When your house burns down in the middle of a torrential hurricane, it’s a pretty good bet that whatever almighty there is up there is telling you to get the hell out of Florida. At least that’s what Rob Ruin and his wife Allison thought when in 2004 Hurricane Frances threw a transformer down on their home and left them with little more than some clothes, a Clash LP and a silver hollow body guitar. The couple took the hit, packed up and moved to Chapel Hill to be near a few long lost childhood friends.
Now, years later, Ruin found a new home and new musical inspiration— first in Spider Bags and now in Wild Wild Geese. The Geese, Ruin, drummer John Jaquiss, bassist Kent Howard, and guitarist/keyboardist Nathan Toben, play spunky garage rock that’s as beautifully noisy as it is playful.  Click on over to their Odessa Records page to download their debut EP Are You a Baby? for free. Then, be sure to head out to The Nightlight Oct 8th where they’ll be celebrating the release of their full length Sorry, Earth, along with their pals Drunk Tigers and Bad Cop.
And now just five questions for one of the geese to gander:
1. If your band were a mother goose story, which would it be? 
This is going to sound horribly depressing, but I say this with a smile; I have no clue. I have long had this theory that, being the youngest of three, by the time I was born my mother had kind of given up on the typical childhood teachings that my older siblings and most kids were raised on. It always cracks me up how thin my knowledge is when it comes to nursery rhymes, bedtime stories and the like. Being wild wild geese though, I guess we’d have our own story as the wayward children of Mother Goose herself. I might have to start writing this, hmmm…
2. When did you first think music was something you would like to try?
As long as I can remember, I’ve always been attracted to the raw response people have to music. For me, more than any other art form, music has the potential to completely shift a mood or kill a room with a single change in notes. That said, I remember my father went to England on business when I was younger and he asked the clerk in a record store what “the kids were listening to†in order to bring a hip gift home for my brother and me. He brought home a Simple Minds record and the Cure’s “Disintegration†and let us fight over them. Lucky for me, my brother chose the Simple Minds record. I remember how sad I became popping the cassette in and hearing “Plain Song†for the first time. I think that was when I started thinking about playing and creating these devastating sonic concoctions myself.
3. Describe the last time you totally geeked out about a song.
As any of my friends can tell you, I was the obnoxious, music-pusher friend, cranking a car stereo and forcing passengers to suffer through whatever I was obsessing over at the time. Recently, it has been this track “Ocean City†by Kurt Vile; a warbling, stripped down acoustic pop gem that cross fades into an ambient, spaced out keyboard line. Two instruments, vocals, perfection.
4. Who/what might be a few inspirations or influences that would really surprise people?
My wife and I have a Greater Swiss mountain dog named Meatball that makes the strangest noises when he’s excited. We call it the “woo woo,†and I think all along I’ve just been trying to replicate that musically.
5. What did you want to be when you grew up? (How did that work out?)
The Big three:
1. photographer: I’m terrible at it.
2. chef: I watch a lot of Food Network.
3. musician: I’m havin’ fun with it.
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Help Wild Wild Geese celebrate the release of their new record, Sorry, Earth at The Nightlight Friday, October 8th. And, by all means, give Rob a high five when you see him!