The Ruby Suns (Ryan McPhun & The Ruby Suns) | |
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Background information | |
Origin | New Zealand |
Genres | Indie pop |
Years active | 2003–present |
Labels | Lil' Chief Memphis Industries Sub Pop Academy Fight Song |
Website | The Ruby Suns |
The Ruby Suns are an indie pop group from New Zealand. They formed in 2004 when Californian Ryan McPhun moved to Auckland and started playing in several bands such as the Brunettes, the Tokey Tones, and the Reduction Agents.
The Ruby Suns are signed to Lil' Chief Records in New Zealand and Memphis Industries in Britain. In early 2007, the band embarked on their first European tour in support of their self-titled debut album. In the latter half of 2007, the band toured with the Shins extensively throughout Australia.
In 2007, the Ruby Suns signed to American record label Sub Pop for the US and Asia. The band released their second album, Sea Lion , in January 2008. Later that year, the band recorded the song "Don't Touch the Dusty Fruit" to the Survival International charity album, Songs for Survival , and the song "Oh, Mojave" was used in the Windows Vista commercial for the Mojave Experiment. [1]
In August 2008, The Ruby Suns contributed their track "There Are Birds" to an indie compilation album Indiecater Vol. 2. [2]
The Ruby Suns' third album is titled Fight Softly and was released on 2 March 2010. [3]
The band's fourth album Christopher was released on 29 January 2013.
McPhun had moved to Oslo, Norway by the time he recorded the band's fifth album, Sprite Fountain, which was released on 9 June 2017. [4]
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The Brunettes were an indie pop group from New Zealand formed in 1998 and lasting until 2009. The group consisted of core members Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield, with additional contributions from part-time members such as Ryan McPhun and Chelsea Nikkel. The group had released several well-received albums such as Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks (2002), which received 4.5/5 stars from AllMusic. Signed to Lil' Chief Records, they had opened for bands such as Rilo Kiley and Beirut.
Lil' Chief Records is a New Zealand–based indie pop record label formed in 2002. Operating from the Auckland suburb of Mt. Eden, it was founded on releases by The Tokey Tones and The Brunettes. The label's roster now includes a collective of pop artists such as Jonathan Bree, Princess Chelsea, The Ruby Suns, and Edmund Cake.
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The Ruby Suns is the first full-length album released by the New Zealand based band The Ruby Suns. The band was originally called Ryan McPhun & The Ruby Suns and the album was released with this title in New Zealand on Lil' Chief Records. The album has subsequently been released in the UK on Memphis Industries in 2006 and in Australia on Popfrenzy in 2007 with different art, and the title truncated to reflect the band's new name. The 2007 Australian release of the album contains two bonus tracks, both of which are from a self-pressed single by the band in 2007.
The Tokey Tones are a band led by Scott Mannion, formerly of Auckland indie pop bands Polaar and Plasticene. The Tokey Tones are primarily a studio-based band, the other long-time key member being Li Ming Hu, who is more widely known for her role as Li-Mei on the long running New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. When playing live, The Tokey Tones rely on a revolving cast of musicians from other Lil' Chief Records bands, including The Brunettes and The Ruby Suns. The band has been described as "sticky-sweet indie-with-electronics group with very strong melodies and melt-in-your-ear vocals".
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Sea Lion is the second full-length album released by the New Zealand-based band The Ruby Suns, and their first since signing to US label Sub Pop.
Fight Softly is the third full-length album released by the New Zealand based band The Ruby Suns.
Christopher is the fourth studio album by New Zealand indie pop band The Ruby Suns. It was released 29 January 2013 by Sub Pop. It is the band's third since signing to US label Sub Pop.
Jonathan Owen Bree is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and producer, best known for his work as a solo artist, as well as co-founding the indie pop group The Brunettes, in 1998 and Lil' Chief Records, in 2002. He frequently collaborates with label-mates as a musician, engineer, and record producer.
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