Ruby Fields on opening festivals, awkward handshakes, recording hungover and never shitting in port-a-loo again

We caught up with indie punk rocker Ruby Fields following her opening slot at the first ever The Drop festival, in Torquay.
How was the set? How did you enjoy it?
It was a good time! We were nearly told to play only one more, when we still had two to go because we were running out of time – which happened last time and I was like, NOPE. We didn’t get to play P Plates last time… so we started P Plates and someone was like, ‘that’s it’ and I went ‘not this time, I won’t talk shit, I’ll just get straight to it.
And how have you found The Drop experience so far?
It’s been a really fun experience – and I’m good mates with Holy Holy, Dune Rats and San Cisco. I haven’t hung around with SAFIA much, but knowing all the others makes for a good time. The only thing that sucks is I don’t surf whatsoever and I had to do a live interview on the front of where all the pros are, which made for a bit of an awkward time. Half way through the interview, I thought she was going in for a hand shake, but she actually wasn’t… and I was just standing there holding her hand. I wasn’t even drunk – I wasn’t pissed – and that’s the problem, that’s why this happened. I wasn’t allowed to swear either, so in my head that’s all I was focusing on… I was just repeating in my head ‘don’t swear, don’t swear, don’t swear.’
You recently released your six-track EP. First off, congrats! Can you tell us a bit about where you sourced your inspiration from for the tracks on it?
Because I was around 16, 17 when I wrote them, I think I heard triple j when I was a bit older – and I’d already been writing songs forever, but I was like ‘this is the direction I want to go in.’ I always wrote poems and everything, so the writing part comes so easily – I just needed a bit more direction, with guitar tones and everything. So, after hearing artists like Courtney Barnett, I was like, ‘okay, something like this – this is cool, this is empowering.’ Once I had that general direction, I started writing and the words came so naturally – they’re all things I’ve gone through in my life.
And what was the recording process like for you?
My drummer actually recorded everything. It’s not one of those band projects where the drummer did it – he’s actually a professional recorder. He originally recorded for Guy Sebastian. What happened is he was recording our stuff – and I went, ‘do you want to give your take on the drums a go’ and he went, ‘yeah, sure’. Following that I was like, ‘you’re great, let’s play in a band together!’. He’s about 32, my bassist is 34 – he’s played in The Vines and everything, so he is worldly… and I’m just this 20 year old, but somehow they’re just like my brothers and it worked out. We’ve been together for a year – it’s like a relationship – and recording is literally just that. We know how to mix, record, produce and all that. Then all that’s left is to send it off to get mastered by someone else, but I’m always hungover when we record… So, In the EP, there wasn’t one take that was actually a single take, I stopped and vomited through every single one of them.
Do you have any festival survival tips you swear by?
Be an artist, so you can have access to air-conditioning. You know what, at Splendour for example, I’m never going back without a Gold Bar pass – I’m never shitting in a Port-a-loo again.
Release: Your Dad’s Opinion For Dinner out now.
Co-interviewed by Helena Metzke and Talia Rinaldo