California high desert sound experimentalists Earth Moon Earth released a new single and video for their track, Ruby. Ruby is the second single from the sextet’s upcoming self-titled debut album, due May 18 via Gatos Trail Records. Check out the video clip via YouTube below.
About the single, principle songwriter/producer Dan Joeright stated: When vocalist/lyricist Gabba Evaro and I started writing Ruby we wanted to convey the image of a strong female character who’s had her share of bad luck along with her share of bad choices. It just so happened that Gabba was embroiled in a legal battle of her own so her emotions were pretty raw and close to this kind of story but we didn’t necessarily want it to be a first person narrative or an obvious ‘I’m pissed off at the law’ kind of vibe… so Ruby came to life.
Ruby’s a bad ass, takes no prisoners, she’d probably bump you off for a pack of smokes if she was having a bad day. But paradoxically she’s also trying to find meaning and achieve some sort of enlightenment in her life, which is where the chorus lyrics… “find out where you’re from, you’ll know where to go” come in. Maybe these are words of wisdom spoke to her when she was a child that she’s now using as a mantra or words being whispered to her from some ancient ghost that’s guiding her. Ruby’s a searcher and a destroyer trying to find out how to make peace with those two personalities.
Earth Moon Earth was not intended to be a band. Instead Joeright, who has played with a number of artists over the years from Jim White to El Vez to The Rentals, assembled an experimental collective to perform a one-off at his inaugural recording studio party, christened the Yucca Man Shakedown. At that moment EME was a trio with Algis Kizys (Swans) on a short wave radio, dialing in transmissions from around the globe as Joeright on drums + samples and Scott Schaffer on theremin provided pulsating rhythms and cosmic tones as accompaniment. The result was a hypnotic, ethereal trip through space in real time. It worked. When the dust settled Joeright decided to continue the journey and started to compose instrumental tracks based on the general concept of space… and later, more specifically, space exploration, as a metaphor for looking inward.
Joeright came across vocalist/lyricist Evaro performing in Joshua Tree, later inviting her to come by the studio. It was apparent right away that there was an indelible chemistry between the music and the voice – a special musical simpatico. Gabba was able to navigate Dan’s symphonically dense compositions, find space, fill it with graceful melodies and through her lyrics, create colorful imagery.
A year later, back at Yucca Man Shakedown, Joeright recruited former bandmate Be Hussey (Radar Bros.) on bass, Esteban Chavez (The Freeks) on synth, high school friend Bob Villwock on keyboards with Schaffer returning on theremin, forming the current Earth Moon Earth line up. They succeeded in captivating the audience and also captured the attention of Ross Godfrey from the trip-hop pioneers Morcheeba, resulting in a West Coast support tour.
All of their experiments and experience are now a part of the Earth Moon Earth fabric as they continue on the path, building and growing together as they go. When Joeright talks about EME he claims to have found a unique opportunity with a special group of people, a great collaborator in Evaro and amazing inspiration in the desert. They plan to keep exploring, free from belonging to any specific genre. And as with space, there are no limits to where the music can go.
Tour dates
05/19 – Joshua Tree, CA @ Joshua Tree Music Festival [info]
06/23 – Yucca Valley, CA @ Yucca Man Shakedown
06/29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hotel Café, 11pm
06/30 – Fresno, CA @ Frank’s Place
