Rudy Nuno vs The World
If you have met me in real life, it was almost certainly while I was waiting in line for a show. And, even more likely, I was hanging out by myself HOURS before the show was set to start because I have to be at the rail. (That’s partly because I’m short and can’t see otherwise, and partly because I want to get great photos of the bands I love.) So back in December, I was hanging outside of the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, waiting for The Bouncing Souls Home For The Holidays shows to start. I saw a couple walking toward me, and the gentleman was wearing a Jack Knives t-shirt. I shouted over to let him know how much I loved the shirt and the band, and the couple slowed and started walking toward me. That’s when I looked up and realized the man was none other than Simon Short, the lead singer of the band. We started chatting, and during that conversation, Si introduced me to his friend and collaborator, Rudy Nuno.
Si Simon (left) and Rudy Nuno (right). - Photo courtesy of ?
Los Angeles native, Nuno already has two EPs under his belt, with his third due out next Spring on Fumie Records. The first single off that album, “Sirens,” was released on October 10, 2025, and its hauntingly beautiful melody and message are not ones to be missed. Produced by Kevin Bivona of The Interrupters, “Sirens” hits home right now, touching on themes of the anti-immigration policies Nuno’s LA community is currently facing. I honestly cried listening to the lyrics, thinking of the violence I personally endured in the neighborhoods Nuno mentions when I attended the No Kings Rally in June 2025. We began our march at City Hall and walked through Little Tokyo, both of which Nuno references in the lyrics, on our way to the Federal Building, where we were brutally attacked by LAPD, National Guard, and DHS agents.
“Sirens” is a beautiful ballad mourning the loss of the simple life of tire swings and evening chats in front of the TV after a long day’s work. It’s a tribute to those who have disappeared by a government that never bothered to learn their names. Nuno’s imagery invokes feelings of frustration and heartbreak, but his dulcet tones still left me with a deep-seated hope for a better tomorrow. When discussing the song, Nuno notes that “This song is for every family who hears the sirens and feels fear. It’s about acknowledging that these communities are the reason our cities thrive and reminding people that we can’t lose sight of our shared humanity.”
Photos taken during the No Kings Protest on June 14, 2025, in Los Angeles, CA. - Photo by kim moenich.
Fumie Records reached out to me a few weeks back to ask me to share a post they had written pertaining to the censorship of the music video for “Sirens.” The video, directed by well know musician and videographer, Nick Riggs, was filmed in the migrant neighborhoods of Los Angeles, those for whom this song was written. Using imagery found during shooting, such as a sticker of a red circle with a line through it containing the name Trump, as well as shots of Rudy interacting with the people in those communities, Riggs tells the story Nuno gives us in “Sirens”: that of a beautiful, vibrant collection of hardworking, community-minded people who are just trying to live the dream they came to America to find. But because of that one-second shot of the sticker with the red circle with the line through it, Google chose to ban the video for “Sirens.” Google informed Fumie that that one-second image means the video is “politically motivated” and thereby constitutes “election advertising.”
Photo by kim moenich
After weeks of back and forth with Google, Fumie Records finally got Google to agree to release the video, and within hours, “Sirens” had been watched 20,000 times and Rudy had picked up 2,000 new subscribers. This is an anthem for the people, for this moment, and it’s a promise of hope that all of us will continue to stand up and fight. I, for one, cannot wait to hear the rest of this album and to see what the future has in store for this amazing artist.
Photo by kim moenich
