Bio

Rubicon are school friends Jon Corker (bass/drums, vocals) and Gene Bennett (guitars, vocals), joined by Paul Reid (vocals, drums/bass) ex-Loves Ugly Children and also ex-The D4. The band was formed in 1999, when Reid was looking for a band to play his song "California" at the 96.dot.1 demo competition finals. They finished second and were promptly signed to Felix Records, owned by competition judge Murray Cammick.

In the short time they have been together as a band, Rubicon have toured with Shihad, Stayfree Carefree and Stellar*, played on TV on Ground Zero and Space and also released their debut single The Captain on Felix with accompanying video directed by Ian McCarroll. They play tight garage-style pop/punk/rock with an energetic stage presence that led to Reid jumping off the drum riser at the close of a Palmerston North show and hitting guitarist Gene Bennett in the head with his bass, knocking him out.

New video �Funny Boy� scored the No.1 spot (the most played video) at Juice TV for three weeks. Rubicon�s new single �Funny Boy� was recorded at Auckland�s flash Revolver Studio earlier this year. It is the first time the band have been able to record in a top quality studio. Neil Baldock co-produced the single, he has previously recorded Head Like A Hole and Dead Flowers for Wildside Records.
For his day job, Rubicon�s Paul Reid plays the part of Marshall Heywood on Shortland St. His on-screen mother Annie Whittle also has a background in music and is also from Christchurch. Other bands Paul Reid has drummed for include Christchurch alternative rock band "Loves Ugly Children" anf The D4 (on Flying Nun label). As a 17 year old Paul left his Christchurch secondary school to tour Australia with Loves Ugly Children and he got an introduction to the rock 'n' roll lifestyle at an early age. Between Loves Ugly Children and Rubicon, Paul also drummed for ska band the Managers, the (otherwise) all girl group Growler and Flying Nun rockers D4.

In 2000 Rubicon released three songs to student / alternative radio, �The Captain�, �Pull It Out Of the Bag� and �Pretend�. The latter song reached No.2 on the National Alternative Radio Chart (student radio). Last year Rubicon toured the North Island with Stellar*. This year Rubicon impressed many at the BIG DAY OUT and they headlined a Channel Z Wellington free concert Feb this year.

RUBICON impressed MOBY last year. After the Moby Auckland gig the entourage headed for the Dragon Bar (out the back of Papa Jacks) and Moby checked out Rubicon who were playing Papa Jack�s that night. He got bar staff to find a bandmember to have a chat. Moby spoke with guitarist Gene Bennett and said cool things about the band and recalled the days when he was in a hardcore rock band.