Pop prodigy Ruel is going places.

We're not talking about him packing his bags and going (although he does seem to travel back and forth between LA and Australia a lot). We're talking about the Australian singer-songwriter's sold-out world tours. He recently performed at a show in Sydney presented by Amazon Music. He'll also be performing at Jakarta's Gudfest in November.

At the moment, Ruel has garnered more than 2 billion streams worldwide. He also has three multi-platinum singles: 'Younger,' 'Dazed & Confused,' and 'Painkiller.'

This doesn't mean, though, that his life is all roses. And 'You Against Yourself' is proof of that.

An upbeat pop anthem, his newest single gives us a peek not only at his new album in the works but also at what one of his relationships looks like. In a press release, he revealed that "'You Against Yourself' is about someone in my life who has lots of self-destructing qualities." 

We can't help but feel intrigued over this, especially from someone who reportedly has written and recorded over a hundred songs over the last two and a half years. So Bandwagon sat down with Ruel to give more insight about what the single is about and how it was created—and the things this young artist did to keep his mind off of things when needed. 

So what was it like working on 'You Against Yourself' and how was it like collaborating with others on the single?

The song came together really quickly. On the first day, I felt like I knew exactly what it was gonna sound like and where I wanted it to be. And then I finished it off in Australia. I wrote in LA with Sammy Witte and Emma Rosen, and then finished it in Sydney with my producer M-Phazes. 

The finishing touches actually took quite a long time. It went through, like, fifteen versions of pretty much the exact same song. (laughs) It was very similar to [each other so] it was like, [putting] slight changes that really would impact how it feels live. My main goal was to make sure it really just hits really hard live, and everyone wants to jump around to it. And it's loud and it's like a festival song and people can scream it back. [...] But then, at the same time, if they're listening to it in their car or by themselves, they can kind of also hear all the lyrics and figure out what it's about.

The single is about reaching out to someone feeling hopeless and destructive and getting a message across that you're still rooting for them. How important do you think is this message nowadays?

It's obviously hugely important to just check in with people and make sure they're okay. I feel like that's the message that has been really, I guess, elevated for the past few years. I feel like that's becoming a lot normal which is amazing.

In this track, I guess it's a little different in the way that in this situation, this person has got very self-destructive, self-sabotaging qualities and you tell them you're rooting for them. And they hope you figure it out but the way they're going about things isn't right and you're putting all of this on yourself. It's you against yourself. It's not the world that is against you, it's just that you know the decisions that you're making.

We saw the music video and there was a lot going on, like a colander-ish situation and the ventriloquist scene. What was the inspiration behind the video itself? How was it like shooting it?

Me and my creative director [Grey Ghost], we both sat down after I wrote the song. I mean, I wanted this to be the next single so like, "Okay, how can we make this music video this collage of weird, wacky imagery that relates to basically every lyric?" Because the lyrics can pass very quickly, it's very uptempo, you know, it goes, tadatada-tadatada-tadatada-ta-da but I also wanted to try and fit an image for every line, for every lyric. Like, for the"rooting for you" [part], it's me holding a bonsai, snipping [its] roots. And then for the "stuck in the thick of it" [part], I'm like stuck in this big thing of mud. We made all this conflict and boxing and...all this random imagery [that] just came from each lyric. And that was really fun [for] me, for us to go through and just write down all these crazy ideas and see if we can pull it off.

[Shooting the video] was fun! There [were] a few things that [were] uncomfortable. Being stuck in that mud wasn't too much fun! (Laughs) But no, it was really fun. Like, all those ventriloquist doll stuff and being in this big pool was nice—it was good fun.

You did mention earlier that production took a while. So what did you do during that time to relax and breathe from all of it?

I guess I went surfing a little bit when I was in LA. That's what I do during my time off. A little bit of football. I just like getting outside and doing physical activities that I just enjoy, being in nature and some of that.

What kind of surfboard do you use? A longboard or a shortboard?

A bit of both. I grew up learning how to shortboard. Try to be "Wapow!" (imitates a turn), but I'm just not that good. I never had the patience to get really good; I never had the time. It was like [having] the worst body shape for a surfer, like there are so many people who are 6'5" and skinny as hell, riding on a shortboard. So I tried longboarding and that was a bit more me, and then now I go with a midlength 6'8 twin fin.

You should come over! We have surf spots in the Philippines.

Is it far from Manila?

(La Union) is a four-hour drive. 

I think I'm up for that. I'm coming to Manila pretty soon and I'm coming with one of my best mates who is a king surfer.

I love to surf.  Oh, man. I really wanna [do it].

 

 

 

 

 

Tingnan ang post na ito sa Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isang post na ibinahagi ni RUEL (@oneruel)

So what are your plans for the rest of 2022?

I'm gonna be just travelling again. I'm excited to just get back out and I'm gonna try, basically, just do a trip around the world, just talk about the album...I'm just gonna travel, really for the next few months, finishing the album in LA. In a couple of weeks, I'm leaving so once I get that done, I'll be like, "okay." Once everything is ready to go, I'll put the album out, and then I'll just do it again and tour.

Hopefully Manila is part of that so you can come over!

One hundred percent, it'll be. One hundred percent.

Do you have a message you'd like to share with your fans in the Philippines and across Southeast Asia?

I just wanna thank all of you guys for just sticking with me over the past few years. I know I haven't been able to go out there and I haven't put out that much music. I've just been working really hard on this project, and I really hope you guys love the music. And I'll see you very soon!

Watch the music video for 'You Against Yourself':

This interview has been edited and condensed for brevity.