Niko Rubio Is Your Sunday Girl
The LA-based artist’s upcoming E.P. channels the messiness of modern love into breezy, self-aware songs with a tinge of Catholic guilt.
Los Angeles has always sold itself as a city of dreams, but for Niko Rubio, it’s just as much a city of grand gestures, ghosting, and emotionally unavailable men. The LA-based singer-songwriter folds all of this into Sunday Girl, her upcoming E.P. of reggae-laced indie-pop songs in which romantic misfortune takes the form of an alter ego: a bad nun who dates in secret, collects sins, and turns every disappointing man into source material. But who exactly is the titular Sunday girl? “She’s someone who you take home to mom and dad, who you hold tight and love forever,” says Rubio. But as she knows, sometimes the stars don’t align, and when that’s the case, “just scream the song at the top of your lungs, while driving down Sunset with a cigarette.” Below, Rubio gets into the heartbreak and humor behind her project, the archetypes of LA dating, and why her messiest stories always make the best songs.
What inspired your upcoming E.P.?
I had a tumultuous fling with a boy that ended dramatically, and I wrote this song about him. I knew he was emotionally unstable and unavailable, but I think I enjoyed the yearning? I went to the studio with one of my favorite writers ever and told him the story. Andrew, my producer, started playing the guitar riff, and I sang “Don’t you wish I was your Sunday girl” within the first 5 minutes of writing. I knew it had to be my “yearning for love” song. That’s where it all started.
You’ve said this project captures what it’s like dating in Los Angeles. What about LA dating made its way into the music?
The insecure, money-hungry boy-who-can’t-commit archetype is real.
Who is that boy?
It’s the guy that thinks he wants a girl who is hot and desirable, but then he gets one and he can’t deal. He thinks he’s not good enough, and he gets scared he’ll “mess it all up…” I’m like bro, just keep it in your pants, tell me I’m pretty, and buy me shit. It’s not that hard! Maybe I’m just dating the wrong men.
What’s the most LA date you’ve ever been on?
He took me to this French spot in West Hollywood called Marvin, and we ran into 10 people we both knew. It was like we were on a “How clouted is my date, and do they know the difference between sauvignon blanc and chardonnay?” game show. He was so funny, and we had a decent time, but I think he ghosted me, or I ghosted him—I can’t remember.
What’s the biggest red flag in LA’s dating culture?
When straight men post selfies, unironically. Please, for the love of God, I’d rather see you holding a fish.
What made reggae and indie-pop sounds feel right for this era?
I’m a born and raised California beach girl, so reggae and indie rock and pop have been the soundtrack to my life. I grew up on Lily Allen, No Doubt, Mazzy Star, Solange, but I was also listening to ’70s and ’80s reggae, like Barrington Levy and Sister Nancy. I’ve always made summertime and warm nights music. Reggae just sets a perfect energy for storytelling; it’s a magical genre.
“The biggest red flag in LA dating culture is when straight men post selfies, unironically. Please, for the love of God, I’d rather see you holding a fish.”
What do these songs bring out in you when you sing them?
I feel like myself when I sing. I got my favorite Jamaican musicians to come play on some of the tracks so that the drums would be authentic and respectful to reggae culture and tradition. I’m very careful and try to be mindful as much as I can of Jamaican reggae culture because it’s so beautiful to me. The indie pop songs are all so perfect too. They’re the dreamy songs, the ones rooted in yearning. The reggae songs are the storytelling ones, the ones where I talk my shit.
What was the moment or feeling behind writing “Ride It”?
It was being so annoyed at all these emotionally unavailable men. They always talk a big game and then don’t follow through! The guy I’m talking about in the song called me for two weeks, planned to fly me out to Cape Town and then pulled out the day before. I wrote the second verse months later about another man I was trying to hook up with. He pursued me for a bit and then, classically, a few weeks later it fizzled out. He was so lame, but his idiocracy, for lack of a less dramatic word, worked out perfectly. I was able to finally finish the song! He watches my story everyday so he’ll see this.
This will be your first headline tour. What does the “Sunday Girl” world look like when it moves from imagination into a physical space?
I’m most excited about finally seeing the Sunday Girl world come to life. In the story, I play a bad nun who secretly goes on dates and writes songs about the men she meets, and performs them at a lounge bar by the beach. It’s a metaphor for growing up in a Catholic Mexican household where I never felt I could talk about sex or my sins. It’s so melodramatic and also rooted in a new style of songwriting for me. It feels like everything I’ve ever made, but I’m finally being as honest as I can be.
I’m okay with being vulnerable about my fucked up love life. Everyone’s got a fucked up love life in some way. I had a London boyfriend for a while, but that wasn’t sustainable, so we’re back in the game. At least, I love London now. I would have liked to publicly shame him here in LA, but he does that to himself every time he has to tell someone he dumped me. I think I’m going to be celibate from now on, though. These men are not worth it.