A Chat with RubyGld Smoke (18.01.2021)
The duo of RubyGld Smoke are taking listeners on a journey with their album Revolutionary Love. Telling their own love story through the tracks, the album is packed with vibes Dani Jo Williams and Terrance Williams are fans of. While the album takes a dip into the personal, the music and lyrics are relatable and soaked in the pop-soul sound they are sure to become known for. We sat down with RubyGld Smoke to chat about the album, musical vibes, emotions and much more!
OSR: How did you meet and decide to form RubyGld Smoke?
RubyGld Smoke: We met and fell in love in 2014. We had the idea for the last two years or so, but through this pandemic, we finally found the time to sit down and really find our sound.
OSR: Your debut album Revolutionary Love is a journey through your own love story. Why did you decide to start with something so personal?
RubyGld Smoke: It was really easy to do. Talking about our love story is quite natural to us. It’s like a testimony about what God has joined together, so it wasn’t hard to open up and tell the story at all. We like writing about love because it never goes out of style.
OSR: The tracks on the album draw on musical vibes you are both fans of. How difficult was it to combine these influences into your unique pop-soul sound?
RubyGld Smoke: At first it was tough because we initially had trouble figuring out what songs and vibes to keep. One day Dani Jo was like, “let’s just keep them all!”, and we did. We felt much better once we put everything we’re about into the project. Pop-soul means everything we do, we do it with soul. Whether it’s RnB, dance or country, it’s got our soul in it.
OSR: What was your creative process for the album? Did you start with the concept and work around it or did one song come first?
RubyGld Smoke: The songs definitely came first. Once we had a core group of songs that we were sure about, we noticed that they came together through this theme of our love story.
OSR: The title of the album harkens to African-American philosophy, what prompted this?
RubyGld Smoke: Being young, married and black, we understand how important it is for society as a whole that we love each other. We know that we set an example for future generations to follow. When we love one another, we can solve a lot of issues.
OSR: Did you find any tracks easier or harder to create?
Dani Jo: ‘Up’ was definitely a challenge for me. Just getting the vocals just right to convey the exact feeling.
Terrance: Some songs, like ‘Highway Of Love’, ‘Horizon’ and ‘Right & Wrong’ were real eye-openers as far as our musical exploration. I didn’t know we had it in us.
OSR: While the album is available on streaming services, it has also been released as a Limited-Edition vinyl. What prompted you to do this?
RubyGld Smoke: We actually have Limited Edition autographed CD’s available on our website. We wanted to connect with fans on a more direct level. So we thought that limited edition CD’s would be one of our dope collector’s items to commemorate this time.
OSR: If people could feel only one emotion while listening to the album, what would you like that to be and why?
RubyGld Smoke: Hopeful. We want the listener to feel like anybody can find love and everyone is deserving of love. We just want the listener to believe in love again or keep believing.
OSR: A portion of the proceeds of the album will go to Symphony Of Change. Can you tell us a little more about this non-profit organisation?
RubyGld Smoke: SOC is a humanitarian organization we founded in 2016. Our mission is to empower people with the tools they need to better their lives and their communities. We collaborate and work on various topics such as health and wellness, political science and fine arts.
OSR: What are your plans for the next 12 months?
RubyGld Smoke: We are currently putting together our live show experience for our upcoming tour dates once it’s safe. We are making more music, and we have a few Symphony Of Change projects on the way.
Thanks to artist for RubyGld Smoke with us! You can find more about them on their website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
