Here's our story, if there even is one to tell.
Rukaland is five girls, six counting our photographer. Here we are, broken down into a little handy statistical thing:
Kali: From USA, plays lead guitar
Jess: From Canada, plays bass
LC: From Australia, lead vocals
Gaby: From Venezuela, plays drums
Jules: From Canada, photographer and stand-in musician
Red: From Australia, plays rhythm guitar and various indian instruments
In the summer of 1996, the six of us met up in England, in London, in the hopes of eventually getting a record deal.
On our first night, we split up to go gig scouting. Kali, Red, and Julia went one way, LC, Jess, and Gaby the other. Kali, Red, and Julia wandered into a trendy club called the Arc, a spot where a grunge band leftover from the explosion in the US played into agony each weekend. After speaking to a very rude club owner, we managed to get the gig. So, The Arc is where Rukaland played their first ever live show.
While Kali, Red, and Julia were off getting the gig at The Arc, however, LC, Jess, and Gaby were at a place called the 303, speaking to none other than Crispian Mills of Kula Shaker, who was in the middle of touring in support of "K", which would be released later that September in the UK. Kula Shaker had just played the Astoria in London prior to Crispian's showing at the Groucho, and were set to play Knebworth with Oasis on the 10th. Crispian had connections and offered to help Ruka get a gig at The 303, and before long Ruka was the house band, playing to huge local crowds every weekend.
The girls realised they had to move out of the 303 and find their own foothold in the music industry. They couldn't be playing the same club forever, and their fan base was getting too big for the 303 to support. Ruka had a local following of loyal teenagers and young adults who came out to see them every weekend, many of the faces recognisable, people always asking if they'd gotten a deal yet.
Ruka had been sending demo tapes, of course, to all the indie labels; Factory, Infectious, Creation - to no avail. They weren't interested in Rukaland for one reason or another. Maybe because the girls weren't English, no one knows. Then, one night after a short set at the 303, the band was approached by a Food Records representative, and a month later were able to call themselves labelmates of Blur and Radiohead as they were picked up by EMI for worldwide distribution.
The band hired a manager named Ted Kuss (you might find him refered to as "koos koos" somewhere in one of the interviews) who wanted to get Ruka into a studio as soon as possible, though the girls had other ideas. Of course they were putting our record deal in jeopardy by not giving the company what they wanted, but they were doing things their way, which might have cost them in the end. Kali and Crispian had become friends, and the band was given a little taste of the lives of the famous as Kula Shaker enjoyed a little success of their own. Crispian offered Rukaland a spot as support band on the band's K tour, and the band joined them for two months worth of touring in America, England, and Japan.
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During the tour, Kali and Crispian began seeing one another as Jess and Julia's relationship was preyed on by the press. Female homosexuals in bands were supposed to play folk music and wear plain clothes and look "natural". Jess and Julia were rockstars, living it up together. The press speculated on their relationship, constantly asking if it would break up the band because two members were romantically involved. And you know, you just can't have that. What the press didn't know is that Jess and Julia had been together since before Rukaland had formed. It was only logical and natural for the band to successfully operate with both girls as members. Kali and Crispians relationship was also preyed upon, criticized by the press as a case of starstruck, tales told of wild nights of drugs, booze, and sex.
LC's relationships were also tabloid fodder as she was the lead singer, and supposed to be the "outgoing slut" of the group.
After two months of touring with no record to support it with, Rukaland holed up in a studio with their manager, and sound engineers Gemma Towely and Trevor Burke. Recorded in a month, mixed in another, and out in two, "Six Degrees of 'Avin It Large" was a success. It entered the charts at number 20 and began a slow rise as the band took part in relentless promotional activities as well as getting themselves slathered all over the pages of the press with appearances at wild parties, relationships with the crowned princes of britpop, and, of course, the music, until, eventually, it peaked at the number 1 spot with the release of the single "Shag".
The band began touring again to further support the record, as things began slowly unraveling. After the "Extremely Fookin' Large" Tour, each band member returned home to London to rent their own apartments and attempt to enjoy the fruits of their success. Instead, they were pushed by their management and record label to record another album as a follow up to 6 Degrees before their media attention fizzled out to nothing but an afterglow.
The band was pushed into the studio yet again, the result being "The Second Cumming", full of lush melodies and indian influence.
The press spread rumors that the album was written in fact by Crispian Mills, Kali's long-time boy-toy, as an explanation for the indian undertones featured on the new album. In actuality, Kali and Crispian's relationship had begun to deteriorate after the "Extremely Fookin' Large" Tour was underway. They later split up officially, and Kali and LC remained the sole recievers of songwriting royalties.
The Second Cumming shot into the charts at number one in its first week, proving that Rukaland still had talent in the eyes of music fans. The band began another tour, this time fights and walk offs were common, as they had been at the end of the Large tour. Tension between band members was evident, and a break up seemed inevitable.
Rukaland officially split up after the tour was completed, 2 years after their arrival in London.