The Rubens Talk Healing And Taking the Independent Route For ‘Group Therapy’

There’s no business, as we know, like showbusiness. And no job compares with that of a frontman.

Sam Margin is a seasoned pro. As the singer, guitarist and spearhead of The Rubens, now six albums deep with the release of Group Therapy, Margin has experienced enough good times, and bad, to fill a shelf of books.

Some 15 years into a career that’s seen the Australian indie rock act lap the planet like the rest of us visit the local milk bar, land five top 10 appearances on the ARIA Albums Chart, and snag top spot on triple j’s Hottest 100 poll, Margin realized those good times and bad had become interchangeable.

“I’d sort of lost connection to why I like to tour, more than anything,” he tells Billboard over a Zoom. “It was like, where are we going after the show, rather than how good is this show gonna be, to be honest.”

Margin’s overall mental health took a battering, the dark clouds of depression and anxiety made their unwelcome appearance.

“I probably started to unconsciously flip to wondering what fun stuff we were gonna do afterwards, or, you know, drinking beers before soundcheck. That side of things started to take over. And because it would amplify my anxiety, it would actually detract from the show even more. It was just making it so much worse, the beers after, and the beers before.”

There was still joy to be found, on stage. “For sure. That was, like, the moment where I wouldn’t be in pain,” he continues.

Heavy lies the crown of a frontman.

Sam got help. The pain is gone. And as the band winds its way around Australia for another major jaunt, this time in support of Group Therapy, Margin is smashing it without imbibing, self-medicating.

“I’m very grateful,” Margin enthuses. “I’m grateful for all the partying that I did. I’m grateful for all the fun we had around the world. I just feel like I did it all. At some point along the way it became not fun anymore and started to mess with my head.”

Margin’s alcohol-related breakdown, and his comeback, informs the title of the new collection, which dropped Oct. 16. Produced by Konstantin Kersting and cut in a converted WWII communications bunker, aptly named The Bunker, there’s nothing dry about Group Therapy. From the opening cut “Love Me America,” The Rubens let rip on the electric guitar, a return to rock after 2024’s synth-soaked SODA.

That America dream, something shared by the band’s late champion and former label Michael Gudinski, didn’t work out exactly as planned. But they’ve returned to the United States on several occasions to play sell out shows and collaborate with the likes of producers and artists like Run The Jewels and Vic Mensa. The dream isn’t over.

Comprised of the Margin brothers Zaac, Sam and Elliott, and long-term friends Scott Baldwin and William Zeglis, The Rubens formed in 2011 in Menangle, a semi-rural village about 50 miles southwest of Sydney. Soon after, they uploaded their first single, “Lay It Down” to triple j Unearthed and won the triple j Unearthed Homebake competition. The next level welcomed The Rubens when, in January 2016, the band won the triple j Hottest 100 poll with “Hoops.”

Leading up to the release of Group Therapy, The Rubens enjoyed a streak of five consecutive albums ARIA top five albums, including a No. 1 with 2021’s 0202.

With all those runs on the board, a fanbase at their fingertips, and going it alone after a long and fruitful partnership with Mushroom Group and Ivy League, “I feel we’re giving ourselves that sort of freedom to experiment and sort of make the call,” explains Elliott.

“They did give us a long rope. We were allowed to experiment and have a lot of fun with making music up until this point. But yeah, we are truly, truly free now to make all the decisions. Which is a certain freedom, but it’s also pretty scary.”

Fear, well that can be processed in group therapy.