‘I Started Feeling Weird’: Peking Duk’s Reuben Styles Gets Candid With Y.O.G.A.

This article contains discussion of mental health. If you are suffering from any of the issues that have been discussed or need assistance, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.

Reuben Styles is half of Peking Duk and the brains behind You’re Only Great Always (Y.O.G.A.). New single Hurricane, the follow-up to two Y.O.G.A. EPs, is a firecracker, and while there’s no album sorted (yet), it’s part of a growing suite of songs. This one mixes Styles’ trademark excellent tunesmithing with a big topic – the unhealthy relationship so many of us have with alcohol. Throughout the song, the bottle is even personified, referred to as a woman he’s having an affair with.

“So, the romance of the alcohol being so exciting and so inviting, it was one of those things where you've got this relationship with it,” Styles explains. “And having been down that path before where I had, you know, I was in a weird space [and] addicted to something else… alcohol seemed like such a fruitful place to take my other addiction away, because it was social, where the other thing was very antisocial.

“And I think, you know, like falling in love with alcohol really did happen to me personally. And it became a thing, which I saw absolutely no problems with whatsoever. It became so daily, so frequent, and to the point where I started feeling weird not drunk.”

Of course, Styles is not the first musician, artist or even just Australian to face a battle with the bottle. But his openness to make such nuanced art about it is unusual, and he’s keen to move away from discussions that are “just black and white” about hard topics. Styles is fine, although continuing to “work on that relationship” as talked about in Hurricane, just as he does with his mental health generally.

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Y.O.G.A. was formed deliberately as a musical side-project to Peking Duk’s iconic dance trajectory, but also as a way to explore mental health musically. While the name might conjure up the idea of ambient-ness, what Styles serves up is country-inspired rock with an electro edge. In his live shows it lives as “Cow Tech” - but in reality, think of it as an Australian version of the best of when Johnny Cash met Rick Ruben.

Y.O.G.A. was originally inspired by the loss of a friend to suicide, sadly the type of thing that is not unique. “Well, yeah, his name's James,” Styles says. “And I guess I've forever just been curious about not only how but why… I think also, having lost a couple of people from my year group in school, both men, in the last three years, and both of them had children. It's a crisis… like, quite literally people are dying.”

The music is there to do something – to provide support – but also awareness through the social media campaign #mentalhealthstories as well as links to help like Lifeline. While the name Y.O.G.A. might make you think of calm, the aim is to get there but also acknowledge that the road is not always smooth and we all can be in need of help.

“The project, before I'd picked a name Y.O.G.A., I wanted it to be mental health-focused, and I wanted it to be a project where, you know, there's not only music, but there's this another element where we not only celebrate the good, but we work through the bad and I think ‘you're only great always’ as a mantra and a message felt very good.” Although Styles confirms it’s not actual Yoga (“Not that I've done the sport of stretching, personally”), the point is similar – to regularly practice, reflect, and do something that makes you feel good and can be shared.

Hurricane is the third single after two Y.O.G.A. EPs, which are all in tour mode at the moment too. A key feature is a character from 2021 Wolfer & The Dove, where Nicola, a featured drag artist from the film clip, joins Styles on the road. It’s become a big draw of the live show, but also something that might continue to expand as part of the ‘no rules but be as inclusive as possible’ nature of the whole project.

“Nicola can only make the first half of the tour so calling out all drag queens for the second half of the Aussie tour, it's gonna be a challenge to find a Nicola replacement for a set. I can't even imagine someone that's not Nicola doing it,” Styles says.

Would he be open to a Drag King or Trans King/Queen if they’re interested in getting their Y.O.G.A. feels on? “YES, that’s COOL! A Nicolas or Nicola!” he laughs. So, if you’re into it, dear reader, hit up Y.O.G.A. on the socials, and don’t forget in the meantime to check in on your mates and ask for help if you need to.