Rising force in the world of underground electronic music, Chicago-based DJ and producer Rü has been cultivating his talent over the past couple of years and making himself a name to remember. Using his drive to deliver explorative hard-hitting rave music, he’s launched his own label Super Legit Records, and event production company Super Legit Productions in an effort to showcase the art, music, and wonder that inspires him. With his musical mastery, Rü is primed to continue taking over the underground scene with his dynamic musical style.
THE INTERVIEW
CR: Hello, Rü, Glad to have you on Canadianravers how are you doing? Also, tell us a bit about yourself and where did the name come from?
R: Hi Canadianravers! I’m alive, which is good imo. I’m just a dude in Chicago who likes making electronic music of the underground variety and throwing shows… also of the underground variety.
My name is from… dude names are hard; I’ve been thru several over the years and eventually I just said fuck it, my friend Alex has called me Rü for years and then my niece called me rü when she was little, so I was just like I guess that’s my name. My real name is Andrew, that’s like my usted, my close friends call me Andy, that’s like my tú, and Rü is for everyone else.
CR: ‘Blue/Green’ being your latest EP, reminds us of some early tech-house vibes. Any story behind producing each one of the tracks? We would also like to know- How did you come up with the names of the tracks?
R: That’s interesting! Yeah I mean basically, I like 90s era rave music a bunch- stuff with breakbeats, occasional squirrely vocals, 125-140 bpm, hoovers, 303s, 909s, sample-based, etc. I listen to a lot of that stuff- Orbital, Underworld, Criminal Minds, Aphex Twin, 4hero, DMS, Photek, Armand Van Helden, Rednail Kids, Green Velvet… list goes on… and so I guess I just made stuff like that. I didn’t really intend to, I’d just sit down with nothing and fuck around with synthesizers and samples and was just like “this kinda sounds like Orbital/Underworld. I’m into it.” and would just lean into it. That and I’m a sucker for Lyn Collins’ Think break. And old funk/soul breakbeats in general.
With “Over it” I was just going to a lot of shows where they were playing a bunch of Tech-House and I saw Walker and Royce and the same kinda thing happened. Felt inspired after the show at like 5am, came home and made that kinda ghettoblaster bassline and was like… yeah that’s the move. Listened to a bunch of Dirtybird stuff and leaned into it.
CR: When you are completing a track, how many times would you listen to it before you say to yourself that I want to put this out?
R: Oh my decision to put it outcomes waaaaay before it’s done. It generally takes me a couple of weeks to finish a track if I’m focusing ONLY on that track- I don’t sit down one night and bang out a track. I used to envy people who did that but now I kinda like doing it the way I do it. I like taking my time and obsessing about the details.
Basically a few days a week I sit down and twist knobs and shit until I find a sound that I like, and then I come up with stuff around it that sounds good. They’re like sketches in a sketchbook. Then I let it sit for a few days, weeks, or months and when I feel like it’s time to put something out, I go through all the ideas, pick the ones I’m feeling the most, and then work on those til they’re done.
Because I work on a bunch of songs at once, when I get frustrated with one, I just switch to a different song. Lots of times that means I end up pulling ideas in from other sketches. So long answer to your question- I listen to the stuff tons of times and the stuff that still sounds good/I don’t get sick of is the stuff I put out.
CR: How has your music/producing style changed from when you started to where it is right now?
R: I don’t think it has changed that much, I think I’ve just gotten better at it. I pretty much just make whatever I want. I’ve been producing on and off for like 10 years, and then seriously for like 3-5. I only started putting stuff out a few years ago and at first, it was vinyl-only.
CR: Tell us something that you are proud of and something that you regret?
R: I’m proud of the fact that I just said fuck it and started doing this instead of being a web developer. I was a developer for like 7 years, made a bunch of money, was getting in-person interviews at places like Google and eventually realized that I was just building websites that help cigarette companies market cigarettes to children, making insurance apps to deny people insurance coverage, and helping create skynet… I did that for years and never really thought about it. I always wanted to do the music thing and was just like… I don’t wanna look back at my life and have that be my life’s work so I just stopped doing it. I had an incredible amount of privilege and advantage because I had been working in that field for so long so I had money, knowledge, and most importantly people who believed in me and have at times even financially supported me in what I’m doing. So I’m proud that I stopped doing that.
I also struggle pretty heavily with depression so I’m proud of the fact that I’m still alive. I’m grateful that I’m surrounded by people who care about me and that I care about. I’m proud of my friends- a lot of them do really cool shit, and even the ones who are just living their lives are all really nice people. I’m proud of Chicago because it’s a very… welcoming and supportive music scene in my opinion.
I’ve made a lot of really stupid mistakes but they made me who I am so I don’t really regret them as far as I’m concerned. I’ve definitely hurt people and do things that negatively impacted society and I’m ashamed to have done those things, but I know what not to do now. So I have remorse but not really regret. That’s probably just me being pedantic tho.
CR: As fans of the underground scene we wanted to know- How has that scene grown in Chicago and how did that influence you as an artist to produce music like that?
