Released at the start of 2007, officially on the 19th of March but available on the band's February tour, '...Aldershot' is the band's first foray into 'real' filmmaking and DVD releases.

Filmed over a period of three months beginning in March 2006, there is some division in the Reuben camp about what the DVD was intended to be. The idea of making some kind of film had been suggested by the band's manager Barney, who was in touch with film company Jabez, whose offshoot 'The Leftside' were interested in moving into music films and partnering with a musical outfit.

At the beginning of 2005, the band had recently parted company with Xtra Mile Recordings (and their press company, press Counsel PR, who were essentially the same team) when the label's funding from Sony was discontinued and they were unable to take up the option of contracting the band for a third album.

Without money or even enough material for a third record, the idea of a film created in partnership with The Leftside became an increasingly viable and interesting concept.

While it still cannot be agreed whether it was conceived as a live concert film or as a short documentary, it is certain that all concerned were well aware of various low-quality examples of 'between labels' live DVDs with accompanying scant 'documentaries' and were determined not to deliver this.

Knowing that they had a tour with newcomer heavyweights Fightstar and a headline show of their own at the Mean Fiddler on the horizon, it was decided that the film would cover every aspect of life in the band, from home-life, work-life, touring, rehearsal and studio work, and would include footage from the Mean Fiddler show as a part of all this, rather than as the main feature.

Filming of the feature was completed shortly before the band spent most of the summer and autumn touring the UK and Europe with idols Billy Talent, with the footage whittled down in their absence by The Leftside from a hefty nine hours to just under one.

Upon returning from the tour, the band were presented with an interesting problem. The DVD had been planned as a 'stop-gap' to keep the fans interested and maintain a presence in the media between the second and third albums. However, with most of 2006 having been taken up by un-foreseen touring opportunities, the band had returned home with barely a month to rehearse the new record before their self imposed November deadline to start recording.

Therefore it was decided to complete the DVD as soon as possible and release it early in 2007, with the album following a few months later.

The final edits were completed in December and January, at the same time as mixing the album, which made for a hectic couple of months. As well as the 50 minute film, the DVD also included a few even shorter films, specially made for the DVD, various outtakes and a song filmed at one of Jim's few solo acoustic shows.

At this point another dilemma faced the band. With the film and the concert (which the band had decided to include in full, but separate from the main feature as linking material had not been shot) and all the extras, the information would not fit on one DVD. Dismayed at the thought of charging fans for two DVDs, or even a dual-layer disc, the band decided at the last minute to include all the studio video diaries from the recording of the third album which had proved so popular in the internet, in the hope of providing maximum value for money. The live show was thus moved into a second disc, keeping all the filmic items on the first.

The DVD would end up being the first release on Reuben's newly formed label, Hideous Records. Having planned to fund the recording of the third album themselves with fees from shows, it was a logical progression to set up their own label, signing a distribution deal with Vital, who had distributed all their releases apart from those on Badmusic. Vital, unaware of the plans for the DVD upon signing the deal, initially decided to leave the distribution of the disc up to the label themselves, considering the relatively small production of only 3000 units. Indeed, the only two outlets for purchasing the DVD on the day of its release were through mailorder on the Hideous Records website, run out of Jim's front room with hordes of envelopes and stamps, or through the Rock Box in Camberley, the band's local record store and a staunch supporter of all their efforts for many years. Gradually, with Vital's help, the distribution was widened to more independent stores, and finally Amazon, HMV and Virgin.

'...Aldershot' was received well by critics, most praising the film for its humorous yet honest portrayal of life in a UK rock band, and in particular the 'revelation' that most bands still have day jobs, although some reviewers missed the point entirely and dismissed it as yet another 'live DVD' (this may be attributed to the fact that a mistake at the production house led to the live portion being the first disc that is removable from the package).

The DVD continues to sell and has been embraced by the fans as a distillation of everything they love about Reuben: honesty, hard work, good humour and good tunes. It should also be noted that the personal nature of the way the mail order service operates, with its hand-addressed envelopes and thank you notes, has meant that the band and their fans, even those from the other side of the world, enjoy a new level of contact.

