Words by Carol Wright | Photos Courtesy of STATUS-LA
We got to chat with musical duo RUUMER about their single “Gimme Some,” growing up in a creative household, and the advice they have for aspiring singers.
What inspired you two to pursue a career in music?
Music has always been our passion. We grew up in a musical household and were always singing and dancing around the house. As kids, we started doing musical theater and loved performing and being on stage. That’s actually where we felt most comfortable and confident. We then started commuting in and out of NYC, working with a vocal coach and going on auditions. We always loved writing, we had journals full of lyrics and poems. We started writing/recording when we were 12 and 15 and fell in love with working in the studio and creating music.
Since you are sisters, has it been easier working together?
Definitely. We’re sisters, but also best friends. We’ve always been super close, so it’s really special to be able to work together. We both bring something different to the table. Jess is very musically inclined, she has a great ear. We always have her listen closely to our mixes and she’s hands-on with our producers regarding our sound. Melis is more on the lyrics and melody side when it comes to our music. She’s also very business-oriented and handles a lot of our creative direction, styling, etc. It’s a really great chemistry. We thrive off of one another and work the best when we’re together.
Tell us about your new single, “Gimme Some”. What was the inspiration for the song?
“Gimme Some” is a laid-back anthemic record that’s all about empowering women’s sexuality. It throws a wrench in the stigma that women should be ashamed to talk about our desires. Inspired by our Catholic school upbringing, it is essentially a satire on the sexually oppressing environment of our youth. We worked with a killer female director, MK Schneider, to create the video for the record. There are competing visuals of women being traditionally feminine and the new age confidence in being who you are no matter how you look, no matter what you like. It embraces all angles of the modern woman and shatters the stereotypes that they are given.
Did both of you take part in the creative direction for the music video or did one of you take the reigns?
We both were super hands-on with the creative direction for the visual. We started a Pinterest board and pulled in a bunch of images for inspiration, which we showed to our director. We have always been obsessed with neon, so we wanted to bring that aesthetic to life in the video. One of the main things we wanted to create was an underground “girls club” type feel. MK, our director, really helped bring our vision to life. We pulled together a killer group of cool girls who we wanted to represent our girl gang (some of which are our friends in real life). There were different aspects that each of us contributed to, Jess did both of our makeup for the video and Melis did the styling, so it was a real collaborative project.
What was it like seeing the final product?
It was so sick seeing the final cut of the video! This was our first RUUMER visual, so it was super important for us to bring our aesthetic to life in the right way. The end product was everything we envisioned and more.
What advice do you have for aspiring singers?
Be consistent and keep pushing forward. This industry is a marathon, not a sprint. And don’t get discouraged with rejection, music is so subjective… one person could love your music, one person could hate it. As long as you’re creating music you feel passionate about that’s honestly all that matters.
