Q & A With RubyGold
RubyGold first shook the entertainment industry through the remarkable successes of her collaborations with well established South African acts such as Monotone, Revolution, Meat the Veggies, Luka and PerfEcto. Considering the fact that these projects provided little more than a mere glimpse into the singer/songwriter’s musical aptitude, one can only imagine the kind of success that awaits her as she endeavours to pave a solo career for herself. As a vocalist, RubyGold (born Carla Mariza Claasen) is easily distinguishable from other artists because of her uniquely exotic style which she partially owes to the multitude of music genres and musicians from which she draws inspiration.
Although her versatility makes it impossible to trap her within the confines of a pre-existing & distinct musical category, she refers to her unique sound as ‘Trance-Jazz’ and describes it as a skillful blend of uptempo soul, house, spiritual trance and a hint of R&B. Her spiritual nature generally manifests itself in the subject matter of her songs and the issues this orientation compels her to address in her music. Some of these include issues of femininity, the plight of human beings in a society that values technological advancement and the resultant dominance of the physical environment over spiritual growth as
well as the beauty and innocence of children.
Q.1) What inspired “In the City” and What message are you conveying through the lyrics?
A.1) What inspired “In the city” for me was realizing the potential for growth
in opportunities as well as down falls of life living in the city where I
come from, Jozi.
=For a while I pondered on the thought of belonging, I needed to know the
truth so I started by looking around and what I saw was different truths
condemning or empowering individuals around me
=I asked myself those very questions I asked the people of my city In the
song.
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Q. 2) How would you describe the mood of the song and music video?
A. 2)
=The mood of the song is bitter sweet – you make due with what you have or
die with your eyes wide shut.
=The video, is exactly that with a hint of my personality in it 🙂 colour,
hope and love. 🙂
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Q. 3) When it comes to Music, what is your criteria for quality? What are currently your main challenges and ambitions as a writer?
A. 3)
=My main criteria is to send a valid message. A message that will inspire,
give hope or make people feel like they are not alone by relating to their
pain or positive emotions…
=My challenges right now are that its hard to water down or sugar coat any
cosmic truths I feel I need to write about. Sometimes people aren’t on the
same page or wave length as I am and I have to try make them understand the
unexplainable in a more simple way.
=And my ambitions are to be felt off the bat and understood. Its not a
logical experience sometimes.
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Q.4) What do you usually start with when working on a new piece and which Words and Harmony Sparked “In the City”?
A. 4)
=Its different for each track, with “In the City”, I loved the beat so much
I wanted to have the real hip hop culture feel to it and do the beat
justice.
=Lol, I showed that beat, it was me it in the city 😉
=Everything had to be perfect……Like “Brown Sugar behbeh!”