An Interview with Ruby Grove

The new EP release from Ruby Grove is finally here, and for me, it's something I've been waiting for for quite some time, but it has been well worth the wait.

This record bears so much psych-rock, soul, indie rock, cinematic spaciousness, character, and heart that it feels like you just watched a play that took you to different worlds, and now you've returned to your own. It is quite theatrical. 

The EP is called "Ripple Effect", and there's a lot of amazing guitar work across this release. The guitar work, in my opinion, is one of the most driving attributes of the record. Not in a heavy way, but in a creative, melodic, and tonal way. The textures and tones delivered from these guitars help create the entire atmosphere that the record leans on, and this is exactly what I mean by something that sounds fantastical. It's the guitars that give that sense of fantasy and vastness to the record.

It creates the feeling of floating in an ocean and letting your body float along with the waves.

It's got a very particular flow, and those guitars help create that aesthetic and effect.

Tracks like "Lazy River", serve as a damn near perfect example of exactly that. This is a track that gives you some amazing guitar work but also some outstanding keys, which also bring a different texture to the already lush soundscape.

The drumming across the entire thing is infused with jazz, rock, funk, and so much more, and I do feel like the percussion is something that really pushes this whole record forward.

The drummer was able to provide this particular energy for the rest of the band to sort of lean on, and it was done beautifully.

I feel like the drumming helps the entire record come through with a graceful approach.

You also have all kinds of other genre-bending and classic influences that are brought to the table throughout this record. "Maybe It's Time" gives you this almost gospel, soul feel, and it gives off this infectious energy and tone that makes you want to stand up and sing right along with those powerful vocals.

Of course, there is indie rock all around, this psychedelic, experimental, slightly tripped out approach that sort of coats the entire record, which gives it a semi-whimsical, a little bit loose approach.

It's a record that's done incredibly well, performed amazingly, but still doesn't take itself overly seriously, which is something I can appreciate.

This is a record that's all about its vibrancy, and that is something that lets the entire band come through with so much presence that you can't look away.

The vocals are almost always powerful, bear plenty of soul, and they have this certain color to them that lets everything pop. They are bright and sort of powerful.

One of my favorite tracks on the record is called 'Crystal Land", which is a song that showcases they're more experimental side with really crazy synths that are super electronic or even trance-based but fade out into this vast ocean of synthesized soundscape while amazing lead guitar stuff starts coming in and the whole thing just has its own atmosphere.

This is an EP that you should listen to all the way through from beginning to end. From the electronic to indie rock, psych rock, to jazz, and everything else involved, you never know what you're getting next.

Listening to one or two tracks from this record will not give you anywhere near the spectrum of what the whole release has to offer, so I suggest checking this thing out from start to finish all in one shot.

With the release of such an outstanding and well-woven EP, we did want to have a sit-down with Ruby Grove to talk about where this all came from and what might be coming up next for the band. 

Here's what happened.

This EP felt big with a blend of cinematic tone and genre-bending approaches! Where did this record come from? 

Along the journey with the band I personally went on a soul searching journey with my lyrics to heal my traumas and my burnout and to potentially help others do the same through sharing that journey through music. What has manifested is an EP that lyrically and conceptually starts with "Ocean Sun" as an ode to mindfulness and nature, inspired by my ongoing healing journey and meditation practice, as well as multiple restorative trips to California for writing and healing my mind and soul in San Diego and Joshua Tree. After the first track, the EP dives a little deeper to explore so many concepts swirling about my head and I’m sure our collective consciousness, including universal connection and loneliness and belonging, burnout and capitalism and reclaiming your mind, soul and body, falling into old patterns that are no longer serving you, and breaking those cycles one day at a time. Ultimately, Ripple Effect blends indie rock with touches of psychedelic soul, jazz-fusion, pop, and trip-hop. It sonically and thematically explores the idea of "ripples" and how small internal and external events can shift our lives and perceptions.During the course of making this EP I left a job, and started my own business in order to actually take control of my time and money, ease my burnout and be able to pursue music and my creative pursuits more viably, and I did a lot of mental health growth work. Along with working on changing my mindset and healing old narratives, I met some influential people along the way, read some deeply influential books and listened to inspiring podcasts, and leveled up in my life. I feel like even though the world objectively is in a very crazy place right now I’m actually doing the best I’ve ever been (knock on wood) which is an ironic place to be while the world falls apart, but hopefully I can help some others with these insights along the way, as having it more together helps with managing the crazy world we live in too.Also, along with the actual title of Ripple Effect, water is a prominent feature throughout the album as it is literally represented by the lyrics as well as keyboard sound choices (sometimes guitars too), as well as a general symbol of transformation, fluidity, and flow.

