Wexford Weekly sits down with Ruben Buggy, the popular Wexford artist with a new single out and a highly anticipated album on the way…
One of Wexford’s very best musical talents has released a brand-new song.
Ruben Buggy, who has been a fixture of the Wexford live music scene for many years, is pleased to announce the release of ‘THE BOYS SONG’, a new single that will feature on an upcoming album.
The currently untitled album will be the first solo release by Buggy, who has amassed a dedicated following of fans from his career as a live musician. The newly released ‘THE BOYS SONG’ has received a glowing reception but is not the first example of Buggy’s songwriting chops. When playing live gigs, Buggy’s setlist often features original songs he has written himself. These are frequent requests and have become a staple of his shows.
2024 has been a great year for Buggy. Just last month, it was announced that he won Best Male performance in the annual Guinness Singing and Swinging pubs competition. He sang ‘A Rainy Night in Soho’ for the Mocking Monck in tribute to the late Shane MacGowan. The Mocking Monck had a fantastic result in this year’s competition, scooping up all of the awards in the ‘Singing’ section; Kayleigh Furlong was awarded Best Female performance, and the pub won the coveted best Overall award in ‘Singing’ for the third year in a row.
We had a chance to catch up with Buggy following the release of ‘THE BOYS SONG’ to get a behind the scenes look into his upcoming album.
I want to start by congratulating you on your great win at the Guinness Singing and Swinging Pubs. How did you react when you heard?
“I was just thrilled. I honestly didn’t expect it at all. I didn’t think the song would be as accepted with the audience, but you can tell by the video-when everybody is singing back the melody-I kind of knew then ‘Wow, people really do love this song’.
I sang it in memory of Shane MacGowan. Shane MacGowan’s music means a lot to me. It was powerful for me, but I didn’t think it would be as powerful for the people I was playing to until I actually did it.
I was genuinely surprised to win Best Male. I wasn’t surprised the Monck won, to be honest (laughs). We knew we were in with a good chance. I feel lucky because it’s three in a row now, but I wasn’t there the previous two years. It was the very same team minus me. Then I came in on the third year and reaped all the awards of the three in a row. I was nervous in case we lost because people would be like ‘that’s because Ruben was with ye’ (laughs).”
What can you tell us about the new album?
“I’ve had these songs for a number of years. ‘THE BOYS SONG’, I wrote that back in 2013. The story of the song is all about growing up and your group of friends. I usually write about what I know. It’s my own story, I guess. It’s kind of the first song that I played in front of people. I remember I played it in front of my mates that I was living with in college. I’ll never forget their reaction because that was the first time I played my own song to someone. That gave me such a buzz. So, that felt like the right song to start the album.
I think what I’m going to do is, instead of releasing a bunch of songs in one go, I’m gonna release a song every three weeks to a month until I have my ten or eleven tracks. Then once they’re all out, it’s all gonna have the same artwork and be released under the same album name. That’s the plan. It could change but that’s the plan for now. Release it single by single.”
What can people expect from the rest of the album?
“The plan for the next song is ‘Scaldy Balls’. That’s already recorded. I’ve recorded two songs so far with Gavin Glass. So, ‘Scaldy Balls’ is ready to go but I’m gonna give it a while and release that. I’m hoping before Christmas to get another two songs recorded. One called ‘Street of Kings’, which is kind of a family story, and another song called ‘The White Rose’. This is a kind of a long, ballad song. That’s the plan for the next two tracks that will probably be released in the new year.”
The official release of ‘Scaldy Balls’ will be welcome news to many. The humorous ballad is a fan favourite and one of Buggy’s most requested songs. It tells the story of Scaldy Balls, a local miscreant who ‘gets around on a little Honda 50’ and ‘hangs around the offy looking shifty’.
Buggy’s lyrics create a vivid and unflattering image of Scaldy Balls, whose life of mischief catches up to him when he is arrested and sent to prison after getting caught trying to ‘rob eleven Chuppa Chups’. Despite the trouble he’s caused, the local people eagerly await his return, singing out his name ‘through prison halls’. By the end of the song, Scaldy Balls has risen to almost folk hero status, and you can’t help but root for this lovable scamp.
It is a superbly written tune that holds up alongside the work of the Rubberbandits. It has become something of an anthem in Wexford with many people knowing every word off-by-heart.
How did ‘Scaldy Balls’ come about?
“The chorus of that song literally popped into my head one night at a session. We were all passing the guitar around and stuff like that. The chorus came in one go, really quick and natural. They were laughing and singing along to the chorus, so I was like ‘Right, I have something here.’ So, I expanded on it and wrote a couple of verses.
It’s a story of a song. When you first hear about Scaldy Balls, people don’t know what to make of the character. By the end of the song, people are kind of endeared to him even though he’s a fictional character. Scaldy Balls is a collection of loads of different characters. He’s not a real person. He’s a jigsaw of people put together. Just funny characters.
We all know people that are larger than life or a bit loud and a bit mad but have a good heart. I suppose that’s the essence of the song. Don’t judge people straight away. You have to get to know people. You’ve got to get to know everybody and walk a mile in their Air Max.”
Do you ever get tired of playing it?
“I don’t. The fact that people are asking for it-I’m just over the moon. I played a gig the other night down in Ballyhack in a place called The Kings Bay Inn and all the lads there-their team had just played a county final that weekend. They were all asking for it and one of the guys came up and said, ‘We sing that in the dressing room when we’re playing a match’. I was shocked. It’s a good feeling to have people genuinely enjoy your music that you’ve written yourself. It’s a good buzz playing covers and getting the reaction but it’s unfathomably better when it’s your own song.”
What does the future hold for Ruben Buggy?
“I love what I do. I’m full-time gigging. I’m so blessed to be able to go out and play. I never have a setlist. I just go into a place and play whatever I’m feeling on the night and whatever the crowd are into. One night I might sit in the corner and play loads of folk and another night I might hop off the big crowd-hitters. I never get bored because every night is different.
What’s starting to happen now is about a quarter of my set is made up of my own songs, and they go down just as well as the big songs. That’s the dream: if I was able to do a two-hour gig of all my own songs and get the same reaction and make a living from that.
I’ve never really experienced a huge crowd. 2000 is the most I’ve played to when I supported The Whistlin’ Donkeys. To me, it’s the same buzz in the Mocking Monck with twenty people singing my song back to me as it is playing ‘Scaldy Balls’ to 2000 people. It’s getting that connection to the audience. When you draw people in, they accept you into the crowd and you’re bringing them on the journey with you.
There are far better musicians than me, but I think I have this connection with the crowd where I feel like I’m a part of the crowd even though I’m the one performing. That’s what I’m always chasing. A gigantic singsong that everyone is involved in.”
‘THE BOYS SONG’ is now out on Spotify. Ruben Buggy wanted to thank everyone who has been a part of his gigs and to give special thanks to Gavin Glass and Brendan Carthy, the producers of the album whom he called ‘the dream team’.
Luke Bradley
Luke is a student and a lover of all things Wexford. His favourite topics include Wexford history, entertainment and local events
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