Ian: This is Ian, interviewing Trey the Ruler here at The Dial.
First of all, Im just gonna do a quick introduction thing… Where are you based
out of? How long have you been performing?
Trey: I’ve been doing spoken word since mid-July of last year, and
my first tour was with Heart To Heart, and the Sheds, and a band called
Currents in the first week of this year, in January. This is my fifth tour
now
I: About the touring, I’ve seen you a couple times here with like,
emo/indie/hardcore bands…How did you get aligned with that , doing the spoken
word stuff?
T: I started going to hardcore shows and being a part of the music
scene when I was 12, right around 2006. I kind just like, grew up through
hardcore and I’ve always had that hardcore state of mind, like a basis in the
same roots that hardcore has. So I already had friends in a lot of areas in the
Northwest, in Tacoma with the Red Room, and Jeremy from a band called
Cowardice. So as soon as I started doing something, not-musically, but I was
doing this spoken word that I felt a lot of hardcore kids could kind of, find
relevant to them as well as it was to me because a lot of people had similar
upbringings through the music scene. So as soon as I started doing spoken word,
people wanted me to play shows at their venues because I already knew them as
friends, and now that they saw me as, like, an artist they wanted to support
that because we already had the friendship basis. And then, my friend Darren
booked shows at The Laughing Horse Books in Portland, OR and that’s pretty much
how I got connected with my first big tour, which was with The Sheds. I did 2
tours with them, one of them being a full-US. And then I played with My Iron
Lung, again at The Laughing Horse. We played a show together with a band called
Greyscale, and then we decided to go on tour together. We played a show
together in Portland, and then I played a show with them and The Sheds down
here in San Diego, so we both played each others’ homes and we started touring
together. That’s kind of how those things have escalated. How I get a tour is
basically through friendship and stuff
I: Sounds like a pretty natural process
T: It was, it was awesome, it kind of just evolved
I: Along those lines, have you ever come across a venue or anything
like that wasn’t ready for what you were gonna be doing?
T: All the time….Theres always a little bit of confusion on like,
what Trey The Ruler is, like a lot of people think that I’m like, a band. If
they looked it up they’d be able to see that I’m a spoken word artist and for a
lot of people that clicks. For that Sheds full-US tour, we played at a lot of
bars, and that was a fucking nightmare. Like, I HATED playing bars because
there’s always clanking real loud and the people who were just there for the
booze, they’re just not gonna give a shit. Having a medium of art that has no
noise behind it is really hard because when people are noisy, they’re noisy,
and it’s ruining the whole thing. I had a really, really bad experience with a
lot of bars, especially in the Midwest area. But we played at a bar in
Portland, ME and we were right in the heart of a spoken word community and I
had no idea. So as soon as I started doing it, they all came down, and even the
bartender wasn’t clinking glasses during the set. It was really cool to get
that respect somewhere. Like Portland ME, I’m from Portland OR, on the other
side of the country; it was a bar show and I was already discouraged, like, “It’s
just gonna be another shitty bar show” and it ended up being really cool
I: You were talking about there’s a spoken word scene over there in
Maine – how did you get involved with spoken word? Like, how did you make the
decision that this is how you wanted to express yourself?
T: Well back in the day, when I was in high school, I was writing
my first book, which was titled “Waves and Some Other Stuff.” That was just a
poetry collective book, I put that together and I sold like 105 copies when I
was in high school. And then for my senior project I kinda just tied that
through, and went and talked about that to a panel of judges. Back then, I was
a little bit too afraid to do my poetry out loud, it was like a fear that I
had, and I was literally unable to reiterate my poetry the way it was written
because I just wasn’t ready for that yet. After I gave my speech, I did a
really good job, and one of the ladies asked me about why I don’t do spoken
word. And I said, “because I have a fear of not being able to do that”. She
told me, the speech that she just saw is definitely quality enough of a person who
is able to do spoken word. She was like “I think you’re an idiot if you don’t
think you can’t do spoken word.” Having a teacher that I don’t even know call
me out about that, that was the #1 reason to face my fear. Then as soon as I
started, I put out my first record and I just started touring
I: Outside of the music scene, what are some other avenues that you
might suggest or not suggest to other people who might be thinking about doing
poetry or spoken word, but might not know how to tour and stuff like that?