R: I can’t really speak for the scene too much because I haven’t always been super involved with it; I mean I am now but less-so because of COVID.
What I can say is that the underground really exists because of a concerted effort of a few promoters and a bunch of cool people that go to the shows. When people talk about the health of the underground like… it’s health is determined by every single person involved in it. A lot of it is somewhat self-policing. It’d be cool if it were bigger but because a lot of it is word-of-mouth the shows are healthier but not like thousands of people.
Chicago and Detroit both have incredibly rich histories of underground music in general but especially electronic music. They feed off of each other. We have really good record stores and really dope club nights (shout-out to Queen @ Smart Bar <3 ).
I wish raves didn’t have to be illegal but a lot of times it comes down to zoning and I can’t really hold communities at fault for not wanting massive subwoofers and people on drugs near their houses from 10 pm-8 am. I’d gladly pay taxes on my events; Chicago is kinda broke; our schools need more funding, and lower-income people need help.
Anyway, there’s a lot of really, REALLY good techno in Chicago right now. Hiroko Yamamura, Aathee, Format Recordings, Mark Angel, Loren (she’s Detroit based but she comes to Chicago a lot) to name a few. A lot of raves are very techno-oriented so it’s inspired me to make more/better techno though... I’m not even gonna lie- my techno game isn’t on the same level as theirs.
CR: How is it running your own label ‘Super Legit Records‘? Were there any hurdles when you were starting it up?
R: Man… it’s hard. I’m not always the most social person, so the label is mostly just me right now. The main thing is that when someone works with my label, I really wanna bring something good to the table for them and I’m still figuring out how all the shit works so I haven’t wanted to bring anyone else on yet. That’s kinda what my whole career as Rü so far has been just me trying to figure out how everything works.
If someone signs to my label I want to be able to get them booked places, help set up their distribution, ensure their publishing is on point, ensure they have legal representation, have their merch designed, build their social following and get them press… basically do everything a major label would do but without being … ya know… a greedy shitbag about it.
So right now I’m just stumbling through it and making all the mistakes with my music so I don’t fuck up anyone else. That’s really the biggest hurdle- it’d be really rad to work for Mad Decent, Higher Ground, or Fools Gold or something so I could learn how successful independent-ish labels go about this stuff.
My goal as a label is to get fresh artists to the point where bigger labels wanna work with them… but make sure they know the ins and outs so they don’t get taken advantage of. That’s a way bigger goal than just putting out people’s music.
CR: Is there a track that never leaves your personal playlist because it has a certain emotional connection to you?
R: I only have one playlist and it’s massive, so no not really. There is, however, one song that I absolutely refuse to listen to in any context unless the situation really calls for it and it’s Claire De Lune by Debussey. I will plug my ears, leave the room, change the channel, mute whatever to not hear that song if it’s not the right context because it’s the most beautiful song ever written and I refuse to allow it to be cheapened by dumb people putting it in stuff. I don’t hold anything sacred except for that song. I’m super intense about it. So that song isn’t physically on any playlist, but it’s in my head. There are a few songs by Orbital, Aphex Twin, Lakker, and a few others that ARE on my playlist that serve similar purposes.
CR: Aside from DJing and music production, what else do you enjoy?
R: Lots of nerd shit, not even gonna lie- I still like coding, hacking, learning tech stuff related to AI, and video games.
Non-nerdy shit like playing with my dog, skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing… I wanna become a licensed skydiver, paraglider, and BASE jumper (eventually) but that costs money and I’m broke lol.
I’m training my dog to be a licensed therapy dog so we can help people with social anxiety and old people and stuff.
That sounds like a lot of stuff but I sleep a ton so it’s not like I do all that stuff all the time or anything.
CR: Anything our followers should know about related to more music as well as any tour dates?
R: I’m gonna try and get on a steady music release schedule- a release every two months or so. No tour dates. Honestly, people should just follow Super Legit on Facebook and Instagram and come to our parties in Chicago/Detroit. I’m gonna start throwing them once I’m sure we won’t get people sick with COVID. We like to have art, cool venues, live streams and we try to pay our people a living wage so it’s a cool experience for everyone involved so the shows can be a bit more expensive, but you just have to DM us if you’re in a rough spot financially and we’ll work with you. The underground is for everyone who likes good music and good people.
Lightning Round
1. Texting or talking? Both
2. Coffee or tea? Tea with milk and honey
3. Hard liquor or Wine? Water
4. Cake or pie? Pie. No contest
5. Hot dogs or hamburgers? Chicago dogs.
6. Xbox or PlayStation? Playstation and/or PC
7. Movie theatre or arcade? Movie theatre
8. Guitar or piano? Piano with few exceptions
9. Marvel or DC Comics? Marvel. Deadpool is bae.
10. Dog or cat? Both. I have 2 cats and a dog.
11. Hot weather or cold weather? Cold weather for sure. You can always put on more clothes; you can’t take off your skin. Also snowboarding.
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