10 Questions with ... Ruth

NAME:Ruth TITLE:Band LABEL:Tooth & Nail Records

Line-up:
Dustin Matthew Ruth (Vocals, guitar)
Nicholas Ace Wiinikka (guitar)
Justin Schiermeister (bass)

Label:
Tooth & Nail Records

Discography:
Secondhand Dreaming (2007)

1) Introduce the band members using personality traits and musical background.

Nick: Plays the guitar and grew up with a very musical dad who also plays guitar and has for most of his life. Nick has played the guitar himself for a few years and has always had a mature taste of musical influences. Many times in the van his favorite CD to play would be the best of Fleetwood Mac. He has very good social skills but is usually slow to speak. He is very much an introvert but loves to hang with friends. His family is very important to him. I think he misses his nephew Jackson the most while on the road.

Justin: Plays the bass and has played the bass seriously for about four years. He has very supportive parents who have helped him with acquiring the tools he needs to succeed as a musician. Justin, like everyone, loves the Beatles and all classic rock greats, but on the "Oregon Trail" tour has spent his listening ears on Boston for the most part. He is pretty easy going and laidback, literally. On the road he sleeps, watches cartoons, eats and plays bass. There are two sounds that you hear Justin making in the back of the van. He's either laughing (at cartoons) or snoring.

Dustin: Writes songs, plays guitar and sings. This section is about myself. I am the older one of the group. I have played in bands for the past 11 years. I moved to L.A. and back home. I left the church and been brought back. God has blessed me in endless ways. I have an amazing family and I'd say my parents have done well. I love all music as do Nick and Justin, but my favorite artist on this tour would have to be Ryan Adams. He is always a favorite for me. I like to drive the van, mainly because it's faster than walking.

We love listening to Leeland. Just wanted to say that.

2) Give us a brief rundown of how the band got started.

I had left the last band I was in due to drug abuse and a soiled life style. God had been doing some amazing things in my heart and this had really changed the songwriting. I really needed to find the right guys with the right hearts. At that point I met a friend who played drums. He was delivering a part to my dad's auto repair shop that I was running at the time. He introduced me to Justin and Nick and the four of us played for about a year and half before he got married and stayed home to do the ranch thing. On the endless quest for the right one, the three of us have hired drummers since.

3) What's the underlying message to "Secondhand Dreaming"?

The message of "Secondhand Dreaming" comes from a verse in Psalms that reads something along the lines of "if we seek God first in our lives, he will give us the desires of our hearts." Meaning, literally, he will put his desires for our lives in our hearts to make them our own. I re-labeled those "desires" as dreams, like my dream to play music, and basically called them secondhand dreams because they originate from God. So it just felt right to name the record "Secondhand Dreaming" because everything going on in my life was very obviously orchestrated by God.

The only time I feel like I'm truly living and not just dying is when I'm "Secondhand Dreaming."

4) What's the story behind the single "Cross the Line"?

God gave me the song "Cross the Line," shortly after he had done his heart surgery on me. I guess I'm still really undergoing that surgery and will until I get to heaven. Anyway, it is a song about letting go of every inch of my life and trusting he will take care of me. The bridge comes from a verse I had memorized as a child, "I give you my heart, my mind and my soul!" For me it's been a great song to remind me multiple times this day is God's day, not my own.

I think when we first "Cross the Line," a lot like myself, we feel a bit scared about whether God really wants us, hears us, sees us. It's one of those songs that's a cry out to God.

5) Which do you enjoy more: the process or the performance?

Such a great question. No one really asks this question. I would have to say for me, as much as I like being with the people and making the memories of recording or playing live, I love songwriting the best. There is something magical that happens when God gives you a song. It moves me. The songs God gives me really keep me closer to him. It always reminds me how cool and creative our God is when he gives me a song that I believe is so cutting edge cool, you know? As for recording, it would be my next favorite and performing my last. I like them all. They all have pros.

6) What was a highlight (or highlights) of the "Oregon Trail" tour?

Well, we had been in the Midwest for two months on tour without being home. So I would say the highlight for me of the "Oregon Trail" tour would have to be getting back to the Northwest. I love this amazing countryside. All us guys love the outdoors so it's fun to be back in the mountains and trees. We also love the guys on the tour. The other bands have been our friends for a while now so it's always fun to be with them.

One of the shows was on the Oregon coast. Basically, completing two months of a journey to New York to record our music video for "Cross the Line," which we literally recorded on the beach and in the water, then bringing us back to the Pacific, I have a pair of shoes that have a lot of miles on them.

7) What's your favorite song to play live?

Wow, well, right now I really love playing "Mr. Turner." It's very much so the crowd favorite every night and is our closing song. It is a very amazing story and so it's awesome knowing that we get to share it with people.

8) Was there a moment while you were in the studio that you thought, "Ah ha! Now we have a record"?

Yeah, the last couple days in the studio were pretty awesome. Watching Aaron Sprinkle and being a part of adding all the color tracks was a good closing feeling. He really comes up with some great ideas. Once harmonies and vocals are done you move on to the color: Piano, strings, bells, etc. This is when the songs really come to a close. We had to hit the road while JR McNeely mixed our tracks. So, everyday Aaron would call us on the road and we would pull over to a hotel and download a new mix. That was how we listened as the record had the finishing touches put on it. We were on the road touring.

9) If you could try your hand at anything outside of music, what would be it be?

Without music I don't know what I would do. Sound generic? I just really have spent my whole life writing and if the Lord took that away, I don't know what I would do. I really do believe he would give it to me though. The next Secondhand Dream. I did do theatre for a few years. I'd love to try my hand at acting some day. But as far as real jobs, running my dad's auto repair shop for four years has given me a good foundation in auto repair. Who knows? Grease monkey? Me? Yeah!

10) What does the phrase "always back up your files" mean to you guys?

I will share with you a funny little story that I haven't shared yet in any interviews about the studio time. After we had finished tracking all the drums, bass and guitars, both Nick's parts and my own (about 75 percent of the record), there was a winter storm in Seattle where we were recording. The storm caused a power surge and we hadn't backed up the files. Needless to say we lost our entire hard drive. We sent it to a place in San Francisco that recovers hard drives for such companies as NASA (in other words it cost a pretty penny).

This was right before we had a scheduled break for Thanksgiving. We were really thanking God when we got back to the studio the Monday after and they said they had recovered all the files.

I remember the moment we went in the room after the storm and Randy fired up the computers to start tracking with me and I sat on Aaron's teal couch. The computer was making this weird noise. Like one of those door stops that are a spring. Anyway Randy shut off the computer right away and gave me this big Torrez smile. "That's not good," he said as he laughed. I was cracking up at him while saying, "What, dude?" I didn't believe him for the first few minutes. Finally, I caught on to the seriousness of the situation. It was scary.

1) Who would be a dream artist to record with?

Dream artist. For sure would be Ryan Adams. Or Ethan Johns. I look up to a lot of people but "Heartbreaker" is always a record I can listen to. I've listened to it maybe a thousand times. And bought it for at least 40 people.

2) What is your favorite city to visit?

Well, now that I have a lot of friends in Seattle I would say it's up there. It's such a cool city. But I live 10 minutes from Portland, and I lived in L.A. for a while. I love both those cities as far as to visit. Smaller cities, I love driving up the Oregon and Washington coasts. Beautiful, I tell you.

3) What is your favorite road meal?

Cup of noodles

4) Musical guilty pleasures?

Ashley Simpson's first record. The last track. I don't remember what it is called but it's awesome.