Ruthlss - real name Ruth - has become one of the more intriguing voices in London’s electronic music scene. After years of DJing, producing and composing, she has been pushing her sound in new directions, bringing more of that experimentation into her live shows. Having opened for Daniel Avery at the Barbican last year, she now heads to EartH in Hackney on 12 October for The Future Is Sound, a night that puts her alongside visionary artists Suzanne Ciani, Robot Koch and Anthony Middleton.
The live show brings together piano, synths, ambient textures and electronic music, and it bears little relation to the records. “There’s quite a lot of improvisation in my live show, particularly on the piano, so it’s quite different from the recordings,” she says. “I’m building the electronic side live too by playing beat loops and layered melodic synths, and adding ambient textures and vocals around the piano.”
So far only one of her released electronic tracks features piano — ‘Dark Angel’, out on Houndstooth — “but the piano features a lot more prominently both in the show and on my next electronic releases”. The set, in other words, is where she is heading rather than where she has been. “The live show is where those piano and experimental electronic sides really come together, and it’s closer to where I’m taking everything next,” she says. “It’s part classical concert, part rave, and I adapt the performance a bit every time for the setting and audience, so it’s kind of personalised to them, and to me also!”
She started on classical piano at a young age. “That training is still the backbone of everything I do,” she says. “It gave me the technical vocabulary as well as the understanding of melody, harmony, structure and dynamics. All of that is so baked in at this point that I don’t think about it consciously any more.”
What has shifted is her relationship to the rules she was taught. “Classical training is so precise and disciplined, but the more I’ve grown as an artist, the more I’ve learned to bend or break those rules on purpose, using that foundation as a springboard into improvisation rather than something that boxes me in,” she says. “People tend to think of improvisation as something more related to jazz, but I approach it from the classical side, which is fun to experiment with. And I suppose people don’t talk much about synth improvisation either, which is something I’m exploring now for the electronic side of the project.”
Dream venue
The Barbican had been an ambition since childhood, and playing it last year did not feel entirely real. “I can barely put into words how surreal and thrilling it felt,” she says. “It’s something I’ll treasure forever. I’ve been going to concerts there since I was seven years old.”
The moment landed mid-performance. “During the intro I glanced out at the audience from the piano for a split second, and that’s where the reality of it hit me, and I remember trying to hide smiling because it didn’t fit the mood of the piece at all!”
EartH is closer to home. “I am so excited to play EartH Theatre,” she says. She lives in Hackney and has seen a string of shows at the venue, most recently the French ambient artist Malibu. “It’s an honour to be invited by The Future Is Sound, they’ve built such a trusted platform for pushing immersive electronic music and culture forward, and playing alongside Suzanne Ciani, a true legend of electronic music, is unreal,” she says. “This is going to be an incredible night.”
Recent work such as ‘Dark Angel’ has a more meditative, inward quality than her earlier music. “I think it’s a reflection of where I am in my life right now, wanting to make more space for stillness alongside high-octane experiences that I still love,” she says. “There’s something powerful about restraint, about letting one note or texture breathe instead of filling every gap.”
A growing amount of composer work has pulled her ear in the same direction. “It’s also just where my ear has naturally drifted as I’ve been taking on a lot more composer work recently, which has expanded my mind creatively as well as my approach to composition and production,” she says. “I’ve been through some intense experiences personally too, which perhaps has led me back to using the piano as a meditation tool, and has made me more drawn to the emotional effect of something slow and spacious.”
Alter ego
She has described Ruthlss as a more fearless version of herself. The distance between the two has narrowed. “Haha, that’s true, she’s still my alter ego, but I think I may have actually become her at this point,” she says. “I had a fear of being seen and a fear of judgement, but I don’t carry that so much any more.”
“Doing things that take a lot of courage builds your strength over time, and that has allowed me to reshape my identity,” she says. “And it’s okay if some people don’t like what you do or don’t get it, honestly that’s a really great thing. I’ve started to find my audience, both online and through playing live shows, and I truly love all of these people, they are really good humans. So yes, I think I’m closer to ‘Ruthlss’ than Ruth now, and that’s what allows me to do things I once never thought possible.”
Her current listening runs from the elegiac to the abrasive. “I’ve been really excited about Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s ‘Conversations’, it’s the last music they made together, so even with just two singles out so far I’m counting down to the full album,” she says. “James K has been on there too, alongside Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works, which never leaves my rotation no matter what else I’m into.”
Newer discoveries include the Belgian multi-instrumentalist Gala Dragot. “Right now I’m fixated on the new Arca record and Underscores’ latest album, and I’ve recently discovered a Belgian artist called Gala Dragot who has this raw, unreal talent as both a multi-instrumentalist and singer, really refreshing. I don’t really know what genre she is, which I think is cool,” she says. “I feel like I can’t be sure exactly how these have influenced the way I’ve been making music recently but all of these records have inspired me to be more experimental, playful and curious.”
Finding community
A familiar face in London’s underground electronic and queer music scenes, she does not take that welcome lightly. “London’s underground and queer music scenes have a sense of community and generosity that I don’t take for granted,” she says. “People showing up for each other, sharing stages, sharing knowledge, championing each other’s work without ego. Being welcomed in to be part of that has shaped my confidence and has given me a sense of belonging in what can be quite an overwhelming and isolating city and industry at times, even though it’s a city I love.”
“I spend most of my time on my own, to be honest, but the exceptions are making friends within these communities, and being out there playing live and meeting people at events like the upcoming EartH show is really what it’s all about.”
Ruthlss will be performing in the live finale of The Future is Sound on Monday 12 October 2026. Tickets are available here.
EartH
11-17 Stoke Newington Road
Dalston
N16 8BH
