Artist/producer Ruben Dumars shares his enigmatic personality with us as we discuss the usual facets of life, and a few other things
Ruben Dumars is an American artist/producer based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Formerly a Cali and Utah local, Rubens eclectic mix of layered production skills and crunchy guitar send his listeners into a spiral.
The pure lyricism extends from experiences with past addictions and a stellar list of musical influences.
From Bob Dylan to Brand New, his fully stocked musical arsenal gave him the tools to become a production lord.
Rubens lust for art seeps into every facet of his life, with a constantly creative atmosphere setting the scene for his production skills.
Check out our chat with Ruben below, about all things music and beyond.
HAPPY: What are you up to today?
RUBEN: Today I finished up a Dua Lipa painting, chilled with the dogs and played Mario party; which I am ranked 22nd globally if you see the name ‘assburgers’ that’s me.
HAPPY: Tell us a little bit about where you are from, what do you love about it?
RUBEN: I’m from a small valley in the mountains of Utah called Logan, lots of cool artists and musicians hail from there weirdly, For example my Mom went to school and grew up with Mike Christiansen that wrote/writes a lot of the guitar instructional books for Mel-Bay; whose son is probably the best guitarist in the world Corey Christiansen (who failed me in college intro to blues class back in 2012).
I bet you he still tells the story to people about the time I took his final and my string broke mid song and then he stopped me.. paused… sat there for like an excessively long time.. and I am not exaggerating roasted me for like 3 minutes haha.
I grew up Mormon and had a vast exposure to music and arts as Mormons do and my whole life has been enriched but fuck Corey Christiansen. Just kidding he’s cool, I didn’t practice for the final until the night before with another kid in my class. (He got an A.)
HAPPY: Who are some of your biggest musical influences, and how have they shaped the way you approach your sound?
RUBEN: I was raised on Bob Dylan but I’m more of a Jakob Dylan fan if that makes sense, like Bob had ‘Like a Rolling Stone‘ but Jakob had ‘One Headlight,’ you know what I mean? I’m the worst musician in my family by far, I can read music on an 8th grade level and I really hate guitar solos unless it’s Josh Homme, so that leads me to production which is everything when it comes to tones, structure, and song quality.
I view the daw as the canvas and the sound waves as paint, moving them around until they serve the song. The little subtle things are more important to me than the prominent sounds. The most important thing as a producer is to find your sound, and that takes a very long time. So I’d say early/mid/late 90s hip hop percussion and pop music had the biggest influence on me but my favourite band of all time is Brand New.
I quit playing college basketball and tennis back in March 2007 after seeing them perform TDAGARIM with Manchester Orchestra and Kevin Devine at ‘In the Venue” in SLC. It was a life changing show, and I’ll always have love for that band as a whole.
HAPPY: What was the initial spark that led to Coup de grâce creation?
RUBEN: Well the song is about my breakup with cocaine, an addiction that I developed gradually over the years, you don’t realise you’re a frog in water that’s getting ready to boil with that stuff.
HAPPY: You recorded this in solitude at your father’s cabin—how did that isolation shape the song’s mood and overall feel?
RUBEN: Oh it was incredible, I wished I could go back and do a full album there in the summer. Setting is everything with recording music and creating; for me at least. Having isolation with recording music now is the only way i’ll do it; no distractions no phones, I just wake up take my Lion’s Mane, coffee and hit it all day.
HAPPY: The production feels both raw and immersive, especially in the guitar tones. Were there any happy accidents or unexpected moments that made it into the final cut?
RUBEN: I did the lead vocal in one take which I haven’t ever done before and the very last part before the outro was free-styled because I hadn’t written anything for that part yet (like I was looking for a bridge) and I just left it in because I loved it.
HAPPY: You’ve mentioned battling addiction, grief, and self-doubt while working on this. Did this track serve as a form of catharsis for you?
RUBEN: Absolutely 100%. I have struggled with self doubt my whole life, maybe.
HAPPY: The song feels deeply personal, yet it resonates in a universal way. What do you hope listeners take away from it?
RUBEN: That it all gets better, there really is hope out there for struggling souls.
HAPPY: You nailed the art of a perfect song—so what’s next? Are you already working on something that follows Coup de grâce’s emotional trajectory, or are you heading somewhere completely different?
RUBEN: I am releasing my first rap/hip hop song ever on March 14th with a young rapper out of Alabama named YnRR SIXX called ‘Hurt Hearts’. It’s a crazy story of how it all came together and I probably can’t share much of that but he’s talented and absolutely unhinged, we both are so it kind of worked out perfectly.
HAPPY: What makes you happy?
RUBEN: Freedom, my dog, Twitch and Xenia, fishing, and Blade Runner (either one) and painting.