The tracks:

What Happens In Aldershot Stays In Aldershot The fifty-minute film that lends its name to the DVD set. Not too short, not too long.

Michael Jackson A bizarre short film shot by Jim, prefaced by an intro that is much longer than the actual feature.

She Loves Her A stirring montage of some of the more tender moments between Guy and her drum-tech/curse Walter.

Rod Stewart Another bizarre peek into Jim's mind, this time in the form of a musical tribute to the great man.

Bad Dancing The unedited footage shot for the DVD menu. The jury is still out as to when exactly this segment stops being funny.

Jim Sings The Blues An excerpt from an acoustic show that Jim did on his own, filmed by Ric

Studio Diaries The twenty nine studio diaries that had been recorded each day of the third album sessions and originally posted on the band's myspace.

Live at The Mean Fiddler 27.04.06 The entire 80 minute show, together with a commentary recorded by the band detailing every slip and fuck up, even the glaringly obvious ones.

The facts:

The DVD was originally entitled, 'What Happens In Vegas Stays In Vegas', but it was decided to abandon this in order to avoid any possible trouble with copyrighting of the sentence. However, early designs for the DVD cover with this title were produced (idea 1, idea 2, idea 3), and one of them even made it onto a t shirt.

The 'Vegas' reference is nothing to with the fact the Jim got married in Las Vegas later the same year. It just sounded cool.

As mentioned before, the live show was meant to be part of the film, with an option to skip it, but even though footage of the band backstage at the venue was shot, there was not enough to link it smoothly with the rest of the feature.

Most of the music on the soundtrack of the film, apart from those sourced by The Leftside, are demos of Jim's which may or may not turn up as Reuben songs some time in the future, or else they were written specially for the film by him, for example 'Guy's little song', which is heard in the scenes of his house or rehearsing drums in the take-away.

At the same time the DVD was actually released, a year after filming, Jim was forced to leave his job at the chippy in order to accept a full time job in illustration at The Guardian.

Jon now lives with Pilot-era drummer Mark in Heatherside. Guy is fine with this.

Jim and Jon went to school with the guy who invented the huge beanbag in his flat.

The musical cue heard as Jim's brother enters his lounge is actually the two of them singing together in gospel style. More of it can be heard over the end credits.

The 'talking heads' sections were filmed at the West End centre in Aldershot, like most of Reuben's visual output.

The song that makes Jim pull the horrible face in the van is 'Floater' by Every Time I Die.

Guy's dad wasn't really aiming at his mum through the window – it was just edited like that. He is nuts though.

The amount Jim paid for his Dalek was £800. He bought it online backstage at the Fightstar gig in Bristol. It went on to star in Reuben's best ever photoshoot for Rocksound magazine, which you can see here.

The photo of Guy's brother Ashley's graduation has been seen before in a Reuben video – it had a moustache added to it for use in the Freddy Kreuger video.

Jim's chip shop has had starring roles in the Freddy Kreuger and Keep It To Yourself videos.

The inlay photo with the ice creams was taken during a mixing break in the demo sessions we see in the film. Although it looks like Jim's being greedy with the cones, he was in fact holding Katie's so she could take the picture.

The live show was lit by Nigel, recorded by Tarrant and mixed by Ben, all members of Oxford band Dive Dive.

Jim wore the drum case seen in the DVD inlay for the whole of Blamethrower at one show in Germany.

There was actually a missing day of mixing, not represented by the studio diaries that took place on the 4th of January, but as Guy was still on holiday and his camera was with him it wasn't filmed. It was well boring though.

Jon's 'secret' intro to the studio diaries was filmed in case there wasn't time to create a proper on-screen menu for them, but included at the last minute. It was supposed to play at the start of the first day. Whoops!

Rod Stewart's helmet was originally a Christmas present Jim had made for his driving instructor friend Andy to help him teach his students. The backdrop was his bedsheet. It is not his bed sheet anymore.