I'm hearing a few different approaches to this record! Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

For this album, we really listened to and leaned into multi-genre music influences as well as the idea of blending indie rock, soul, jazz-fusion and acid jazz, funk, trip-hop, and indietronica (primarily). There’s some conscious influence, but a lot of unconscious influence as well. I'm always picking up eclectic tastes as a lifelong musician who will listen to truly anything. I know this is true of the whole band. For example, Shiina Ringo, a Japanese rock musician I discovered while living in Japan, has influenced my work a lot, but I won't list her as a direct influence for this EP (though maybe she has something to do with "Crystal Land", now that I think about it).My biggest vocal influences growing up were John Legend, Cee Lo Green, Gwen Stefani, and Matt Bellamy! So I feel like they’re infused in whatever I do regardless of genre. Tame Impala, Metric, STRFKR, and Jeff Buckley are big general sound influences from the indie rock world. Muse always ends up in my sound somehow with that cinematic vibe. Cedric and I also listened to a lot of soul, jazz fusion, trip-hop, hip-hop, lofi hip-hop, etc to get into the Ruby Grove headspace coming out of a prog/alt rock world prior to this project. I think Gorillaz and Gnarls Barkley had a lot of initial influence on this project. Some soul, funk, and jazz fusion influences include Moonchild, Kruangbin, Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder, Jamiroquai, etc. I listened to acid jazz, lofi hip-hop, and vaporwave YouTube channels almost everyday for work or background music purposes so some of that also snuck into Ruby Grove naturally.Tash Sultana is my favorite example of a genre-bending musician I listened to a lot who inspired some of this feel as well as multi-instrumental endeavors (piano/trumpet/drum machine/voice/etc) in general. They and Emma Jean Thackray got me back into playing trumpet as a vocalist, which is how trumpet became part of Stopping Point. You might hear influence from them as well as Black Moth Super Rainbow and reggae, funk, soul, and ska bands like Lake Street Dive, No Doubt, Sublime, Bob Marley, etc on that song. As I think about Ocean Sun, indietronica bands like STRFKR and pop artists like Billie Ellish influenced that song. Echo is influenced by rock ballads and singer-songwriters and classical music, also Jeff Buckley and Pink Floyd. Lazy River is inspired by atmospheric indie rock like Radiohead (Jeff Buckley here too) and psychedelic indie rock like Tame Impala and jazz fusion as well. Crystal Land is a very gothic muse-inspired song (maybe even a little evanescence coming in there, I loved them in high school) and a weird sibling on the EP capturing the darkness of the pandemic. Maybe It’s Time is influenced by Gorillaz, Jamiroquai, Little Dragon, Gnarls Barkley, etc and Portishead and Morcheeba (trip-hop) and many lofi hip-hop bands from the lofi channels I listen to on YouTube (Alex, Mikel) as well as the idea of reclaiming old sounds to make them new (like lofi does). I just finished making a very psychedelic music video for Maybe It’s Time that is very inspired by vaporwave which is a somewhat similar genre in terms of reclaiming old sounds and repackaging them into something new.

 Did you record this at a home setup, or at a big studio?

We recorded this EP in Somerville at a small local studio called New Alliance Audio over the course of a year. It’s affordable for a studio, but it was a professional experience with recording engineer Ethan Dussault. It was helpful to save money and do it right in a studio, but we also lost our drummer in the middle of that long process so it was a setback and then we trained a guitarist! Cedric also lost his job, I switched jobs and started my own business, etc. The delays ultimately led to a better product, but it’s been a long time coming! I don’t think we could have achieved such a quality sound at home (especially for drums) but I guess it’s possible.

Do you guys write songs together, or are there a few main songwriters that bring ideas back to the rest?

It depends on the song! At the start of the band, I brought lyrics to the band and then we translated them into songs together, or I brought lyrics and a little piano riff to the band to write something out of. About halfway through our time working together (especially since Sergio joined) it became an all band songwriting experience and multiple ways to songwrite have emerged. Often a jam will develop and I’ll put an existing set of lyrics to a jam that seems to fit those lyrics, or I’ll suggest a sonic vibe for an existing set of lyrics, and then we will develop something all together. Occasionally I still bring a fully written song to the band but that's less common these days. These days the whole band participates in songwriting which is lovely, challenging in a positive brain-stretching way, and very ideal to me.

How did this all start for you as a band?

