Rick Ruiner
The Ruiners
By Christopher Duda
(SugarBuzz Toronto)
Photos by Trever Long
SugarBuzz Magazine
"Happy Birthday Bitch" is the new CD by The Ruiners on Pravda records. Fuelled by beer, beer and more beer (keeping in mind that American beer is watered down so they have to consume that much more to obtain the buzz so readily enjoyed by their Canadian cousins). Ripping through your cheap mp3 player like Herman Munster on a freebasing Marvin Gaye party weekend! The Ruiners are the ullage in the bottle, served with a moue and rabid frothing salvia tinged Lux inebriation while exercising the spirits of Detroit lore. No pretties for you my dear!
1. Where did the band name come from and along that line where did the title of the current cd materialize?
When the band started, we were a performance art act that more or less evolved into a band. We used to smash like 40 (literally) vacuum cleaners, dozens of TV’s, or throw a washer machine and dryer into the crowd with a dozen baseball bats at any given show—the name seemed like a good fit. I don’t think we cared so much about what the name was--we just needed one. When fires and destruction became the focus, a few members left for fear of lawsuit or desire to play real music. Rob left and came back nearly a decade later to find an actual musical band. We were happy to have him return! We were trying to figure out a way to get a Cadillac into a venue, to smash. By then the destruction ran its course. Often we
would not be paid until we cleaned the place up (which took hours). Sometimes we would just leave and forego our pay just to get on with the rest of the night.
** (album title explanation is below)
2. What is the history of the band? How did you form? Were members in previous bands?
Everyone has been in other bands—some more notable than others. I have been in bands since I was twelve. We had a couple more “famous” people who were founding members of Elvis Hitler and The Detroit Cobras, but they left the group a few years ago. The band started in Lincoln Park Michigan (home of the MC5). I ran into my friend Rob from high school, we were both working at Chrysler at the time. I auditioned for a dozen bands or so and none of them was interested in me because I was so terrible. Rob suggested I bring my guitar (I knew two chords) and form a two-piece band with him. Unlike me, Rob actually could play really well and was in demand. I could not play and sing at the same time, so we needed a guitar player. One guy, another drummer, was under house arrest at The Ruiner practice house, so he became our keyboard player since we already had a drummer. That house they lived in was kind of a party house and many people were staying there—mostly musicians. People who were drinking there would sit in and play. Whoever was there became the band. We did not have a bass player at the time. This guy “Scott Addison” was hitching up from Florida to move in with Rob. He was
given the role of bass player before he arrived, while he was still en route. He played bass, set new records for bad behavior on stage for several years, and then hit the road again. I first set myself on fire on Rob’s porch—it got more insane from there.
The new record is called “Happy Birthday Bitch” because anyone who has been in a relationship always reluctantly remembers their ex’s birthday every year and gets angry all over again. I had an ex who treated me like absolute dirt, have the audacity to email me more than once on her birthday to say “hey, aren’t you going to wish me a happy birthday?” Now I can say yes, this song is for you. Anyone who has ever been screwed over by an ex, his or her boss, a friend, the law or the world will be able to relate to this record.
3. What is the Detroit scene like for The Ruiners?
The scene evolves constantly. The rags here will feature some over hyped band on the covers of their magazine. Then, two months later the band is gone. The Ruiners have enjoyed a strong and steady fan base as younger fans start to discover us. We have really enjoyed great popularity and some really well attended shows, mostly under the radar. We will do shows with any kind of band and have never been part of any prestigious or elite cliques. The shows are always a party. It is never about “look at us”; it is more like “let’s all tear this place up”. I have NEVER had anyone tell me we played a bad show (although we can be loose) or tell us they did not have a good time at our show. However, until recently, we did make a few bad records and I have heard all about that.
4. Were you ever in align with the Garage scene in Detroit?
Not really, we played here and there with great bands like The White Stripes or Detroit Cobras, but that became an elite club of sorts when word got out that major record companies were calling. Others in that scene were so desperate to become famous; they intentionally excluded and badmouthed others (and each other). They mostly thought we were freaks—and they
were probably right. Some of those bands excluded us. It did not matter, we got plenty of recognition and notoriety outside that scene and record deals—which most did not. I sincerely have great admiration for Jack White’s skills. He said he liked my voice, but he disliked me personally. I guess others followed suit and jumped on the anti-Ruiners bandwagon at the time. These days NOBODY wants the garage rock title in Detroit. It’s considered a past and failed scene here but people still love it abroad. I don’t mind it when it comes up for us, because it fits us in some ways in sound and attitude of early garage movement. However, more in an MC5 way—not so much the later garage wave of the late 90’s. There IS an element of garage rock to the Ruiners, but we are not purist—we play whatever we like and have always been difficult to classify. That has been a mixed blessing for us. We have many fuzzy bubblegum pop, punk influences, so that endears us to some garagey hipsters, and the rockers love Justin’s guitar playing. Glam rock people love the band too—lots of glitter in our bubblegum vocals.
