Rhubiqs Interview: “I’m not at all inspired to create the same song over and over”

It’s been a very strong year for experimental music, and Tom Squires is another artist adding to its strength.

The London-based composer has created music under various guises over the years including Transatlantic Alliance – the collaboration alongside Deer Park Ranger’s Trevor Humphreys – however it’s his rhubiqs project where the best are found.

On Aegis of Silence, the project’s third full length and first German label Affin, Squires produces his best so far. Finding new ground to cover, the results here are something completely dynamic. The more you listen to each of these nine tracks, the more you realise just how removed they are from one another, each possessing their own language.

The warm crescendo of A Rusty Overture where two abstract worlds have someone been pulled together (Amongst the God’s, undoubtedly an echo from one of them). Void Resonance is what it says on the tin. A spiral back into one of those abstract worlds, while the meandering moodscape of Mistral takes on new landscapes completely.

Elsewhere, Hope’s Canvass dials into the earthy damp terrains of Squires’ native Britain. A fractured, folk drone tailored for rural parts of the country. Then there’s the piano-led lullabies of Tomorrow For You and Reverie – both showcasing a new dimension to Squires’ work; minimalism that sparks hope, looking forward to the future.

It’s something we all need during these bleak times, and on Aegis of Silence, Squires throws down the gauntlet with a series of compositions that are rich, alluring and ethereal in equal measure.

Prior to last week’s release of Aegis of Silence, Squires took some time to answer our questions about his creative processes, influences and more.

S13: What was the first piece of music that inspired you to make the music you do under rhubiqs?

Tom Squires: I can actually recall this moment quite vividly. I was at a Mogwai show at the Royal Albert Hall in London, in 2006 I think, and everything about it was perfect: an historic venue made for great acoustics, a really respectful and knowledgeable audience, and a setlist full of classics. I remember thinking during New Paths to Helicon, Pt. 1 that this was something I wanted to try to do myself. One of those really uplifting moments, where you leave a show feeling really inspired, you know? I wasn’t someone who grew up around instruments and making music, so it was a bit of a revelation for me. That weekend I downloaded my first DAW and started tinkering; trying to make synth sounds like Mogwai. It took several years until I made some music I felt good enough to release, but that was definitely the moment the seed was planted for me.”

S13: How did your collaboration with Affin come about?

TS: “I finished my latest album early in 2024 and felt confident that I had something that was worth sharing; that the record would resonate with people. The music itself is pretty niche – I’m not going to be invited to play Radio 1’s Big Weekend or Coachella any time soon – but equally with my past releases (both as rhubiqs and with Transatlantic Alliance) I have been able to find a small but engaged loyal listener base and I felt that with this record I had created something new worth sharing.”

“I was keen to partner with a label who already had an audience who were likely to enjoy my style of music; to extend its reach. I already knew of Affin and loved a lot of what they had put out, and felt there was a reasonable overlap with what I do. So I contacted Joachim (Spieth – Affin label head) in the summer, sent him the record and asked if he’d be keen to release it. Fortunately for me Joachim was really positive about the record and the rest, as they say, is history. I’m really happy with the support Affin has provided so far and we have plans to release further rhubiqs material in 2025 and beyond.”

S13: Aegis of Silence was released last week. Can you tell us about the process behind it?

TS: “I didn’t initially set out to write an entire album of music. I had been listening to a lot of tape-based artists – acts like William Basinski, Lumastora and Taylor Deupree – and wanted to experiment with those recording techniques because I hadn’t done so before. I didn’t have access to physical tape machines but I was able to emulate the techniques in Ableton by looping lots of samples over and over across multiple channels, backwards and forwards and at different tempos. Very similar to the methods Brian Eno pioneered all those years ago. The result was the song Mistral which features on the record. I was so happy with the outcome that I employed similar techniques a few more times which resulted in most of the first half of the album.

“I toyed with the idea of putting tracks [one to four] as an EP and leaving it there, but I felt like I still had a lot of further ideas and more to say so carried on working. Tracks [one to four] are pretty dark and gloomy; there was definitely room for a more uplifting and positive focus and so with track five (Hope’s Canvas) I was keen to provide a moment of optimism on the album.

“Tomorrow’s Dawn is a piano piece I’d been working on for a while with no real idea where to take it. I tried adding pads, orchestral layers; making it longer, but in the end I stripped it all back so that it’s pure felt piano and nothing else – and quite a short song in duration. It works really well I think as an interlude between the two halves of the record it separates. Sometimes less can be more.

