Blake Ruby Communicates Through Love and Growth in New Album ‘She’
Photo by Sean Bryan
In his fourth studio album She, Maryland born, Nashville rooted artist Blake Ruby examines love in all of its forms. In hopes to communicate his own experiences with the emotion to an audience, Blake delves into proponents of marriage, nostalgia, faith, and devotion through a sonic landscape embedded with a spectrum of vocality and atmospheric pop instrumentals. Released on May 19th, Blake states that “It's definitely the most personal work of art I've ever made.” With a focal point drawn towards his own long term relationship with his wife Kayla who is depicted on the album cover, She contends over Blake’s realizations through passion, growth, and sincerity. In a conversation with Unpublished Magazine, Blake reflected on the creation of the album, discussing the theme of love and how its many aspects shone through his work.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How are you doing today? What have you been up to?
[BLAKE]: I woke up kind of late because our five month old kept us up all night, for no reason. So, that's what's going on. She normally sleeps really good. But, for some reason, last night, she woke up like every couple hours. But, I'm good. I'm chilling, just been hanging out, trying to stay hydrated for the show that I have tonight and I got to go for a run after this. So you know, just trying to take care of myself, honestly. Because putting out music is so fun. But, it also can be a weird day sometimes. It can be like birthdays, you know what I mean? How it's like, "Oh, I'm so excited for today. But also, my baby that I was working on for the last two years is about to go out into the world."
[UNPUBLISHED]: So, you have a show tonight. Is there a song that you’re excited to perform live?
[BLAKE]: Yeah. I'm really excited to just play the songs that are coming out on the album because I haven't really gotten to play those yet. Honestly, I'm so excited for all of them. I feel like they're all very different live. But, I think particularly, I'm really excited to play "Youth" and "Love You." Those two are slapping with the band.
[UNPUBLISHED]: We’re about halfway through 2023, how has this year treated you so far?
[BLAKE]: Pretty good. I've been working on a lot of projects with other artists that are good friends of mine. I kind of finished up most of the album before the singles started coming out last July. So, it's basically been done for almost a year now even though it's just now finally coming out. Which is pretty crazy. So I've kind of been spending the last year working on a lot of other projects as a producer and as a writer for other friends since I've had this album in the pipeline. But, it's been a great year. Me and my wife had a baby in December. So, learning how to be parents this year has been crazy. And I moved back home where I'm from in Maryland at the end of 2022. So, I'm living in Maryland now, seeing a lot of family, a lot of close friends. It's been a lot of change in the last year or so. But, I’m really excited about how it's been going.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Can you tell me about the inspiration behind your newest album She? What themes or emotions are imbued in this project?
[BLAKE]: The album has a lot to do with my relationship with love and with faith. I got married in 2020 and I started writing a lot of these songs in 2021 after processing a year of being in that serious of a relationship. Just trying to figure out how to treat somebody long term in a loving relationship, how to communicate, how to deal with anxieties, and how to deal with the things that you don't expect to continue to come up in a relationship you've had for so long. Then also just dealing with the existential length of being like, "Okay, I'm with this person for the rest of my life. What does that look like? How do I exist within this new thing that's super beautiful and amazing?" And now being a dad, now there's that other aspect of it where I'm helping raise another human. It's crazy how the songs were helping guide me through a lot of that stuff. A lot of me writing music has to do with just processing what I'm doing, how I'm doing and feeling different emotions. So, a lot of it just comes out in those moments of clarity and therapy. So yeah, I think it's a lot of really personal feelings I've had over the last year or two. I think that's why it's kind of weird that it's coming out because it's these thoughts and feelings that I've really kept close to just me and my closest circle that are now being heard by everybody. And my wife's on the cover and she's pregnant with our first baby in that picture. So much of it feels so personal in such a moment in time that's now being revealed to the whole world. It's definitely the most personal work of art I've ever made and it's definitely a little nerve wracking now that I'm thinking about it. But, definitely really exciting too.
