The Artist Explains: Ruby Duff - 'Miss U'
The music industry can get a bit predictable these days, but luckily we have people like Ruby Duff stepping into our lives, with her unique sounding single ‘Miss U’. She took a moment to talk to us about Judy Garland and her dreamlike writing process.
Your track ‘Miss U’ is out now, what is the meaning behind the title? And what is the inspiration behind the song?
I never like to tell someone what something means as we all have our own interpretations. Who am I to potentially ruin someones relationship with a song if they have created their own meaning for it? My 'meaning' and creation of MISS U was inspired by so many different factors but mainly visuals, such as Cameron Crowes film 'Almost famous'.
What do you hope your listeners take from the song?
I want listeners to see a rainbow. Open their mind to the possibility of feeling so many different coloured emotions yet all at once.
The track sees you releasing a short film to go with it, what made you decide to do that?
I wanted to create a small introduction as to how I look at life and how life looks at me. I didn't want to lipsync or fake these lyrics. They mean too much to me to not be delivered in the artistic presentation that they deserve.
Are there any behind the scenes stories from when you made the short film that you are willing to share?
OH YES. I basically tried to avoid death during the filming of this. For example, I endured near hypothermia all for a one sec clip of me coming out of a bath tub. Imagine, it's December (the height of winter) you have been outside all day in 'pretend like its summer' clothes, filming for three days on four hours sleep and you are promised a warm bath at the end of it...Let me just say, the breath that you can briefly see is my real asthmatic breath - and could have been my last.
The film was directed by Sam Sure, how did that partnership come about?
It's quite simple really, Sam was a fan of my work as much as I was a fan of his. This was a collaboration based on similar artistic interests and influences which just meant we bounced off each-other and created a beautiful vision, one of which that was made for the arts world. I have to thank Sam, because the first thing he said to me when we decided to do this was "You are not going to have your hair and makeup done, and you are going to wear the clothes you are wearing right now". For people to see me in my most natural form right from the start was both scary yet empowering. I am proud of who i am and what we have created. Sam has taught me I don't need to hide or change anything, and instead has shown the world the raw ways in which my mind works.
A lot of your melodies come from dreams, how do you remember what happened in them and then transfer that into a song?
From a very young age I have had extremely vivid dreams, and like I said earlier a lot of my creativity is inspired by visuals. Dreams trigger my songwriting, for reasons unknown to me, and it’s like someones just given me a song. I can't quite explain it. But I have a rule that if I don't wake up remembering the melody the next morning - well then it must have been a crap song. But if I do, then I hum it out loud first thing in the morning (which my housemates love) and record it on my alternative...ANDROID PHONE. Only when I listen back can I hear the exact instruments I want to use.
Apparently Judy Garland is a huge inspiration for you? Why is that? What is your favorite thing about her?
When I started singing at the age of four, I remember my vocal coach tried to knock the nothern out of me with some 'proper' pronunciation lessons (cue my fair lady). From this we studied a lot of Judy Garlands work, and of course with my ADHD dreamland mind I was obsessed with the Wizard of Oz. It got so excessive, that I even lied to my school teachers saying Dad was in prison so i had to change my name to Dorothy - quite cunning for a primary kid I would say. But I guess my favourite thing about Judy is her originality within her vocal tone and the way she expresses herself like no one else I've ever heard.
Now the single is out there, what next? What are your plans for the next few months?
My plans are to keep doing what I'm doing. As basic as that sounds, I got to keep a few surprises.