Ilan Rubin has been very busy in the past few years. Not only is he involved with The Lostprophets, he began a side project entitled The New Regime in which he was involved in every musical aspect of the album. At the same time, Rubin will enter as the drummer for Nine Inch Nails. I recently had the chance to talk with Rubin about his new record “Coup” from side project The New Regime and his career as a musician.

Thank you to Ilan Rubin for taking the time to answer these questions

Can you please introduce yourself and what your role is in The New
Regime?

I’m Ilan Rubin and I write, play, and sing everything you hear in The
New Regime.

Your album “Coup” was just recently released. Overall, how do you feel
about the album? Would you change anything about it?

I’m extremely happy with the way it turned out and there is nothing
I’d like to change about it.

How did you get started playing the drums? How did that grow into playing
guitar, keyboards, singing, etc?

I started playing drums at about 7-8 years old. My dad used to play,
so drums were set up in the garage and my brothers were learning. I
suppose one day I got up and tried to recreate some of the things I
had heard and took it from there. As my brothers moved on to bass and
guitar, I learned how to play those with age. At about 15 years old I
suddenly became interested in classical music and wanted to learn how
to play the piano, so I did. Singing had come from always wanting to
make music entirely by myself. It was the only thing that stood in my
way, so in my mind it was inevitable that I would finally get the
balls to just do it.

For the most part, did you enjoy doing all the instruments and vocals by yourself?

I absolutely loved it. Playing and singing everything gives me the
freedom to do things exactly as I want.

How long have you been working on songs for The New Regime? Have you always wanted to do a solo thing?

I’ve definitely always wanted to write my own music. Up to now, The
New Regime has been around for about a year, but the writing and
recording of the material only took a few months.

You were recently just announced as the new drummer for Nine Inch Nails. How do you feel about this? Excited? Nervous? Ready?

I am excited, ready, and anxious. I’ve been rehearsing for a while
now and really want to get to it. Playing these songs is tons of fun
and I can’t wait to do it on stage.

In your opinion, what was the best part of 2008 for you? What are you looking forward to in 2009?

Headlining Download festival with lostprophets was definitely the
highlight for 2008. 2009 is going to be all about NIN and the second
TNR release.

What are your biggest musical influences and why?

Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Queen, Bach, and Beethoven would have to be
my biggest influences. They all do what they do better than anybody
else and you can constantly learn from them.

What do you want for Christmas Channukka?!

Not much. I’ll take an accordion for chanukka though.

Do you plan on touring with The New Regime in the future? Do you have a band lined-up to take care of drum parts and other instruments?

I’ve played 5 shows as The New Regime so far. Live I play guitar,
piano, and sing and I have three guys taking care of the rest. I
would love to tour though as soon as I have the proper time to devote
to it.

What is your favorite song off of “Coup” and why?

I think if I had to pick, Order Restored would be my favorite because
of its interesting structure, intricacy, and catchiness.

To wrap things up, do you have any words for our readers at
drivenfaroff.com?

Download ‘Coup’ from where ever you’d like. There’s something on the
album for everyone and I’m extremely proud of it.