Leslie Rankine of Ruby speaks out on sexuality, music
"It's weird ... that Americans like it and are going for it," says lead singer Leslie Rankine of her new group, Ruby in an interview with the Thresher . Starting without any equipment at all, Ruby has nearly attained overnight success with the album Salt Peter . Coming out of the angry rock band Silverfish, Rankine teamed up with old friend, songwriter and ex-Pigface Mark Walk in late 1992, and Ruby began to blossom.
Ruby masterfully blends dark R&B and industrial with rock and interesting jazz twists from the James Bond-esque brass horns on "Flippin' Tha Bird" and "Swallow Baby" to the mostly jazz "Bud." Yet, the songs are still very danceable and fun.
Rankine, in a sultry Scottish voice, sings vocals with abstract lyrics. However, the songs manage to convey a tone that is both very sexy and forceful.
"Everyone has sexuality," Rankine comments, "I think female sexuality is typically misrepresented. It is usually made to be palatable to men ... non-aggressive, passive. I think that's bull sh**. Women's sexuality is just as aggressive as men's."
Rankine continues, "I'm interested in aesthetic music. It bores me to tell exactly what the songs are about."
The excellent Salt Peter includes an array of grinding lyrics which have ambiguous meanings. "I hate it when songs are so blunt that they say exactly what they mean,"Rankine says. "It makes it more interesting to leave it up to each person's interpretation."
Part of the story behind Ruby's rapid rise to success is that they might be the first band in a long time to have re-introduced the concept of "art" in music, an element usually missing in today's numbing, boring music.
Rankine says, "I'm a creative person. If I wasn't in music then I'd probably be painting or into photography or something like that." Her blue hair is good proof of her open-minded artistic character.
Creative is what her music is, creative and very imaginative. Both the music and the lyrics have many innuendoes and images, both sexual and non, rather than the mere simple-minded styles of many of the other contemporary pop/ alternative musicians.
Ruby's Salt Peter may well become the best, but least-recognized, album of the year.
To date, two singles from the disc have been released. The first, a dark and wonderfully melodic semi-ballad called "Paraffin," ( about the smell of body fluids during sex) and most recently, the funky "Tiny Meat."
Ruby is now starting their first U.S. tour and will perform in Houston 9 p.m. March 18 at the Satellite Lounge. Tickets are $5.
The show is highly recommended.
This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the March 15, 1996 issue.
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