Indie Pop/Rock singer/songwriter Ruen is the solo project of music producer turned artist, Rhiannon Mair. Based in Margate, England, Ruen started out behind the scenes working in some of the UK’s most iconic studios with artists such as Laura Marling, DIDI, Bryde, Kimberly Anne and Emma McGrath.
Championed by Music Tech Magazine as a ‘rising UK production star’, Ruen has now brought her engineering and production skills into her own music. Her first single, “Bad Behaviour”, a song about being close to someone in an abusive relationship, was released in April 2018.
Ruen is currently writing and recording new music she aims to release early next year. She also is co-writing and producing a couple of artists. As for touring, Ruen would like to plan a small European tour next year. For now, she’ll be performing some shows this summer.
You can catch Ruen at her next live show on 3 July 2018 at The Finsbury, London.
I recently interviewed Ruen about her new project, new release, producing, her love of drums, and more.
Congratulations on your first single release, “Bad Behavior”. What is the concept or theme behind it?
The song is about being close to someone who is in an abusive relationship. Watching how they go back again and again to an abusive partner knowing that they are bad for them.
Congratulations also on launching your solo project! You have been a producer for an impressive list of artists and Music Tech Magazine recently championed you as “a rising UK production star’. What inspired you to become a solo artist?
There were moments when working with other artists where I was starting to think ‘this is really cool’ I wish I could do something like this on my music. I have always written music and I think I got to a point where I felt that I could create the sound I wanted to by myself.
How did you come up with the name RUEN?
After a few drinks in my local pub.
Now you’re a solo artist, do you see yourself still producing other artists? Why or why not?
Yeah, I think I’ll always produce music, whether it’s for myself or other artists. I enjoy the process and it feels pretty fulfilling bringing artists’ musical visions to life.
Explain your production process.
It varies for different artists and depends on the type of song you’re producing. RUEN tracks started as demo’s which I later went back to. With Bad Behaviour I kept in a lot of the demo ideas and most of the lead vocals were the demo take. It certainly takes longer producing your own music; I find myself having to have time away, then go back with fresh ears
where I’ll be like ‘yeahhh that idea doesn’t work’ or ‘that’s great as it is’ It’s a very time-consuming process.
What do you see as the advantages of being both a producer and a musician? Are there any disadvantages?
The main advantage I guess is being able to hear in your head how you want your track to sound and then being able to create it. Being able to hear the drum parts, what you want the bass to do, what effects would work where etc. For me, the disadvantage is that you can get lost sometimes in the production and either add too much or not have enough.
Explain how you got interested in sound engineering and how it led to becoming a producer.
I’ve always had an interest in engineering. When I was little my mum used to take me to her gigs where I’d spend most of the time hanging by the sound desk annoying the engineer by asking ‘..and what does that button do? And that one? And that one?’ I studied music tech at college and spent all my spare time in the studio there, just playing about and experimenting. I really loved the hands-on approach of how you could capture and manipulate sound. After college, I borrowed a little digital 8 track from a friend and started recording songs I had written. I loved how I could layer up parts and add effects and it was from there I guess where I became hooked on production.
Do you think there aren’t enough women producers? Why or why not?
I think there are lots of female producers that are perhaps not being acknowledged as much as they should. There are a few out there at the moment like Catherine Marks, that are bossing it, which is great to see. It would be nice to see a great deal more.
You mentioned in an interview you’d like to get more recognition as a producer. How do you think women producers can achieve this?
That’s a hard question to answer. Male or female, trying to get recognition in such a competitive industry can be challenging. I think you just have to be good at what you’re doing or doing something that’s a little different. It always feels a little sad to me that women producers have to gender-fi themselves to raise their profiles (We don’t call men male producers)
When and why did you learn to play the drums? What drew you to them?
I remember being bored one day as a child, it was raining outside and I was looking for something to do. I randomly picked up some of my mum’s cake tins and started hitting them along with some music. I thought to myself ‘this is fun!’ and kept doing it. After ruining my mum’s cake tins (which she wasn’t happy about) she brought home a drum kit for me as a surprise and that was that I was hooked.
You briefly studied to be a session drummer but after your first year, you decided it was not what you wanted to do. What didn’t you like about being one?
I went to a few auditions and tried to find work but kept getting the same response ‘your a great player, but you don’t have enough experience’ It felt pretty disheartening, how are you meant to get experience if no one will give you it?! It felt like a catch 22 and I eventually gave up and decided to go into production.
What would be your dream collaboration as an artist?
Karen O from Yeah yeah yeahs – she is fierce, I love her.
How do you think women artists in indie music can be supported?
I think by supporting each other in what we all do. I always try and reach out to other females producers, mix engineers, and session players.
I think also some more female-fronted acts at the bigger festivals would help as a lot of festivals seem to be male-heavy.
What advice would you give to women who are interested in becoming a producer and/or a solo artist or musician?
To go out there and just do it. If you want to be a producer – go hang out in a studio or find a producer to hang out with. Get some software on your computer and ask if you can record your friend’s band. If you want to be an artist go to open mic’s, go to gigs and ask other artists if you can support them, but most importantly to keep writing – it’s all about the music.
What is your 5-year plan? Do you see yourself more active as an artist/performer, or as a producer/engineer?
In 5 years I’d have loved to release an album. I’m really enjoying the writing process and I think an album’s worth of material will appear over the next year or so. I love producing and being an artist so if I ended up doing one more than the other I wouldn’t mind.
What are your tour plans for 2018?
There will be a few shows over the summer. I’ll be at The Finsbury in London on 3rd July. I think I’ve like to plan a little European tour for next year, even though I know that’s pretty ambitious.
What other projects do you have planned for 2018?
I’m going to be doing some more co-writing and have a couple of artists I’ll be producing. I’ll also be writing and recording some more of my stuff and aim to release some more music early next year.
Thank you, Ruen, for the opportunity to interview you.
You can follow Ruen on Social Media:
Twitter: @iamruen
Instagram: iamruen
Listen to her music on:
Soundcloud: iamruen