For the curious
Ru
A few weeks ago we sold out of cucumber seltzer. Sorry about that. At the same time, we came across Ru @daddynoswag and asked him to make us a track literally made out of the ingredients in a cucumber seltzer. It's our sort of apology to you.
Anyway, Cucumber Seltzer is back and now you have this, so winner winner cucumber singer!
Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Ruairidh or Ru I’m 24 and I have fun making whatever I want, but I mainly make music using the electrical signals from plants.
Where are you and what are you doing right now?
I’m in Southampton England, and when I’m not spinning in slow-motion or placing electrodes on foliage I work in a call centre.
When did you start making music with plants and in basic terms how does it actually work?
I first started making plant music in December 2018. Two friends discovered the concept and bought me the device I still use to this day, shout out Emma and Tobi. I spent two years making pretty unlistenable stuff until I figured out how to apply plant music to practical music-making in January 2020.
In basic terms all living things produce electrical signals including plants. My device reads those signals and converts it to Midi which is a universal computer language that music-making software and synthesisers can understand. The electrical signals control the rhythm and melody of the music. It’s like asking a cactus to play the piano, it might play it differently to a Palm tree.
For the nerds out there, what equipment do you use to record the plants and make your music?
The specific device i use is called the “Bio Data Sonification device” by Leetronics. This plugs into an audio interface with a midi port and can then feed on to anything you wish to control.
You got a whole lot of interesting stuff going on on your Instagram, your videos are brilliant, you have some great dance moves and your music is dope - What’s the plan, take over the world or just have fun?
My plan is just to keep being myself to the fullest. I just have fun creating. I think it’s really important to follow my sincerest creative feelings. Taking over the world would be so much fun! but my happiness comes from making the content rather than the applause for it, any of that is a happy bonus. I’m just gonna keep trusting myself and making what feels right and if anything cool happens because of that, it’ll be a lovely surprise!
You have an incredibly positive attitude to life, you sometimes just post videos enjoying the sunrise. What's the secret to loving life as much as you?
My secret to loving life is self-trust. It's easier to say than practice, but I feel like everyone has had to overcome some hardship in their life, and even though we moan about how we’ll never get through it ultimately we do. we all naturally push through any barriers in our way so I just trust myself to deal with anything that comes my way. This means I don’t worry about the future too much I just take it a day at a time and know that I’ve got this! There is so much joy and detail in normal everyday things and I try and celebrate those as much as possible hence yelling compliments at the sunrise on Instagram.
Tell us about something
I played the accordion for nearly ten years because I thought it would make me more attractive in secondary school. You can’t woo someone with polka.
Tell us about nothing
The word nothing makes me feel excited! there's such a feeling of joy starting something new with nothing and building it into something great!