By Zoe Salmond and Jay Suntharakumar
This piece first appeared as a featured article in volume 95, issue six of Pelican. You can view our print archive here.
With the woes of winter finally out of the way, Zoe and I had the pleasure of meeting the lead singer, Ruby, of up-and-coming girl band Ain’t No Sun. With her golden hoops and Fender tee, for a split second I’m convinced that the sun might be her personified, as she excuses the absence of her bandmates Aika (guitarist), Ella (bassist), and Carys (drummer).
How would you describe your band in three words?
Ruby inhales sharply, mentally preparing herself. She thinks briefly before responding, “I’d say grunge… and then girly.” She raises her eyebrows as if surprised by her own answer, before continuing with a smile. “I don’t know if that’s the right term to use, but I feel like it’s fitting. And then blues.”
That’s a good combination. We’ll follow up with a light-hearted question to keep your nerves at bay…
She nods in response, and I almost feel bad straining her braincells for the upcoming question (but hey, anything for the content!)
If you and the band were in a horror movie, who do you think would be the last one standing?
She laughs, confused before stating decisively; “Maybe… me. I do all of the booking and the management, so I’d be the most aware of what’s going on.” She counters before either of us could say anything: “In the least self-obsessive way.”
So, who do you think would be the first to go?
“Aika, for sure. She’s going to hate when she reads this but… definitely her.”
What’s the origin story of Ain’t No Sun?
Ruby ponders briefly, immediately recalling her memories. “I went to primary school with Aika, she was in the year below me. She played guitar in the school band, and I knew her from there.” She shouts out the West Australian Music (WAM) Girls Rock program, crediting it with leading her to meet Ella and Carys. “They wanted to form a band… we had this other guitarist in mind, that Ella went to school with, but it didn’t work out.”
“Ella then said she knew this other guitarist – Aika – and I knew her too, so she came into the band.” Ruby recounts their previous experimental sessions with other guitarists, solemnly stating that the connection just wasn’t there.
Do we also get to hear the origin story behind the name of the band?
“We couldn’t pick a name,” She laughs nervously, stating that they cycled through a list of possible names – with the band remaining indecisive on all fronts. “We decided to combine titles of our favourite songs, and one of the songs was Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers and one of the bands was No Doubt.”
She gives us her signature smile, “It’s kind of a cool play on words.”
Speaking of songs, who are your biggest influences?
“At first, definitely Nirvana and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. After studying at WAAPA for a little bit, it’s gotten more bluesy… like Fiona Apple and Amy Winehouse.” She then fondly recounts her bandmates’ diverse taste in music, noting that drummer Carys is a fan of heavy rock such as the Foo Fighters, whereas Ella and Aika lean towards the indie scene with musicians such as Old Mervs and Spacey Jane.
“I like singer-songwriters, like Fiona Apple, since I write all the songs on the keys.” She continues, “They turn out very bluesy but eventually change as I bring them to the others.” Ruby also confesses to the scuffles that would occur amongst the band over the creative direction of the song, with her signature smile. “In the end we all kind of contribute to it.”
Since you’re the songwriter, if you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
Much to our surprise, she states she’d like to work with DJ Fred Again, acknowledging that although they don’t make disco music, she’d like to try playing a rave. “That would be so fun, but otherwise… if they were still a band I’d love to work with Led Zeppelin.”
And if you could open for any artist’s tour, who would it be?
“I don’t know if I would want to open for any particular artist,” Ruby ponders, stating that she’d be grateful to open for anyone, “But I’d really love to play for Paramore or I’d really love to play a festival, like Coachella – even Listen Out, in Perth.”
Dream Coachella line-up if you were a headliner. Let’s hear it.
“I really would love No Doubt, with Gwen Stefani. I think she’s such a good vibe.” She takes a brief second to think, momentarily blanking on an artist’s name before pulling out her phone to go on a deep-dive into her listening history. “Lola Young! She has a good mix between heavy and up-beat music.”
Good choices! What would your setlist be like at a typical concert or performance?
“Do you want to hear some (music)?” She perks up, and I have to break it to her that unfortunately this is a written interview, and I don’t wish to be liable for any copyright claims encountered in the future.
Undeterred, Ruby provides some insight into the band’s average setlist: “At the moment we play two covers in a set. We do have fifteen originals overall, but the ones we play at the moment are Slip – the single we’re releasing towards the end of the year – and we have heavier stuff.” She mimics the du-du-du noise of a heavy bass line.
What influences your song writing?
