Though Robin Hall came to NYC in the 70s with dreams of making it big in the music industry, the Executive Producer of boutique editorial shop Northern Lights had put his time as vocalist for punk rock band Jack Ruby behind him long after the band’s dismantling in 1978. After over 25 years as an editorial producer for top shops in the advertising and broadcast space, he was more surprised than anyone when he began fielding inquiries about the sub-underground band that “never had its time” after clearing up some fallacies about the band on his own music blog in 2011. Jack Ruby intrigued Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore while piecing together a book on NYC’s post-punk underground scene in the 1970s/1980s. He reached out to Hall, who unearthed a treasure trove of old tapes that had never been released for public consumption and the process began for the band’s first album release in 2014.
Since the album was released in May, the reception for the obscure band that according to Hall was, “Way ahead of our time,” has been a widespread positive one, with a rave review in Rolling Stone and a growing cult following. As one of the two living bandmates, Hall is still reeling from the unlikely resurgence of the band, which has been put on the radar for a slated HBO drama series on the music scene in ‘70s NYC directed by Martin Scorsese and produced by “Boardwalk Empire” creator Terence Winter.
Though still happily heading into his post at Northern Lights every day, Hall maintains a lurking sense of giddiness at the fact that his long forgotten dreams of rock fame have finally seen their light.