5. Has living in the city of The Stooges and MC5 metamorphosized itself into the souls of The Ruiners?
There was a neighborhood woman in her thirties really attracted to me when I was in grade school. She used to tell me “pretend you are sick, go to the office and I will come pick you up so we can be together, drive around, listen to jams and get drunk all day.” I was in 8th grade at the time. I listened to Aerosmith and The Bee Gees, Idolized Bon Scott and hung out at the roller rink. When she would pick me up from school, we would drink 
peppermint schnapps in her Cutlass, and she was very sexual. She turned me on to The MC5, T-Rex and The Stooges, but I remember being kind of scared of them. Of course, I may have been a little scared of her too. Those bands will be forever tied in with those early bizarre and awkward experiences. My sister had a friend who brought over Iggy Pop’s Soldier record that summer. We had these pre-teen “dog food,” sing along while my mom was working nights. We played that song repeatedly—which was not easy with vinyl. Years later, I found a vinyl copy of Raw Power in a thrift shop, listened to it for the first time, and really loved it. I also had (and still have Iggy on 8 track) I guess I am as much influenced by the Stooges and MC5 as Shaun Cassidy, The Bay City Rollers, Nervous Norvus and Andy Gibb—which was what my sisters played and was pretty much the soundtrack of my early childhood.
6. What is the story on the following-?
a) Getting banned from clubs
We are still banned from clubs we have not played in several years. I set myself on fire and had an unpredictable “flame-throwing” guitar. It’s not permitted to bring a guitar connected to two propane tanks into a venue now. When Great White burned down that club, The Detroit News ran a story about them with and a tie-in about The Ruiners. It was a kind of “can it happen here” sensationalistic story. They included a photo of us playing live on a stage that was completely on fire. I also had one club call the police for me “inciting a riot”. I have that show on video and it’s really good but dangerous and surreal. What the hell was I thinking?
b) Getting beat up or beating others up!
The band used to play mainly for badass people, fetish crowds and many military people. They just came to smash stuff we brought—van loads of stuff. Sometimes we would just smash stuff instead of playing and people were glad to pay eight bucks to watch and 
participate in that. Some girl took a whip to me once while I was playing—I did not like it. People were naked, drunk and brawling for the first six years of the band. We are lucky nobody got seriously hurt, died or a venue was burned down or destroyed. We did pay for a lot of chairs that were broken and smashed PA gear and microphones. At the time, we were the house band for NGO Detroit amateur woman’s wrestling—, which was violent and sexual. Lots of guys attended, got all worked up and if they attacked us, they also got their share of beatings too. The Ruiners had some very good brawlers in the line-up at the time. When I was younger, I was a decent fighter. Once I beat up a guy who broke a bottle on my head. When I passed out (from blood loss) the next guy in the band continued hitting him, even though I had already knocked him out. It’s much different now—most of our fans are girls and fights are rare. I got sick of fighting; slow healing and I never wanted that relationship with our “fans” anyway. I was not sure how all that came about—likely a result of turmoil in my personal life, admiration for Evel Kneivel or just playing dives for so long.
c) Court enforced restraining orders
I cannot comment further on this for legal reasons but the gory details are public record if anyone really cares. These stories 
are not intended to be boastful, but to credit the band with its ability to survive stuff that would crumble most bands, or individuals.
d) Death threats
Twice two former members have threatened me with death threats. Other members have had similar threats from each other or girls they were with—threatening notes on doors, vandalism or phone threats. Those phone recordings may make good samples for future records. You have to keep in mind, people who play in a band, especially one like this, are not always the most stable people. The fine line of genius and insane has been present in this band for 13 years with 23 members. In Norway, one member tried to throw another member off a fourth story balcony during an argument. They are on good terms now, but that was almost tragic. I have found that those who are really talent artist often come with a good load of baggage and can be a bit unstable. Everyone has forgiven each other to date….I think.
e) Heart attacks, overdoses and emergency room visits
I have been to the emergency room several times after shows—mostly burns or a bad cut or injury. I drove a hearse with a motorcycle in a trailer to the hospital after a show to get my head stapled once. I rode the motorcycle inside the venue and on the stage. I got a good cut that night. A Vietnam Vet duct taped my head until I could get medical help. One member had a few heart attacks, had to take time off, and is still recovering. He said; “when you do drugs as a young person you don’t consider the damage to your heart over time”. We have had many setbacks as individuals and as a group but always kept going. There were some overdoses, Although, I have never taken an “illegal” drug in my life, other 
members have set records and lived to tell! This band has consumed a great deal of beer and thrives on adrenaline more than anything else. However, admittedly, we recorded this record drunk to try to capture the live feel. There were some memorable hangovers after recording sessions. When I was singing like Earnest T. Bass, we were all falling over.
f) Jail terms
We once bailed a former member out of jail on the way to a show. The money we made that night went towards his bail. Another Ruiner (un-named) did actually serve a few years in prison for robbery or something, but that is way in the past. Some people are somewhat disappointed with how mature, polite and well mannered we actually are now.
