THE UNIVERSE OF RUKHSANA MERRISE

Born and raised in West London, Rukhsana Merrise is a product of the contemporary cultural and musical melting pot provided by her surroundings, as well as being informed by US influences ranging from Kanye and Frank Ocean, to Haim and John Meyer. But her parents’ record collection also left it’s mark: “I grew up listening to Fleetwood Mac, 10cc, Karen Carpenter, Joni Mitchell… Joni’s when I found out that you can write about anything.”

In September 2014 she set herself the task of writing, recording and releasing a song every week of the month, and the resulting Soundcloud-only EP was called “September Songs”. It caught a lot of people’s ears, including Communion’s.

The September Songs EP had it’s official release in autumn 2015 on Communion Records, and is being followed by her brilliant new single ‘Money’, that you can listen to just below.

Interview by THE METROPOLIST How would you describe your sound?

Rukhsanna Merrise: That’s a difficult question to answer, but I guess my sound can be described as a mixture of some of my musical influences from, Singer-songwriter and folk music to Soul and Hip hop.

TM: What is your artistic process and how important are lyrics to your music?

RM: I love story telling. My approach to writing is the same way you would treat a journal. So all the things I might not be able to put into words I bury in songs. Words are so powerful and lyrical content is definitely my driving force behind my artistry. I often write my songs without music and then take them to the studio and find chord progressions around the melody. It’s an interesting process.

TM: Back September 2014 you set yourself the task of writing, recording and releasing a song every week of the month, and this is how the EP, “September Songs” was created. Could you describe this particular process and if you would do something similar in the future?

RM: The process was pretty simple. It was like three worlds colliding. Guitars, which were folk-influenced, merged with unorthodox hip-hop drums and 808s with melancholic melodies and storytelling.

There really isn’t a theory behind it. I guess it was three people in a room every weekend just sharing their musical influences and trying to use that to create something musically that felt honest to us. The songs have slight variations in sound, but all complimented each other. I like writing to deadlines as it doesn’t give me time to overthink the music. I would love to do it again, but it would have to come from an organic place.

TM: Who are your major influences and do you have a particular song that inspires you?

RM: I am a massive fan of Joni Mitchell, the late Amy Winehouse, Kanye & John Mayer. A song that really inspires me is Joni Mitchell – A Case Of You.

TM: Did you grow up surrounded by music or was it something that came later?

RM: I didn’t grow up around instruments as such, but used to sing with my sisters for fun. As a child I would go through my mum’s old records and CD collection and I went to a very creative secondary school. This really helped develop my love for different genres of music. I always felt pretty lucky from an early age to be exposed to different genres of music and my interests would be from one extreme to the next. There was no such thing as restriction with sounds in my household, so I guess that played a heavy influence on my interest in music.

TM: What can we expect from your debut album?

RM: A reflection of the music that I like. Pretty much a progression of September Songs. The musical direction for the album wouldn’t change much, there will be everything you’ve heard from me before on my EP (guitar, groove-led honest songs). However there will be a sense of growth song and production wise. I would like to introduce some of my other musical influences spanning several different genres. Most importantly I want to create a body of work that reflects who I am.

TM: It seems like you have had a great 2015 so far with a million plays on SoundCloud, attention from BBC Radio 1, touring with Jack Garratt, Laura Mvula, Bear’s Den and Leon Bridges, and performances at Glastonbury, Somersault and Bushstock. Do you have a favourite moment this year?

RM: Probably Glastonbury! It’s the mother of all festivals. I’m a fan of the place. It’s so magical and just being able to play there was amazing.

TM: Being an up and coming musician entering a tough industry, what has been the best advice you have been given?

RM: “Be yourself kid and don’t try and be anything other than that!’ Words from my neighbour John Clifton. Those words always stick with me, I don’t think I’m good at being anything else.

TM: Do you have any other passions? If you were not a singer/songwriter, what would you be doing?

RM: I would probably set up my own charity shop. It excites me recycling things people don’t want and the money goes to a good cause.

#Music #RukhsanaMerrise