[UNPUBLISHED]: I can definitely see how being so vulnerable can be nerve wracking. Do you feel that by presenting this aspect of vulnerability that your fans feel closer to you?
[BLAKE]: I hope so. If anything, I just hope that it will resonate with somebody in a way that it felt when I got to create it. I was talking to somebody the other day and they were like, "it's rare to have a body of work feel so complete, but is still positive and uplifting, while also touching on struggles and difficulties." I thought that's really cool because I feel like there's not a lot of twenty-three, twenty-four year olds in my situation in terms of me being married and in long term, long distance. I've been with my girl since high school. So, I feel like we've just gone through a lot already since we're still young. But, I've been thinking to myself about if this is actually gonna resonate with people because I'm just in such a different period of life than a lot of my friends or a lot of my peers. So, I've gotten past that and I'm realizing that it doesn't really matter what their situation is. I feel like if people love the music and love the art and can see beauty in it, then I think that they'll be able to attach their own experiences to the music.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What does your creative process look like when approaching an album?
[BLAKE]: It's been different for every project. But, I just write for a while and I was writing for almost a year for this album without realizing I was writing for an album. I was just writing songs and recording little demos here and there, just trying to sing over a track to see how it actually feels. But, when we put the collection of songs together before recording them in January of 2022, I realized these have the potential to be very coherent and very vulnerable. I went into the studio for a full week with my producer friend Chris Donlin and my great friend Kenan Heath, he helped engineer a lot of the project and just was a great third opinion in the room when we were making a lot of it. But, it was mostly just me and Chris and Kenan. We were holed up, it was like a snow week in Nashville which never happens in Nashville. We were kind of just stuck at the studio for a week and got to make probably like seventy percent of the album in that week and then slowly pieced things together for the next couple months after that. For the creative process in general, most of it is just me trying to reflect how I'm feeling in the moment. It just so happened that the themes of conflict and resolution and love and stuff, that was just what was on my heart for that whole longer period.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Were there any songs on the album that creatively challenged you?
[BLAKE]: One hundred percent. The song that was the biggest headache and also the one I knew I had to finish and put on the record and I wouldn't give up on was "Solomon." The first three tracks in the album were produced in the same session so they were all originally going to be one song, one eight minute song or whatever. We kind of figured last minute it would probably be good to just split them up because they're all very different and it would help give some longevity to the album. Make it a couple more tracks, just make it feel a little more full. But, the intro string arrangement and then the first song being very dynamic and the vocal performance was so difficult on that one for me. I did it probably like seven different times. I would scrap the lead vocal and then jump back in. Yeah, it was pretty brutal to make. Those three songs were the only ones that weren't finished with the rest of the record basically and I turned the master in like a day before we uploaded for streaming. So, it was a last minute decision and I mixed it the night before and just dropped it on the album. So, that one almost didn't make it. But, I'm really glad I did because I feel like it tells a bigger story to the whole thing. And all of them had their little challenges. "Youth" was really difficult to mix because it just had a lot of really raw production. And I was like “how do I put all of these reverbs and distortion and everything? How do I make it coherent and make it sound like the rest of the songs?” Then "Only One" and "Love You," those two tracks had completely different versions before we produced them onto the album. They were just very, very different. So yeah, every song kind of had its little hiccup or a moment where I've wondered if we were sure about this. But, I feel like we nailed them now listening back. It's kind of the first project I've put out where I really believe in the version that ended up on the album. Where there wasn't any "we should have done this or should have tried this instead." I think all of them were exactly what I ended up wanting, which is a big accomplishment for me and my team to make it happen. But yeah, those first three songs took me forever to finish.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You released a handful of singles leading up to this project. What other songs from She are you excited for people to dig into and acquaint themselves with?
