BEHIND the angst of the hit-song ‘Growing Up Is ___’ is the 20-year-old UK born Australian singer-songwriter, Ruel.
Surge of emotions from his Dabawenyo fans were felt as this young artist stepped his foot on the North-Wing ground stage at SM Lanang Premier in Davao City last May 28.
Singing a few of his chart-topping songs like ‘Someone Else’s Problem’, ‘Sitting In Traffic’, ‘Growing Up Is ___’ and ‘Painkiller’, Ruel was evidently amazed by the energy his audience gave off while singing along.
Few Dabawenyo fans were lucky enough to win an up-close encounter with Ruel on the meet-and-greet portion after the show.
Being his first visit in Davao, the young artist conveyed his huge appreciation for the warm welcome from his Dabawenyo fans and expressed his plan on coming back, but for this time, for a little holiday.
Growing up in Australia
Born in Isleworth, England, Ruel van Dijk or mostly known as Ruel now as his stage name, moved to Sydney, Australia at a young age with his family. Settling in at his new hometown, his young heart was captivated by music. Ruel started taking voice and guitar lessons in primary school. At 12, Ruel penned his first song.
Doing a cover of James Bay’s famous song ‘Let It Go’ made the Grammy award-winning producer M-Phazes fazed upon the talent that this boy has.
Making his debut at the age of 14 with his single EP ‘Golden Years’, a collaboration he had with M-Phazes, this young artist has climbed his way up and made a spot for himself in the music industry.
The critically acclaimed song was followed by a series of EPs that proved why he deserves his place in the industry.
Ruel on his Asian fans
During an interview with SunStar Davao in the Straight from the Stars segment, when asked how different his fans are from here, there’s only a few things he could say - IT’S JUST LIKE... YELLING AND I LOVE IT!
The loudness of his Asian fans ultimately couldn’t make him hear himself gulping his bottled water during talks in between performances. Unlike any other crowd he had, he confirmed that he has the loudest fans here and he’s not even complaining about it.
Growing up is... Necessary
At his young age, fans were amazed by how the story of making mistakes and basically learning was wrapped up into a full-length song that made everyone relate to it.
The elements of angst and true to life narrative of his most-streamed song ‘Growing Up Is ___’ from his recent album, ‘4th Wall’, is what made his fans love him even more.
His song was originally left with a blank at the end for an open interpretation for other people as we all have different experiences growing up. However, when asked to complete his own song, Ruel described growing up as a necessity.
In a wordplay called ‘Growing Up Is A Game’ that he took part in during an interview with SunStar Davao, Ruel emphasized that growing up is a necessity. For him, it was high-time to start being more self-sufficient and independent as he aged.
“To continue being alive, it is a necessity to grow up,” according to the young artist that we sure could learn from.