands (Caroles, P.H.F., Roidz), Reuben is finally focusing on his own solo music. Reuben channels his love for emo-pop-punk in Milk’s debut album, Issue(s), which will be released through Los-Angeles label, Danger Collective Records on December 11th . In anticipation of the album's release, Jess Fu had a chat to Reuben about Issue(s)...

1. You’ve been in heaps of bands, how many years have you actually been playing in bands and doing shows?

Probably around 10 years now. I started playing shows since I was 12 or 13. Woah, haven’t thought about that. That’s buzzy.

2. Why has it taken you 10 years for this solo project to come about?

The songs I used to write would go to bands and once Caroles stopped doing as much stuff I was writing a lot of songs that wouldn’t fit with Caroles’ buzz. A lot of the songs could have been Roidz songs but I didn’t really join Roidz until this album was really sussed. It just finally hit a point where I didn’t have to give songs away - not like I didn’t want to but now I just have all the time in the world to do my own stuff.

3. So the songs you wrote weren’t really the buzz for the bands you were in, what is the 'buzz' for Milk then?

Caroles was a bit hard out - and Roidz as well. A lot of Milk’s songs are very sad and personal. The first stuff I made for Milk was really spacey and droney.

4. What’s the story behind the album and the title Issue(s)?

It’s basically about mainly the fact I have chronic health problems. I have a condition called fibromyalgia so it’s like chronic pain and exhaustion all the time. Plus mental health issues and being in a relationship and being a real emo dude about all that stuff at once. A lot of “issue(s)” if you will, haha.

5. What would you say who have your musical influences been for Milk?

A wide range of stuff; Stereolab, Spiritualized, Duster and also a lot of electronic stuff because there is a lot more production stuff in Milk as opposed to Roidz and P.H.F. I think also being in those bands has been an influence on my stuff subconsciously.

6. Lets’ talk about the difference between Milk and Totems for you, how are they different in terms of creative processes?

I didn’t want to put guitar music out as Totems because that’s just weird. Totems is just more like me messing around for fun and it’s really thought-out. By the time a Totems song has come out, I’ve changed it so much from what it originally was. But with Milk I’ve written a song on guitar, come up with a melody or something - it’s really emotional, instinctual and represents how I was feeling in that moment, whereas Totems stuff isn’t as emotive.

7. You’ve talked about in previous interviews that playing guitar and making guitar music is what you enjoy the most....

Absolutely. Guitar is the first thing I got super in to. When I first got a guitar and I played it everyday. I used to live out West Auckland but went to school in Central so I didn’t hang out with people after school or on the weekends very much so I would just be in my room and play guitar. That’s what I get the most enjoyment from and I just often feel weird pressing play on stuff. I can’t get into it as much as if I were playing guitar in a band, I can start improvising or do feedback or play with pedals. Every time you play it’s going to be different.

Milk and P.H.F are joining forces for a double release show this Saturday 10th December at Fuzzy Vibes in Auckland, head over here for more information.