Ruru (Mar. 2019)
It’s often our moments most alone, with the most isolation, where we find ourselves. It’s in those moments that we become who we were always poised to be. If this is to be true, the story of Ruru in some sense becomes clear and becomes understandable. For sure is a story for finding oneself through sound and singularity.
Her music is not an extravagant affair requiring a full piece suit from the listener. Instead, it pushes just for a hoodie and t-shirt, a comedy day in the middle winter. Her music is a warm friend who’s available when needed, a hug on days were all feels impossible.
With knowledge and experience behind her, and with a pathway now ahead, Ruru is ready to escape the boxes she often has felt trapt in. She is ready to live to the fullest and to enjoy the limitless daily seconds. And of course, she will keep her auditory journal of music continuing, just as honest as ever.
Our first question as always, how’s your day going and how have you been?
Hello! Today was pretty packed. I’m currently shooting a music video for an unreleased song. I’m feeling semi-terrified, semi-excited to finish shooting the whole thing.
I feel a lot more free now — I’m fresh outta’ college so there’s more time to think and feel about what’s going on in my life.
To take it back to the beginning, where do you see a lot of your first desires to become an artist coming from, and to what do you connect it to?
I feel like my desire to be an artist really sprung out from childhood — I never really said “I want to be a musician when I grow up” or “I want to be an artist”. There was never really any of that. My parents were the typical, “Be a lawyer”, “Take up business” types; plus I was homeschooled most of my life. All the limitations I had pushed me to exert my voice through different kinds of mediums since it felt like I had all the time in the world to waste in the comforts of my home.
Do you find your location, both currently and when you first started, to impact the creations you put out and the paths you take with your music?
My location impacts my music indirectly — from then and now. I live mostly in isolation, at home — but when I’m out, my world is bustling with traffic, with many things you could point out as twisted, littering, seeking for an escape — and most of the time I don’t feel at home. I feel like a big bird in a small cage.
In your mind, who were the artists who spoke to you the most growing up and to what did you attach and pull from in their work?
My best friend, Sofia, Picasso.. and many others I just can’t recall right now.
My best friend was the first person to really push me to keep writing my messy music. She was very reckless and free with her art and words. She would bring her journal everywhere and write whatever word comes in the moment, she’d write it down and splatter red paint on her little drawing book.
Picasso because viewing the world with a child-like wonder and creating things with a pure and vivid mind is what I aspire to do.
To you, what’s the greatest film ever created, why is that your choice, and what is the best scene from said movie?
I feel like I haven’t found the “greatest film” yet. Despite being a film student, I feel like I really have a lot of films to catch up on.
As you’ve been releasing works and coming to find an artistic identity, what have you found your overarching message and goal with music to be? What is it that you’re attempting to say with sound?
My music doesn’t really have a main “message”. I feel like music when consumed, absorbs differently in a person… Thus, my message matters less and what is important is it is enjoyed. It could mean anything to everyone. When I make music, I make it as a form of catharsis (as anyone does) — like cipher because I have major trust issues. I write about people, I write about what I could’ve said, what I could’ve stood up for, about love and hurt or doubt. It’s merely an expression. I hope that people who resonate with my sound, whatever it means to them, will feel less alone.
Within your lyrics, how do you go about finding topics and themes to speak on? Do you feel they come to you naturally or are they based on experience and past memory?
They come both ways. Writing lyrics comes to me like a diary. I select the best words for rhythm and trash ones unnecessary to the goal of the song.
In your eyes, what are the steps you’re taking with your art going forward and how are you attempting to subvert and adapt your sound?
I immerse myself in different music as much as possible. Although I wouldn’t say I have a wide music taste… I’m still slowly expanding it. I also tend to change my style often yet people say there’s still a substance that keeps my music sound like my own…
While it is early into the year, do you have any upcoming work or releases that you’re looking to put out in the near future? If so, how does it build upon your past work and concepts?
I’m working on an EP now. It is quite different from my first two albums — I’m slowly deviating from my soft-spoken, shy sound. I’m looking to be more reckless and to add more grit and concrete to my sound. The new album I feel will still be sad, but hopefully with more acceptance, more hugging of the person I am.
Do you find yourself to have a specific motivator towards constantly creating and working into music? Is there an internal fire that you feel and from where is that sparked for you? What had led to that fire becoming sustained?
God — since he gave me this talent. Also, my close friends. Seeing them do what they do best, whether be it music, art, film; hearing their stories and what inspires them really inspires me and helps keep this fire glowing. Just as long as I am alive, I know I can make something for others and for myself to enjoy.
In a larger sense, what are the most important milestones for you to hit within your career as you move forward? What is it you need to accomplish?
Probably feeling more comfortable in my own body by putting myself in uncomfortable situations like singing in front of a crowd or dancing… or talking to people in general… I’m an extrovert but I feel really in my head all the time. I feel like I’ve really hit a milestone when I’m able to perform a huge crowd and feel like nothing’s weighing me down — it’s the same as when talking to a group of people…
If you had a message for your younger self, what would you hope to relay unto your more confused adolescence? What is it you wish you could have known, could have been taught earlier?
People always have something to say with whatever you do. Don’t let that change the way you perceive yourself and the world.