So-Cal punk a winner for former Rubicon frontman

Paul Reid has had no trouble easing into the Californian lifestyle

Where has Paul Reid gone? Marshall from Shortland Street? That blond guy from Rubicon? On the phone from his pad in the Hollywood Hills, a new "So-Cal" punk album under his belt, it's tempting to scoff at the fact he now calls a boot a "trunk" and a toilet a "rest room".

But assimilation has been a necessary evil since moving to LA 18 months ago.

Twice he has missed out on roles in the David Mamet TV show The Unit because his American visa was "not rocking".

And he blames his Kiwi accent for an incident a year ago, when cops dragged him from his car and jumped on him after he ran a red light.

"I've kept my nose very clean. I didn't realise it but the cops are really like they are on television here - pretty intense.

"I don't drink now. I got sick of waking up hung over and not getting everything I wanted to achieve done during the day."

He has had plenty to do, with a pilot season approaching, and a new album.

Three years since Rubicon - Reid, Jon Corker (bass) and Gene Bennett (guitars) - released their debut album Primary, Reid has followed it up solo.

Opening with the friendly salute, "[expletive] you!", The Way it Was Meant to Be is a darker chunk of So-Cal punk, quite unlike the peppy, jest-riddled pop tunes of early Rubicon.

Remember Bruce, Happy Song, Funny Boy, The Captain, Rockstar, Energy Levels? Now 25, he jokes, he is "jaded and angry".

Christchurch-bred Reid doesn't apologise for making true Beach Boy tunes, influenced by his time living on the "boardwalk" at Santa Monica's famous Venice beach.

"I've always been a fan of Californian punk-rock, and you're always a product of your environment. So being here listening to that style of music makes more sense than when I was in Christchurch listening to some depressing Flying Nun music or something."

Rubicon is still very much Reid's baby - he plays drums and guitar and sings on the new album - but American musicians Scott Zant (bass) and Frank Zummo (drums) help him to flesh out the songs live.

"You always have to compromise in a band situation. And now there's no compromise, it's cool."

So what does he think of Primary now?

"At the time it was really good. But we were 18, 19, when we wrote most of that. Some of the lyrics reflected an 18 or 19-year-old's mind."

For a while things were going swimmingly for the band. Then Corker and Bennett resigned last year. By email.

"It was pretty rough. I didn't know what to think. I was very shocked.

"I was a little upset that I didn't get a phone call but it had been on the cards for a while because it was evident we were all going in different directions.

"They wanted to write their own music and be more prolific in terms of songwriting and singing.

"As a unit, we were such a democracy that we never really set any boundaries.

"There was no leader, as such, although as I was the more recognisable one in the group most people assumed it was me, but it wasn't really.

"I thought that to have a good band, everybody had to have an equal say. I've learned it's not always the case."

He says the trio compromised too much to make things work, and had musical tastes that were too different.

He says they were once close, but that now they have a "zero" relationship.

But Reid's new album title, and a song called I Don't Need You, are not directed at his former bandmates.

"We grew out of each other, I guess. But if I saw one of them in the street I'm sure it would be amicable."

The chances of that are slim. Reid is back for Christmas but plans to stay in the US for another three or four years, a commitment he sealed in unconventional fashion this year.

Keen for his long-term girlfriend to live with him in the US, he forfeited his plans for a traditional wedding and married her in a helicopter while flying over Las Vegas.

Sounds like he's easing into the lifestyle just fine. 


On CD

* Who: Rubicon frontman Paul Reid
* What: New album, The Way it was Meant to Be, out now.