Part 1

Name: Ruby Rose London aka Dreamrdreamr
Nationality: British
Occupation: Producer, DJ, visual artist, radio host
Current release: Dreamrdreamr's Through The Elements EP is out via all my thoughts.
Recommendations:
Art - Dominique White
I’m totally biassed here as Dominique is a friend of mine, however her sculptures are captivating and she is one of the most intelligent people I know. Dominique is truly authentic and dives deep and this shows in her works and I admire this so deeply in a person.

Book - The Island of Missing Trees - Elif Shafak
I recently started to dive deeper into my family tree and after learning I am part Cypriot I wanted to explore the history of a country I didn’t know enough about. My great grandad was a refuge and given our growing negligent refuge systems here in the UK I wanted to to explore my family history deeper. This book feels as if you have been transported to Cyprus. The feeling that the book gave me hit my chest the same way music does and I learnt so much.

If you enjoyed this Dreamrdreamr interview and would like to know more about her music and work, visit her  official website. She is also on Instagram.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

Wow, that's really lovely. I have heard this happens to people and it must be so cool to experience music like this.

When I listen to a piece of music that I really connect with, I usually get a rush of feeling that is sort of an overpowering sense of emotions hitting my chest. I feel transported to an illustrated memory or past feeling. It gives me a rush and makes me feel really deeply and that’s what I look for in music.

My eyes are both open and closed. I suppose it all depends on the environment around me and the piece of music. If I am dancing around my living room, then my eyes are wide open. However if I am at a club or travelling with headphones then my eyes will close and I will go inwards.

Entering new worlds and escapism through music have always exerted a very strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to listening to and creating music?

Music is like a form of therapy or a ritual for me. It really is my escapism and I also get pulled in this way that is like ‘I need music right now and I have to listen to music right now’. This strong need is usually when I’m feeling a certain way and I need music to help me feel deeper so I can process something.

The same can be said for creating music. I have to get out what I am feeling and that creative outlet is therapy for me.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience?

I started producing music and DJing at around the age of 19 but I was in a very chaotic and dark place so I dropped it all. I didn’t return to making music until lockdown which was nearly 10 years later.

Creating music has always grounded me. Producing electronic music can mostly be quite introverted so I have to have strong will power to see a project through.

The gains made through the discipline process then filter through to all other elements of my life.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

Oh wow, well that explains a lot lol.

That age was pretty challenging and unstable but music was a constant. I didn't realise how much it did help me through those challenges until later on. It was a time when home life was very tough but if the right music was played then it could unite people. As a kid who continually found themselves in trouble - music definitely had my back.

Not much has changed really as my latest EP Through The Elements was written while I was in quite a dark space. So once again I found myself relying on music to get through something.

I’ve found life so far to be one consistent wave of highs and lows and music is still my constant to this day.

How would you describe your own relationship with your instrument, tools or equipment?

At the moment my equipment is the computer, my midi, a mic and a couple of other bits I use to manipulate sounds.

I grew up in the 90s and the computer was something that was still unheard of in most homes. When my dad brought it home it was this alien thing that felt like a bit of a prize win for our family. It was this object that could do so much.

I still feel like that now. When I discover a new plug in or find a new method I feel like I’ve won or like the possibilities are endless.

Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

I have always just kind of been creative and never really been able to find the source of it. It has always just been something in me. My earliest memories of needing to create would be my desire to head down to WHSmiths or Woolworths and buy the latest cassette tape and or pens and pencils. I would sit  in my room with my music and just draw and not much has changed now to be honest.

With any spare time I have I am creating. In my day job I am finding as many ways to be creative as possible. The impulse is just there always. I can’t sit still, otherwise I feel I am wasting time by not creating. I have so much unfinished work and unfinished projects and it doesn’t bother me. I just have to always try new things and new ways. Its this weird feeling or belief of ‘because I have been created therefore I must create’.

Music and art have both always been outlets I am infatuated with. Art inspires my music and music inspires my art. Other personal feelings, dreams and experiences also influence my sound.

For example, my latest track “Antique Blue” is based on hoarding objects and feelings. I come from a bit of a hoarding family. There is a lot of generational trauma and our history is very working class and poor. My Nan collects anything and everything and has been collecting antiques, doing car boot sales and flogging her whole life.



I wrote “Antique Blue” after looking through items I was hoarding and not wanting to repeat patterns of being attached to trauma. I am constantly inspired by my world and I constantly feel guided to explore it and create from it.

Are you acting out parts of your personality in your music which you couldn't or wouldn't in your daily life? If so, which are these? What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music?

I like to think I'm pretty authentic and what you see is what you get with me. I wear my heart on my sleeve in my personal life and this reflects in my music. I am open to talk about the things I write about in my music and I am constantly drawing on past personal experiences for inspiration.

In terms of ideas I might look at a running feeling or a moment in time and then create a bigger story around this with the sounds I use or the track titles.

For example my first EP was based on my emotions towards my early raving days. I titled the EP Velvet Tracksuit as it was tracksuit wearing time and a time that I was trying to act very grown up.



I used a lot of RnB influenced sounds i.e. chimes and pads because that genre was prominent in my life then. The artwork created then also reflected that feeling and was very girly and sort of teen like.

I like this approach for most works and I really enjoy focusing on one feeling and then building everything around it to embody that moment in time.