“The other thing to call out is two of the songs are collaborations: Sleep // Forget features my good friend, Robert Farrugia, who is a prolific ambient artist (Phantom Limb, ROHS! and other labels) who I was really keen to work with. I sent him a rough two-minute idea as a demo and he flipped back to me the finished song as it now is on the album! Such a talented musician. I’m really happy with that collaboration and I think it sits beautifully alongside the other songs I produced by myself.

Amongst the Gods II actually originated as a remix I did for the post-rock band Oldernar, from Staffordshire here in England. For various life reasons (babies, house moves, job moves, etc.) we never got round to putting the song out but Nick from the band was gracious enough to permit me to use it for this record. I think it works really well sitting between the songs Reverie In Bloom // VII.VI.MMXXI and Resolved on the album.”

S13: What was the most important aspect you wanted to achieve on the record?

TS: “With all of my music my goal is to create something which is emotive, thought-provoking and true to itself. I’m not at all inspired to create the same song over and over, which is why I think it’s so difficult to categorise which genre my music belongs to. With Aegis of Silence I wanted to create a record which has obvious influences but is doing something unique in terms of how it brings them all together. I’m really happy with how it turned out.”

S13: The artwork is really striking and really captures the mood. Can you tell us the inspiration behind it, and was this done before or after the record was finished?

TS: “Markus Guentner is the magician behind the album artwork. Markus makes the majority of the artwork for Affin releases and has put out a lot of collaborative music with label-head, Joachim. Truthfully, Markus had full artistic direction over the artwork but I am really pleased with how it turned out – I couldn’t have asked for anything better. It captures the album’s aesthetics perfectly.”

S13: There’s a real escapist quality to much of the album, and in light of the recent political upheaval, it got me thinking about your music. Do you consider it political in any way? 

TS: “I do. I’m a very political person. I grew up in a household with politically active parents and we were always discussing current affairs at the dinner table.

“It amuses me when people say they’re not political. Politics is everywhere – the price of food, the curriculum at your children’s school, the fact there’s a minimum wage, the provision of healthcare, your right to marry who you want to, your ability to travel. It affects everyone in multiple ways every single day. I believe to ignore that is ignorance of the highest level.

“Given how interested and passionate I am about politics and a free democracy it’s bound to filter through into my music. It’s not a conscious thing during my songwriting process per se, but my mood and therefore approach to songwriting is definitely impacted by the political landscape, both domestically and globally.”

S13: How much do you think London plays a role in your music?

TS: “London is a huge influence on the music I make. If I think back to my 20s and early 30s, I used to spend a lot of time attending live music events in London – not just gigs with bands but I was also heavily into the London club scene. Clubs like Fabric and Corsica Studios were places I frequently visited, and I am, for sure, influenced by the artists I saw play there.

“If I think about the song Resolved on the album it’s a significant nod to the production style of Actress, a London-based producer who has put music out on Ninja Tune and a few other labels. My use of field recordings is influenced by London-based musician Burial who is one of my all time favourites. Similarly though, I’ve attended so many gigs in London over the years by promoters like Portals, Cafe Oto and Baba Yaga’s Hut – who often showcase more experimental bands – which has definitely rubbed off on my approach to making music: I tend to not settle for anything too straightforward or easily categorised.”

S13: Do you have a set routine, or is music something you work on every day?

TS: “I go through peaks and troughs in terms of motivation and inspiration when it comes to making music. For a lot of 2023 I was burned out and didn’t even try to make any music for months on end, but 2024 was a very productive year in terms of inspiration and motivation. I don’t have a set routine; my mood dictates things a lot. If I am not feeling inspired, then I don’t try to force it. But the opposite is also true – I can often have a period of time where I am inspired and influenced by so many things that I am able to churn out a lot of music I am proud of. I’d love to be able to bottle those magical / prolific periods into some kind of ‘reusable’ routine or process but I’m yet to have successfully done that…”

S13: Do you think the music you produce is an accurate reflection of your personality?

TS: “Hmm, this one is tricky to answer. It’s definitely a reflection of my subconscious self; my internal dialogue and how I think about and see the world. Outwardly I have struggled in the past due to introverted tendencies and I can come across as a bit of a closed book. I’m the kind of person who prefers their own company the majority of the time. When people find out I make music – and the style of music – they’re often surprised. I think though that’s due to my natural instinct to not overly share with others, coupled with that classic British tendency to downplay things and favour modesty.”

Aegis of Silence is out now via Affin Records. Purchase from Bandcamp.