Rubber Duc’s latest single, Feet is a bit of a departure from their typically warm acoustic music. Yes, it still has the same signature sound but it marks the first time they’ve released a love song since they burst onto the scene in 2014. “We’ve had a few love songs in the past that we’ve never performed,” says Nick Jordaan, the band’s lead vocalist. “Love songs are quite hard to keep the energy up in the crowd, unless they’re really well-known. On the album there’s like two love songs. This is just our first release. We all had an immediate connection with the song when we were writing and recording it.”
Jordaan says their producers encouraged them to do something different and, as things stand, it’s working. Feet, which comes off their debut album, The Secret Sunrise, is currently sitting at second place on Jacaranda FM’s Chamberlains Top 20. Jordaan reflects on this achievement and the band’s success over the past few years: “It’s been an amazing time. The fact that we can call this our job is incredible. We don’t have to go to work from eight to five and sit behind a desk. We get to be on the road and experience South Africa and other places I wouldn’t have dreamt of. The smallest towns in the country do some of the coolest things. We’ve really grown as a group and also really got to experience the country almost in its entirety.”
Throughout the rest of the year, Rubber Duc will be focusing a lot of their energy to pushing the album and releasing more singles. They’re also looking at touring around the world, starting off with Dubai in May. “We just want to do a lot more travelling abroad and hopefully get to Germany, we’re dying to perform there. We want to get our names beyond the borders of South Africa.”
From a young age, he’s drawn inspiration from the likes of Ard Matthews and his band, Just Jinjer. He’s also found inspiration from Prime Circle and other big bands because of their hustle and perseverance in getting to the top of the rock industry.
On Saturday, Rubber Duc will be performing at Jacaranda FM & Tracker’s Off The Beat ‘n Track, a music & mountain biking event taking place at The Big Red Barn in Pretoria. The event will see Rubber Duc perform alongside Beatenberg and Majozi. “We’re very excited,” says Jordaan. “It’s our first time playing alongside Beatenberg. We actually did a show with Majozi the other night, what a great performer. Most of all I think it’s gonna be a really great day out for family. Mountain biking and cycling have become quite a trend over the last few years and I think it’s really cool that they’re associating live music with nature now so people can finish their ride and have a beer while listening to music.”