Ruby Grove was more of an idea and a concept developed during the pandemic for a while and then it eventually became a project. That was an unusual but very intentional way to start because we had a clear vision of the band, image, and sound. When Cedric and I first conceived of the metaphorical idea of Ruby Grove, we were playing a battle royale magic-based video game called Spellbreak together, and it was notoriously easy to get murdered right away without any gear about one minute into the game. We found a spot on the map to land called Ruby Grove that was full of ancient castles, big red trees, and treasure chests- it was big enough to be a bit of a safe zone, a place to collect yourself, and even take in a bit of a beautiful atmosphere before starting another crazy round of magic-based warfare.We have been wanting to create multi-genre music that is a beautiful and safe place to land mentally and sonically since then, and our first EP is a collection of those thoughts, dreams, and images that have developed along the way.Cedric and I started the band with Cedric on guitar and myself on piano and keys, then Cedric invited two musicians who ended up quickly dropping out within a month or two due to their involvement with other projects, the bassist’s ironic lack of proficiency on bass (he’s a guitarist but he thought he might try bass), and Cedric’s ironic lack of proficiency on guitar (he’s a bassist but thought he might try guitar). After a little bit of a false start, Cedric switched back to bass, and then we got a drummer (sage gibbons) who we feel we REALLY launched this project with. We worked with Sage for about a year, then he moved to NYC, shortly after we found our first true guitarist, and we got our current drummer (Reed Farhat), with whom we’ve been working for about a year. Sage Gibbons is the drummer on this EP (he came back down to record his parts while we were looking for a new drummer) and Reed will be on our next singles/EP/album.

Are you performing live right now?

Yes we perform live a LOT! It really depends on the season but we’re usually playing out at least 1-2x a month and I perform more than that as a paid singer/pianist in restaurants. This summer we’re doing some touring. For example, we’ll play five times in June but in multiple states and venues (NH, NJ, CT, Boston, Cambridge). Really looking forward to these upcoming shows. If you're looking for specific tour dates:June 6- Turing Tavern- Cambridge, MAJune 8- Windham Pride- Windham, NHJune 18- Lizard Lounge- Cambridge, MAJune 20- Low Dive- Asbury Park, NJJune 21- Make Music Day Festival- Whale Tail Stage- New London, CT

Now that this is out, what's next for you as a band?

We want to play as much as possible, share the record as widely as possible, start working with a professional PR agency who we finally got the foot in the door with, and play bigger and better shows! Since Maybe It’s Time was re-released and remastered with this album it’s new again, and we’ll release the new music video for Maybe It’s Time soon. I actually just finished the first final draft of it this weekend and will probably be tweaking for a week or two until I’m satisfied. It's crazy psychedelic and retro and based on psychedelic vaporwave videos (think Saint Pepsi). We are going to see if we can get PR assistance for promoting that one which might give it a longer timeline (otherwise it could be out as soon as a couple weeks from now!). We are also putting on a festival in Boston called Dream A Better World Fest on August 24th for musicians, visual artists, and activists to respond to the current time we’re living in with speeches, ideas and advocacy and inspiration (and live music of course).

Who's in all your headphones right now?

Cedric (bass): Enya, Foster The People, Muse, My Morning Jacket, Tycho, Nine Inch Nails, The Smiths, Rammstein, Temper Trap, Skrillex, M2M, The Mars VoltaMelissa (vocals/keyboards/trumpet): Oscar Jerome, Lucius, Fleetwood Mac, Durand Jones and the Indications, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Tame Impala, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Metric, Talking Heads, Moonchild, Chappell Roan, Radiohead, Muse, Pink Floyd, Glass Beams, Bill Withers, Jamiroquai, Tash Sultana, Billie Eilish, Emma Jean Thackray, and synthwave cyberpunk YouTube radio.

Sergio (guitar): Pearl Jam, Khruangbin, Incubus, Yussef Dayes, Say She She, Knocked Loose, Kings of Leon, Tom Misch, MJ Lenderman, Fleshwater, Sault, Turnover, Turnstile, Butcher Brown, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Mildlife, Flamingosis, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Alabama Shakes, Paramore

What would you tell people they can expect on this release?

You're welcome to enjoy this as uplifting and vibey background music, but if you really lean into this EP and its themes and lyrics, you can go on a mental and emotional journey and to hopefully come out the other side feeling more connected to yourself and the world (and our music/stories).

Before we go, what would you like to express to fans of the music? 

We are truly grateful you choose to listen to Ruby Grove, and hope our music brings you comfort and joy while making you think about how you think!

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