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M&SR: Since you didn't have a musical background, how did you get involved with trying so many instruments before settling on bass?
Rubano: I played violin at such a young age in a school program. I just hated it. I think it's funny that they make little kids play violin. I think it's funny that's the starter instrument because as far as intonation and tuning and pleasant tone, I think it's the most brutal-sounding instrument played by an 8 year old. The bass for me was really like finding my instrument. When I hear people talk about that, I understand what they mean because all of a sudden the sound of it and the feel of it and the look of it, and the second, third, and fourth time you play it you just sort of gravitate toward it.
M&SR: Did music retailers in your area have any influence on you in these years?
Rubano: When I bought my first bass, it was along with Dave and it was very much determined by the $200 I had saved up until that point. And it was a copy of a Fender Jazz bass. It was like a low-level music store-type brand. I forget what it was called. But yeah, on Long Island it was kind of interesting because, particularly during those years-and I don't know if all suburban places are like this-but Long Island had an unbelievable number of music stores and guitar shops. And also rehearsal spaces. There seem to be more rehearsal places on Long Island than there are in Manhattan sometimes, which is backward to me. So I always saw Long Island as a really nurturing place for young people to play music, and particularly rock music.
M&SR: What about these stores drew you to them? Since then, a lot has changed in the industry, with the rise of chains and the Internet, so do you find those same characteristics still exist today?
Rubano: These stores were very mom and pop. I knew the owners and they were very small. They didn't have a massive selection of instruments. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a quality place or that music and quality weren't important things there. And I think with the rise of the larger chain stores all over the place, it's interesting. I think probably things become way more available to people, but I also think that communal aspect is gone from stores like that. I don't think the larger chain music stores necessarily.I don't know if they do or not, but as far as I know I don't think there are lessons being taught at those places. I don't think they're educational hubs. Some of them might be, but to my knowledge they are not. And I feel like that was part of it. You'd sit in the waiting room with the same four or five kids every week who all played different instruments, or sometimes all played the same instrument. And there was sort of this idea that you were all working on something separate but together. I'm not sure if that sort of community vibe is in those bigger stores, but it's kind of hard for me to say because I'll occasionally go into a place like that if I need something. Whether I find it or not in the first five or 10 minutes, I'm running for the hills because 16 people all playing guitar at the same time, and out of tune, different songs, at different experience levels, sounds like what hell might be like. Saturday afternoon in a guitar store is my ideal of a really not good time (laughs).
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