[BLAKE]: What I'm really excited about is that I think all the songs that haven't been heard yet are very different from each other. So, I'm really curious to hear what little lanes or corners of the album people explore the most. "Youth" is the focus title track for the release and that one I feel captures the story of the album the most. But, then the first three tracks no one's heard and they start the album off with this really cinematic, almost movie kind of feel, which I've never done before. Then the last song, "Heaven" was a live take that I did with three of my friends. So, that's probably the rawest song I've ever released, just in terms of no practice, no rehearsing, we just got in a room and recorded it first try. So, that's just a whole other side of stuff to me where I don't even know. I just have no idea what's going to resonate. But, what I'm really hopeful for is that because all these songs are so connected, I really hope that people will listen to it as an album and will play through it as a record. My favorite projects are the ones I feel like I can put on the whole thing and just be in that space. So yeah, I just have no clue. I'm really excited for all of them really. But I think particularly, I'm really excited for people to hear "Youth" because I feel like the story of that song is really personal and beautiful to me.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What are some things that you associate with youth and nostalgia?
[BLAKE]: Definitely my home and being home in Maryland. Especially because that's where me and my wife grew up knowing each other. So, it's just wild thinking about how many shared memories we have. Even just things we didn't do together growing up, but we both know about because it's a pretty small area and everybody does the same things for fun. There's not a ton to do. Especially now that I'm living back in Maryland, back in the same hometown I grew up in, it's just crazy because I know that my kids are gonna get to experience a lot of the stuff that me and Kayla both did. It's just wild working in the big music industry, being in Nashville and LA and New York and then doing my day to day in the town that I grew up in that all my grandparents still live in and all my aunts and uncles are still an hour away. It's family and close friends that I just have so many memories with that I'm now seeing on a regular basis, which is super different than when I was living here in Nashville. I think that with nostalgia, I feel like so much of it is revisiting places that I have memories with. I think travel is a big thing that brings up a lot of nostalgia for me. Like coming into Nashville this week, driving in and seeing Nashville always makes me feel like "oh man, I have so many memories here. I have so much history here that I never would have expected to have growing up." It feels like my home still. I've been very nostalgic all week really.
[UNPUBLISHED]: If someone were to listen to your album for the first time all the way through, what would your ideal setting be?
[BLAKE]: I feel like my happy place with discovering music has always been on long drives, like road trips. I would honestly say probably in the car. I don't really feel like these songs are "go out and rage to these” songs. Obviously they're definitely more introspective and an album that I would put on probably by myself in the car driving somewhere going to see somebody. I feel like some of my favorite moments with music have just been driving home late from something that I was really happy to be at. I think honestly the drive I've discovered most music on myself was the drive from Maryland to Nashville. I feel like all the music that I've fallen in love with has been listened to on that drive or on that flight. I think honestly where I have all of my favorite music experiences is sitting in the car, listening to music with people. It's the only place that I really feel like I still desire to listen to music. Everywhere else, it's like I don't want to listen to anything, I've been working on it all day. I don't want to hear music. So yeah, definitely in the car.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Can you tell me about the album cover art? Your wife is the focus of the cover, what was it like coming up with that idea?
[BLAKE]: It was super last minute honestly. I had already booked my trip to Nashville to come to do rights. At this point, we were already living in Maryland when we decided to start figuring out the album art and Kayla was still pregnant with Jane, our baby. I was talking to the creative team I was working with and they were like, "What is your idea? What's your concept? What do you want to do?" And I really love this more classic portrait look. Something that feels almost like a painting, but you can tell that it's a photograph. Originally we were thinking about if we wanted to get a couple models, a couple women in the shot or a couple couples and have them scattered in a banquet style kind of photo. Then I guess the further we went down the road, we decided it would make more sense to have just one person. Then I think Chase and Sarah were both like, "What about Kayla?" Honestly, I think what happened is I brought it up first because they were like, "Yeah, we weren't going to pressure you to do that. But, that's totally what we were thinking this whole time." I had to kind of bring it up and be like, "What about Kayla?" And then I asked Kayla and she was like, "Yeah, that'd be awesome. I would love to do it." And I was like are you sure because it's going to be the only thing you see on my socials for like next year. You know when you're promoting stuff or when you're sharing it, everybody's gonna see it. And I think both of us just trusted Chase and Sarah to crush it and so she came with me and it was just really cool to have this captured moment of her just by herself in her beauty and the expected baby. And unless you knew that you wouldn't know when you first looked at the picture that she's definitely pregnant. I don't think you would assume that because of the way it's cropped, but it's wild because just me knowing the history behind the shot is just so freaking cool to me. Yeah, we're really proud of the visual art and when Chase sent me the first edit of it, I was like "Don't change it. It's perfect." So, it was really organic and super last minute and it's the best it could have turned out I think. I wouldn't change anything. So, I'm really happy about it.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What have you been listening to lately? What’s been on repeat?
