Follow Reuben Moonasar and Dead Air from rehearsals at Treehouse Studios in Surrey, UK, to their live show at EartH in Hackney
In this episode of the ongoing Epiphone series The Journey, we follow Dead Air bass player Reuben Moonasar from writing and pre-show rehearsals at the band’s Treehouse Studios space in Cranleigh, Surrey, to a live performance at EartH (Evolutionary Arts Hackney). Along the way, Reuben discusses the creative freedom behind the band’s new EP, World Wide Villainy, the realities of balancing music with everyday life, and the energy that keeps him committed to performing.
The enduring Epiphone promise is “For Every Player, For Every Stage,” and The Journey captures the full arc of an artist’s path, from writing and rehearsing to performing in front of a live audience. The series follows musicians across Europe, sharing the work, uncertainty, and defining moments behind their musical journeys.
Recording World Wide Villainy
The latest episode opens at Treehouse Studios, where Reuben invites us into the band’s rehearsal space and the room where pre-production for tracks from World Wide Villainy took place, where we learn how its secluded location proved to be one of the greatest advantages while the band was writing the new EP.
“Not only are we far away from anyone, so you can just make as much noise as you want,” says Reuben. “It just lets us be as creative as we want to be. And yeah, I think that’s completely changed how we write.”
We join Reuben and his band for a pre-show rehearsal, which, as any band member will know, requires a very different approach to just jamming and rehearsing with your band. “A rehearsal pre-show is all about working out the kinks and really just getting into the nitty-gritty of it,” he explains. “Because every show has its own quirks, you never know what kind of set you’re gonna do, how long you’ve got.”
Reuben plays the Epiphone Grabber Bass in Ebony and the Epiphone Mike Dirnt Grabber G-3 in Silverburst, while fellow Dead Air guitarist Lyle Broom plays the Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird™ V in Cherry. The Grabber, Reuben says, is ideally suited to his aggressive playing style, which you can hear on World Wide Villainy: “The Epiphone Grabber is awesome. It is exactly what you want as a bass player playing aggressive, rock, punk music. It’s got the low end. It tames the highs as a pick player. I just fell in love with it.”
His approach also extends beyond the traditional role of the bass, which is predominantly holding down the groove. “I’m not really doing what a bass player normally does,” he says. “It’s full, aggressive, powerful. You couldn’t want anything more.”
The part of being in a band nobody talks about
Reuben is candid about the part of the job that rarely appears on camera, which is trying to survive as a musician while balancing the day job that pays the majority of the bills. “The amount of bands I’ve seen who, they’re on tour and then they come off and they have to go to the day job,” he says. “There’s been times when you’re thinking, how am I gonna pay for a studio session? Then how am I gonna pay the bills? Do I wanna keep this job? Because this is kind of getting in the way of me touring.”
What carries him through those periods of doubt is not the performance itself: “What really gets me out of those moments of doubt is just those moments in between. Just the journeys and the chatting, being in our little Skoda convoy, those are the moments. And then it’s just an added bonus that we get to go up on stage and play in front of all these people.”
That attitude carries into the show. “For me, it’s important that we bring the energy to the show,” he says. “It all stems from the three of us and what we’re doing. If we’re not putting it all in, why should we expect anyone else to do the same thing?”
Throughout The Journey, Epiphone checks in with artists across Europe to capture defining moments onstage and during writing and rehearsal sessions. Each episode also explores what success means to the featured artist. For Reuben, the answer comes from the front row: “Looking out at the fans and seeing them going absolutely feral. That moment, you’re just lucky, aren’t you? You’re just lucky if you get that moment even once. My whole life is music, and that’s all I want it to be.”
Follow Dead Air on Instagram and Facebook, and stream their new EP. Visit Epiphone to shop the latest electric, bass, and acoustic guitars.
