Rubyofficial

Lesley Rankine is Ruby. She began her career as the lead singer of noise band Silverfish in London, leaving after the release of the album Organ Fan (1993, Creation Records). She was involved in Pigface, the loose knit industrial noise collaboration of Trent Reznor and Martin Atkins of PIL. She subsequently moved to Seattle and joined producer Mark Walk, a former bandmate in Pigface, to create her solo project, Ruby. They decided on the name Ruby, as it was shared by both of their grandmothers.

Ruby’s first release was the acclaimed electronic-downtempo-trip hop album Salt Peter (1995, Sony/Work). The collection was recorded entirely digitally, which was still quite ground-breaking at that time, employing computers without a band, though she did perform with a band in concert. The single “Tiny Meat” was a Modern Rock hit, with heavy support from major market alternative radio stations. The remix album, Revenge, The Sweetest Fruit followed in (1996). Ruby's second and last album was Short-staffed at the GenePool (2001), followed by Altered and Proud, the Short Staffed Remixes (2001).

Lesley’s other notable projects include an appearance on Monster Voodoo Machine's Suffersystem (1994, Chicago Trax), which won a Juno Award; a duet with Tom Jones on a cover of the “Kung Fu Fighting” for the Jackie Chan movie, Supercop, and a Mountain Dew commercial appearance singing "Thank Heaven for Little Girls", directed by Samuel Bayer.

2013 marked a renaissance for Ruby, taking touches from the past to emerge anew in the present. Always progressive with the use of technology in music, Lesley has more ways to play than ever. Her process has revealed regular audio and visual releases, collaborations, and connections with new fans and longtime followers.

Rubyofficial’s tracks

• Ruby - Last Life, Rozio Mix* by Rubyofficial
• Tiny Meat [Mark Walk Mix] by Rubyofficial
• Embers - A Mix For Dil by Rubyofficial
• Ruby - Jolene (single Mix) by Rubyofficial