Calling all creative, confident, and boss-like girls! Dare to STEM?
Ruth B. is teaming up with The Ad Council’s #SheCanSTEM to host a virtual, 10-song concert! Oh, and did we mention it’s interactive and needs YOUR creative mind? The concert will be held within Minecraft on September 19 at 8pm EDT and will also be livestreamed from the She Can STEM YouTube channel, and will even include a never-before-heard song from the talented singer-songwriter!
Want to put your STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills to use? You can begin building the world and participating in challenges prior to the concert, and your creations – including fireworks displays, light shows, monuments celebrating women in their lives, music and aquariums – might even be featured during the show!
To get in on all the fun, we caught up with Ruth to chat about how she uses STEM fields as a musician, what advice she’d give to anyone following their dreams, how she uses songwriting to empower others, and more!
What makes you want to use your music as a platform to empower others, and how does that relate back to the She Can STEM campaign?
Ruth B.: A lot of what I want to do with my music is inspire people, especially young women, to follow their dreams and go after their passion, whatever passion that might be. I think that ties in perfectly with She Can STEM because they’re all about empowering women and going into fields that might seem daunting. For me, something I’ve learned is that you just have to go do it…go for it…and not be afraid, even if the world sometimes tells you that you can’t do it.
Typically when we think of STEM, we don’t necessarily think of music. How have you found that you use STEM as a musician and artist?
Ruth B.: I’ve used STEM more so now more than ever before. Living in this pandemic, I really had to learn how to record music on my own and get into production because I’m at home and live in Alberta where there’s really not many studios. At first, I was super scared because I’d never really used any recording gear! I think it’s crazy because a lot of the music world is production and engineering, and all of that is usually men, and you don’t see a lot of women. When I do see them, I’m always intrigued and asking so many questions, but I think that just goes to show that it’s definitely something that needs to change. For me, I use STEM by recording my own music, and using things like logic and protools…learning how to be a better producer myself.
We’re looking forward to watching you perform, and are especially excited about the brand new, yet-to-be released track you’re debuting during the concert. Is there anything you can share about the song?
Ruth B.: The song that I’m debuting with them is probably my favorite song ever in the past year, so I thought it’d be really cool to exclusively perform it there. It’s a very honest song about figuring life out, what you’re trying to be, and what you’re trying to do. I think it really went perfectly with the set that I’m doing with Minecraft. I’m super excited for people to hear it for the first time!
Being that you broke out in the industry at such a young age, and got your start on Vine as a teenager, what advice would you give to other young girls with a dream?
Ruth B.: I would definitely just say to take advantage of everything that’s in front of you…I know it can be scary to put yourself and your heart out there, but as scary as it is, it’s so amazing you can be anywhere in the world and anyone can hear you. Now, with social media, it’s a lot easier to have your voice heard. It’s also hard because there’s so much out there, but I just feel like if the opportunity is there, take it. That’s always what I used to tell myself when I was on Vine, is that I just have to keep doing this as much as I can until people start to hear it.
Looking back, would you tell yourself anything differently? What advice would you give to your teenage self?
Ruth.: I would definitely just tell myself to have fun with it and enjoy it because I think when you’re so young, it’s so easy to just like fall under the pressure, or fall under the stress of all of it. There’s so many opinions coming your way because the more people get to know you, the more comments you get and when you’re 19, 17, whatever it’s tough. I just tell myself to have fun and keep in mind that I’m doing what I love; that it’s all about the music and the art and just to enjoy it.
Lastly, how do you deal with negativity and how do you look past it and focus on what you enjoy and what you love?
Ruth B.: It’s definitely tough and it’s not easy. For me, it’s just about figuring out what actually matters, and that’s a hard journey that I’m still on and I think it’s always kind of still going to be there, but it’s just about surrounding yourself with people who love you for you and making sure that you love them for them. The more you do that, the more of that noise just becomes irrelevant, and you don’t really care as much about negativity and trolls. And that’s not to say that there’s no such thing as positive critics and what not, but when it’s just people who are trying to be mean, I think the more you make yourself internally happy, the less you care about what the world is saying about you.