7. CouldSugarbuzzmagazine.com use the song “Sugar Buzz” as their theme song?
That would be partially up to our label, but I think it would be a great honor!
8. How would you best define 
your sound?
A fan wrote this and it sounds good to me; “The Ruiners are like a demolition derby where the cars are driven by the Cramps, Alice Cooper and Stooges in the Munsters backyard”. Someone recently wrote we are a cross between the Partridge Family and The Munsters—I like that too!
9. What bands have you opened for or played with in the past? Are there any other bands you would love to gig with?
I would especially love to do a show with any of my Detroit heroes: Alice Cooper, Machine Gun Thompson, Ted Nugent, The Rockets, The Stooges, Mitch Ryder or Jack Scott!
10. Who is Charlie Lane from the song “Charlie Lane Ate My Brain”?
Charlie is a lovely film actress/Penthouse Pet, who is a fan of the band. We may be doing a music video with her in the future for her song.
11. I hear a lot of Cramps influence in your music. Were they always on your radar and/or influential?
I loved the Cramps and the 50’s and 60’s groups they themselves were spawned from. I never intentionally sit down and try to write a song like another artist, but I am probably subconsciously influenced by what I like. I also really like K-Tel records.
12. What is up with the Japanese website (theruiners.com?)
We inadvertently lost the web domain when it expired and someone bought it and put cartoons on it—better than another band using it ;)
13. Would there be anything you would change about your career or past decisions?
There are always regrets in life. I burned a few bridges when I was going through a divorce. I was in a lot of pain at the time and had very little patience for people. I used to be pretty fearless and kind of nuts. Heck, I pretty much wanted to destroy the entire world back then. I should have been more concerned with making music than fighting or injuring myself in the early days of the band. The band deserved better recognition, but often fell behind the shadows of stage antics or dangerous reputations. Three major labels have looked at this band, one quite seriously and were concerned about certain elements of the band. I wish I could have focused on making better records back then. We once set up garbage cans of beer bottles and dropped bowling balls into them over a microphone. It came out sounding as if someone dropped a light bulb on a shag rug. We may have been better off using those efforts on learning how to sing on key, or properly mic the drums or something.
14. What is the Russian connection in your band?
Russian painter Nina Friday joined the band 3 years ago on a lark. She has been a fan of the band for a decade and was on the
cover of one of our records back in 2000. We have always had trouble getting back up singers to the shows—their stripping jobs, dramas or substance issues always got in the way. Nina is a visual artist and adds tremendously to the live show with her performance, vocal ability and stunning looks. We were not stupid to put her on our cover—she signs many autographs. Fans of her artwork have enjoyed discovering she is in a band! That has been very good tie-in exposure for us.
15. What are some of your most memorable gigs?
We play a show each year with our heroes Question Mark and The Mysterians—always fun! We just played with The Trash Brats for their yearly reunion show—a blast! In 2006, we played an after-party for the Cramps in a Norwegian cave that served as a world war two Nazi bunker in the 1940’s. That place was packed and super fun—complete with prisoner cages and stalagmites! We have had so many great shows and times, its hard to chose the favorites; a good run at Theatre Bizarre in Detroit for several years, until it became more commercial, doing burnouts with my dirt bike around the pool tables at the Magic Stick, Playing pajama parties with Circus Boy in Detroit and the Motorcity Rah Rah’s in Detroit, running around overseas with The Launderettes and hanging out with The Hellacopters was great! Every show has great stories. We do have a ridiculous amount of fun! The shows Michael Rys puts together in Toledo are always very insane!
16. How many releases do The Ruiners have?
We self released some records (one vinyl live 7”, full-length cdrs we made and personalized), and legit labels have put out three releases. We have been on a few compilations (USA and Germany). Some of these recordings are awful. All together, I think we have had nine releases in 13 years-including the new
one on Pravda records. We have one full length “More tongue Less Lip” that a limited number were pressed and lost because that label went under a few weeks after signing us—those are rare. Sadly, that record was really good. Jim Diamond uses one of those tracks on his webpage to demonstrate the cool stuff his studio can do. Every time we do a record, we call on Jim to mix, record or master something.
17. Any plans for world domination.
We have been overseas twice and get email invites to play in other countries all the time. We hope to go to France and Russia soon—they seem very excited about us. We did not want to tour until we had a new record to sell—now we do!