[BLAKE]: The new Ryan Beatty album is incredible. I've been getting back into older Daniel Cesar stuff too, like his first EP and then Freudian. And honestly just a lot of stuff that friends have been sending me. I've been working on a lot of records with other artists and a lot of who I ended up listening to is stuff that they're really hip to. I've been listening to the Fugees stuff like Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and that first record that they all did together. I've honestly been very in an R&B world the last couple of weeks like Moses Sumney. But at the same time, I feel like I'm getting back to listening to stuff I loved when I was a little younger like Jack Johnson and Alabama Shakes. I love Frank Ocean too. I feel like I never can get really sick of Frank Ocean. He's always been a big inspiration for me artistically and like so many other great artists, he's kind of like "the guy." But I've been a little bit all over the place, but it's been fun. But, definitely the new Ryan Beatty album. Ethan Gruska produced it and he's one of my favorite producers. Everything he's doing right now is just magical. Super musical and raw and organic, but also still feels really modern which is just everything that I really like about music that's coming out now. It kind of has to fit those things for me, it's gotta feel new; but, it also still has to feel human. I would say though, the new Skrillex albums. I've never really gotten into EDM and I feel like they're very palatable for me. The two new Skrillex albums are really sick and I'm a sucker for Fred Again too. But yeah, I'm always riding in the pop or art pop space in terms of who I'm listening to. I don't really listen to as much indie stuff except for the stuff my friends make. Hopefully that gives you a little wide palette of what's going down.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What does the future look like for you?
[BLAKE]: Yeah, I have a bunch of shows coming up, more than I normally do. I don't play a lot of shows. But recently, we've been trying to book more and I'm playing Nashville for the release and then I'm playing the DC show at The Pocket, which is going to be on the 26th. Then I'm playing in New York at this place called The Berlin on June sixth or seventh. Then I'll be going to LA at the end of June and I'm playing a few showcases there. Then I have another show in DC in July. So I've definitely got some shows, which I'm really excited about. It makes it worthwhile to actually make a great live set and really work hard on it when you know you have stuff coming up. Then in terms of new projects, I'm really just working on a lot of stuff as a producer right now with other artists. That's been my main focus on the recording side. But, I definitely can foresee at the end of the summer probably turning back around and trying to write some more stuff. I have some collaborations that I'm really excited about that I think are going to come out in the fall. I tend to have a season that feels really scattered and then one that feels really well grouped together. I feel like I'm ending the grouped together stage of putting out an album and having very specific things I've been working on. Whereas I think as soon as the album's out, I'm going to be in just "No Man's Land" again, which I love. That's honestly my favorite season where anything's possible, what do we do? So, it's really exciting. I really hope that people take a minute with this record and appreciate it because I feel like it's just such a special story to me. I mean, I just know that if you put a lot of energy and love and time and care into something I think it's gonna resonate. So, I'm really excited.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Anything else you would like readers and listeners to know?
[BLAKE]: I just think if anybody gets to the end of this read and is excited, I just would love for people to give it a shot front to back. I think that's what any artist who puts out an album would ask for is just give it one shot, front to back and see what you think. I think that it has the most value as a collection and not as individual songs. Yeah, that's my last thought. Give it a shot!