T: Well for me, when I get approached by spoken word artists or
poets or anybody who writes they’re usually looking to me for some kind of
input on how they get it out, and for me I chose to tour in a circuit that I
already knew well. I feel like if somebody is kinda foreign to the hardcore
scene and touring and what that’s all about, they wouldn’t be able to cling
onto it like I did. A lot of spoken word artists make a real good living and
will have more support in the spoken word scene alone. I mean, you can go
anywhere and they have poetry slams at the coffee shop or whatever. I know you
guys do that, they do that in San Diego downtown on Thursdays, we do it in
Portland at the Backspace. For me, I wanted something where I was able to do
multiple poems, because my stuff has always been kind of like storytelling with
a few different poems. A lot of slam poetry, its more condensed, one-poem and
then that’s kind of it. I guess I never saw myself thriving in that environment.
So my advice would be, to another spoken word artist or someone trying to do
this, where are you most comfortable? If you feel like you’re being limited in
whatever circuit you’re at right now, try to find a circuit that won’t limit
you. Because if you’re limited as a poet, it’s not even there. The potency won’t
be there at all.
I: Alright, I see that you have a new book and tape out; Did you
self-release that, or what is that through?
T: I have a real good friend out of Denver and he runs a shop
called Immunity Clothing, his name is Chris. He’s a real good friend of mine
and I met him through The Sheds on that tour, and he really wanted to do a release
with me. Even though I was kind of low-key and not a whole lot of people knew
what I was about or where I was coming from, he didn’t care. He believed in
what I was doing so he wanted to put out the tape. I told him, I’m getting
ready to put out a new record if you wanna do a tape deal type of thing. So we
did a few different colors of tape and then I printed the books. We made a
really cool collaborative effort on that one. I feel like that record – I don’t
do a lot of the stuff from that record live anymore, because it doesn’t
necessarily represent where I’m at right now. I’m kind of in a more darker
state than I was back then. I’ve just been evolving into that, so I have to do
a set that’s potent to me. But the tape is still something that I really wanna
push because there’s still things in there that mean a lot.
I: It got encapsulated
T: Yeah, exactly. So, that whole tape is available as free
download. We just wanted to do a physical copy and I had never done a tape
before and I was really happy to do it with him. He’s a great dude.
I: Alright well I’m gonna wrap some stuff up. Do you have any
upcoming events or releases you would like to mention?
T: Right now I’m kind of working on the release of a series of
poems, one of which has a video out, called “Halloween.” I did a film shoot in
Lubbock, TX and I’m actually on my way to Lubbock, TX right now, again, and we’re
gonna do another one off this release. What to be expected from Trey The Ruler
from now onward would be more videos. I’m gonna do a lot more videos. Then I’m
gonna try to release extras and audio tracks on a very unique way of releasing.
I like the way that tapes are kind of unique and there are more ways to
release, so upcoming, I’d say an EP which shouldn’t be released yet. I just don’t
have it all worked out yet.
I: Okay, last question: What’s your favorite breakfast food?
T: Breakfast food…probably just straight up hash browns, eggs,
toast, and turkey bacon. That’s the set-up right there for me.
I: Sounds delicious.
T: Yeah its great
I: Alright well, Trey, thanks a lot for talking with me! Have a
great set tonight!
Trey The Ruler is currently on tour with My Iron Lung and Troubled Coast;
His self-titled album can be streamed and downloaded for free from his BandCamp page:
http://treytheruler.bandcamp.com/album/self-titledand he can be contacted through his Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/treytheruler
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