“Usually, it’s real life. If I hear some gossip, drama, or something’s happened to me personally, I’ll turn it into a song.” Ruby further details her process of beginning with chords and working her way towards the finished product. “It all depends.” She concludes with a smile.
If you could pitch your band to our readers using one song – what would it be?
“I think Slip, we’re releasing that one soon.” She drums her fingers on the table briefly, “It’s our most popular song, we play it at the end of our sets.” She states that the song provides an accurate depiction of the band’s sound, so we’ll be sure to keep an eye out for that.
Do you guys have any pre-gig rituals?
“We always rehearse, then get together and do our make-up and stuff before we travel to the venue.” She smiles, as Zoe and I let out a sigh of relief at the realness of her response.
Girlhood. What a beautiful thing.
“Boys always just talk about beers,” Co-editor Zoe adds, as I nod in defeat.
Ruby recounts her experience with another band, where they simply just met at the venue on the day of the gig instead of preparing elaborately beforehand. “It’s so boring. We (Ain’t No Sun) just get ready together, chat, eat snacks, do our make-up. It’s so fun.”
If you had to choose a dream gig location, where would it be?
She blinks in mild disbelief, “In the entire world? Any location?”
“Madison Square Garden…? Is that what it’s called?” She fangirls over the significance of the location and the number of impactful artists who have performed there. “Just to be there, to be where they all played would be awesome.”
A bit of history about us, we’ve interviewed a lot of boy bands and the biggest thing they’ve also told us is that the Perth music is very male dominated.
“It is.”
How have you found it?
“It is so male dominated.” She hesitates briefly before bracing herself, “I don’t want to be mean, but there is that trope of guys who can’t really play music and are just good looking. They get popular because of that, and I feel like guys get more of an ego boost with music.”
“For them, it’s less of an art and more of a way to get drunk and play whatever.”
Ruby further mentions how exclusionary the scene can be at times, “People aren’t typically looking for girls. Lots of venues don’t book females in their line-ups. You won’t ever see a full female line-up.”
She further speaks up on how hard it is to break into the scene, stating that there are obvious highs and lows of being an all-girl band; “There’s another side of the music industry, where you’re underpaid, and bigger bands aren’t as inclusive. It’s heavy stuff.” Fortunately, she does conclude that she’s grateful for the opportunities she’s received and looks forward to the future.
If you could give advice to younger girls wanting to break into the Perth music scene, what would you say to them?
“You just have to keep going.”
“You’ve got to get past the really awful, three people gigs to get to the good ones.”
“As a girl, you’ve got to push forward and not let the male bands dominate the scene. Everyone wants the music scene to be equal, so the more girls who get into music the better.” She reflects on how she’d like to see women in music do more than simply be singers.
She reflects again on girlhood, and the tight-knit community of girl bands. “I’d love to see an all-female line-up someday. It would be a great time.”
Here’s a heavy question for you – what does music mean to you?
Ruby furrows her brows ever so slightly, “I feel like it’s more of a way to express yourself.”
“Some people like to write essays or study politics, but I feel like me as a musician – it’s a way to touch into my childhood self and explore writing about my emotions.”
She circles back to the topic of community, commenting on the familiarity and closeness of the Perth music scene; “You go out to a gig and you’re going to see people you know. It’s so lovely, it’s a good opportunity. Making friends with other bands and getting those gig opportunities… it’s the biggest part, for me.”
Where do you see the band and yourself in the future? Say in five years’ time?
“I would love to have 50k followers, to release an EP…” She grins.
“I’d like to be touring around, but realistically – I’d love to be booking more gigs and playing festivals. We haven’t played a festival yet and that would be fun.”
She comments on looking forward to exploring diverse sounds as a band, stating possibilities of incorporating different instruments in the mix such as piano. She also looks forward to the growth of her band members; “They’ll discover more than just what they’re listening to, as they get into WAAPA next year. I’m really excited to see how that changes our sound.”
As the interview concludes, Ruby offhandedly mentions their single launch of Slip – the 16th of November at the Y HQ. She comments on how excited she is for the gig and teases the line-up. Unfortunately for the rest of you guys, if you’d like to know more – you’d have to go see them perform!
After navigating UWA’s parking like a pro and giving us insight on what’s to come, it’s a safe bet that you’ll be seeing Ain’t No Sun plastered around billboards and stadiums in the upcoming future. I for one, am truly looking forward to seeing these girls grow and evolve.
I firmly believe that these group of girls will continue to shine – but they Ain’t No Sun.