Finding Aid for Sasha Rubel and Pogo Studio Photographs and Papers, 1974-2005 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

By Mary Reagan

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Collection Overview

Title: Sasha Rubel and Pogo Studio Photographs and Papers, 1974-2005

ID: 12/9/134

Primary Creator: Rubel, Natasha (1964-)

Extent: 1.0 cubic feet

Arrangement: Organized in three series: Series 1, Rubel Family Photographs and Papers, 1974-2005; Series 2, Local Bands, 1983-1989; and Series 3, Recordings, 1968-1993.

Date Acquired: 01/17/2014

Subjects: Mabels, Music - United States, Popular Music--Illinois--Urbana-Champaign, Rock Music

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Consists of audio recordings, photographs, newsclippings, business records, broadsides, correspondence, and memorabilia documenting Urbana-Champaign's local music scene, the work of Pogo Studio, and the musical performances of the rock bands Captain Rat and the Blind Rivets and the Vertebrats between 1968 and 2005.

Biographical Note

Natasha "Sasha" Rubel was born in 1964 in Champaign, Illinois to Lee A. Rubel, a computer scientist and mathematician at the University of Illinois (1958-1993), and Nina Rubel, who worked as a journalist for the Urbana Courier and News-Gazette between 1958 and the 1990s. Sasha Rubel earned her Bachelor of Science in Art degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1986 and her Master of Art in Art Therapy from Chicago's School of the Art Institute in 1990. Growing up in the Urbana-Champaign community during the 1980s gave her many opportunities to attend rock concerts held at Mabel's, a popular venue for local and regional rock bands such as the Vertebrats and Captain Rat, for which her older brother, Mark Rubel, played bass guitar. When her fake ID no longer enabled her to get into the popular music venues where these local band played because she was considered a minor, her parents would take turns chaperoning her in these bars. "My dad would do mathematics in the dressing room, smoking a cigar, with napkins stuffed in his ears to block out the sound, oblivious to the hubbum around him. For me, I loved the music and the crowd. It was electric." After completing her Master of Art degree, she returned to the Urbana-Champaign community to pursue her career as an artist.

Subject/Index Terms

Mabels
Music - United States
Popular Music--Illinois--Urbana-Champaign
Rock Music

Administrative Information

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Acquisition Source: Sasha Rubel

Acquisition Method: Gift

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Rubel Family Photographs and Papers, 1974-2005],
[Series 2: Local Bands, 1983-1989],
[Series 3: Recordings, 1980-1993],
[All]

Series 1: Rubel Family Photographs and Papers, 1974-2005

Box 1

Folder 1: Rubel Family Photographs, 1974-1979: Picture captions written on back of photographs. Pictures include the Rubels' trip to Italy, Denmark, Lego Land, St. Louis, and a car trip back from Williamstown.
Folder 2: Rubel Family Photographs, 1982-1984: Folder 1 of 2. Picture captions written on back of photographs. Includes pictures of the Bascom Hill Croquet Club, Rubels' trip to Milwaukee, Santa Monica Pier, CA, Venice, CA.
Folder 3: Rubel Family Photographs, 1978-1985: Folder 2 of 2. Pictures captioned on back of photographs. Pictures include photographs of the Rubel family in Champaign, IL.
Folder 4: Rubel Family Photographs, 1979: Pictures have been rehoused from original photograph sleeves to better preserve them.
Folder 5: Rubel Family Photographs of the Captain Rat and the Blind Rivets band, 1984-1985: Pictures include photographs of the Captain Rat and the Blind Rivets band.
Folder 6: Captain Rat and the Blind Rivets Group Pictures, Undated: One photograph is autographed
Folder 7: Rubel Family newpaper clippings and personal papers, 1988-2005: Includes a newspaper wedding announcement of Nancy Hermans and Mark Burrill Rubel and a newspaper article on the Rubel Family involvement in a fundraiser for the Champaign County Humane Society.

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Rubel Family Photographs and Papers, 1974-2005],
[Series 2: Local Bands, 1983-1989],
[Series 3: Recordings, 1980-1993],
[All]