Researching Ruban Nielson

Born in Darwin, Australia, to a Hawaiian mother and a Maori father, Nielson was raised in Orewa, Auckland in a working-class musical family. After support from his teachers at Orewa College, Nielson attended Elam, Auckland's most eminent Fine Arts school. He graduated in 2002 as a recipient Sir James Wallace art award, one year after forming The Mint Chicks with Paul Roper, Michael Logie and his brother Kody Nielson. The four members met at Orewa College, although the band started moving between Portland, Oregon, where Nielson would later be based, and Auckland. The band, known for its nihilistic ideology, disorderly behaviour, neo-punk elements and groundbreaking discography, broke up following Ruban's departure. Nielson subsequently attempted to quit music, but he found himself increasingly passionate about it, and formed a more experimental and psychedelic band, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, with musician Jake Portrait. His brother Kody also has performed drums on almost every Unknown Mortal Orchestra album.

Nielson achieved critical acclaim and success worldwide with the band's self-titled debut album Unknown Mortal Orchestra, released in 2011. The album won the Taite music prize the following year. Further success came with II, released in 2013, and the group began selling out shows across North America. Nielson's global breakthrough album is considered to be the multi-award winning third effort Multi-Love, which made it high onto lists by The Guardian, NME and Consequence of Sound for the best albums of 2015. Singles "Multi-Love" and "Can't Keep Checking My Phone" were both A-listed at BBC's 6 Music. The album was considered to be, by far, Nielson's most personal; thematically, it was centered on a year-long polyamorous relationship he and his wife had with a younger woman from Tokyo, and the feelings of experimentation and euphoria, and the romantic turmoil of its end after the woman's visa expired. Two more acclaimed albums, Sex + Food, and the instrumental IC-01 Hanoi, followed in 2018.

Nielson continues to live in the United States with his family. He has become a symbol of the rejuvenation of psychedelic music in Australasia, alongside the likes of Tame Impala, Connan Mockasin, LEISURE and Pond. NME has summed up Nielson as a master in creating "works of warm, fuzzy beauty." Nielson remains humble and jocular, saying in response to being described as a musical provocateur; "No, I don't purposefully go out to try and do that......but it is really fun."