Australian singer-songwriter Ruel on growing up in the spotlight and kicking his feet into a new chapter

Ruel’s been around long enough to make it look easy. At 22, the Sydney-raised singer-songwriter has spent nearly a decade navigating life on stage, on the road, and under the public eye—and yet somehow, he’s still figuring himself out. Last week, he released Kicking My Feet, an album that feels like him fully formed: confident, bold, and unapologetically honest.

Written over the course of a year and shaped across multiple studios with different collaborators, the record marks a new kind of creative freedom for Ruel. He’s no longer chasing formulas or second-guessing what kind of artist he should be—he already knows. Speaking over lunch: bento boxes in Ponsonby Central, he opens up about the songwriting process, the highs and lows of touring, and why this album finally feels like home.

You wrote over 200 songs for this album—what was the process like?
I started writing last year and finished in March, so it’s been about a year and a bit. It’s probably the shortest amount of time I’ve spent on a project, but I still wrote over 200 songs. I’ve got this playlist and a Notes app on my phone with probably 300 or 400 songs now because every song I write, I have to record or note down.

Picking the tracks this time was easier than I thought. Every time I wrote a song I was 100% sure about being on the album, I kept going until I had at least 20 that I felt really confident about—and then went from there.

How has your songwriting and music creation process changed?
It’s definitely changed. Since I’ve gotten older, I feel like when I was a teenager writing music, it was very much just experimenting—a lot of happy accidents, not really knowing what I wanted, just seeing what happened in the studio. Now I’m far more certain and have a lot more intent when I go in to write. I know exactly what I want to make and the sort of artist I want to be, which changes everything and gives me more confidence in each session. Because there wasn’t one executive producer on the whole album, I worked with a bunch of different producers. I had to take over that role of making sure everything still felt cohesive.

What was it like working with so many different producers and creative visions?
Usually I'd be against it because it’s hard to rally that many people and to have a deeper connection in an artistic way with a bunch of people. A lot of the producers I met for the first time on these songs—like No News, Good News—I met Humble the Great the day we wrote it. We had one session, wrote one song, and that song ended up on the album.

And Mark Schick—same thing. The songs we wrote made the record, and we didn’t meet before that. I don’t know if it was luck or just the fact that I can come in and I’m a bit of an open book. Even if I meet someone for the first time, I’ll probably tell them my darkest, deepest secrets—and that’s great. We’ll write a song about it.

This album feels like an evolution in your sound. What does this next chapter of your music—and life—feel like?
Kind of what I was saying about moving with a lot more intent and certainty—that’s really exciting for me because I don’t think I’ve ever had that until now. Other than the music, I can’t wait to tour it. I can’t wait to get on the road and build the show the way I’ve always wanted—to change up the structure a bit and make it feel more like me. Touring will be a massive part of this whole thing. I’m going to be on the road for a long time.

Touring can be intense. How do you keep your energy up?
I do when I haven’t done it in a while, which I haven’t. I haven’t been properly on the road, living out of a bus, for almost two years. The last proper tour was at the end of 2023. I’ve done a few small shows and pop-ups here and there, but I miss the rhythm of full tours, being on the road, doing New Zealand, Europe, Asia, America, the whole thing.

The show itself is the best bit. Funny enough, the more shows you do, the more fun it gets, because it becomes easier. After doing 70 shows, you can just enjoy it. You’re so show-fit that everything is on autopilot, so you can really enjoy it with the fans and travelling to new places. Schedules can get intense, and sleep can be hard to lock in, especially if you’re flying everywhere.

My band is so special, just the most fun people. Behind the scenes, it’s all good vibes and very tame. I think I would run out of energy if I had a bunch of party animals on the bus. The personal band members are dads with kids, and the rest of the crew are just chill. The craziest we get is playing cards on the bus until 2am, or FIFA, or having one or two beers.

How do you manage the highs and lows of performing for huge crowds?
It can get hard with the extreme highs and lows. Getting off stage after the biggest, most intense energy output, and then going back to a hotel room by yourself—it just goes from insane to silent. Then you have to be in bed by 11 because you’ve got a lobby call at 4am for a 6am flight. That’s why the bus is so special—you can get on and everyone’s still winding down. You can chat and let the adrenaline fall out of you in a calmer way.

How is it going back to Sydney?
Since I moved to LA a couple of years ago, I come back every three or four months for a week or two. I’m always coming back because it’s still my biggest market. Technically, I’ve still got work to do there, and there are still fans that come back for promo shows and whatnot. I definitely try to come back just to wind down every now and then because LA can get intense. Most of my friends out in LA are Australian or Kiwi, but it’s just hard to make true friends and have a real circle there. After two years, I’m really starting to feel like I could call it a second home.

Any parts of Kicking My Feet that feel particularly vulnerable?
Maybe every record, I’ve tried to be as vulnerable as possible. This one is vulnerable in a way that I’m not too scared to show. On the last album, I was trying to make every song about the worst thing happening in my life, like the saddest thing I could talk about. I thought that was the only way to make a good song.

With this one, the lyrics can still feel intense, beautiful, and emotional, but also have a happy ending. I think that was really important for me. I’m most excited about this album because it shows a lot more truth. I’m being far more honest about my life, showing both sides of it—still showing the things I’ve been going through, but not just the lows.

Who were you listening to while writing this record?
Writing this one, I listened to a lot of Arthur Russell, Robert Palmer, Tears for Fears—like their first album Hurting. That was the kind of weird, bold 80s sound I love. Massive number one hits back then with choruses that didn’t even come in until nearly three minutes in. Crazy. It makes me think, how have we regressed so much?

Thoughts on TikTok and viral moments?
It doesn’t impact my creative process at all. I almost felt like this album had the most moments that could work for TikTok, which was nice after the fact. But it’s more about how artists promote music now—showing who you are instead of just what you do. Yeah, I scroll through it like five hours a day. I definitely like sharing parts of myself, but it’s tricky too.

Outside of music, what do you enjoy doing?
I grew up loving nature, surfing, water, just goofing around. I love football, basketball—things that are so different from music, to shut off my creative brain. In LA, I play tennis every morning and football in this random league with South American guys—I don’t speak Spanish. It’s the best flip from what I do in my day job.

Growing up in the spotlight, how do you reflect on your teenage years in the industry?
I kind of dissociate from that time now. I look back, I’m proud of everything, and happy with all the work I’ve done. That time was just the base, and now I’m building off that. Each project feels like starting fresh. This album is another rebirth.

Kicking My Feet is out now on all streaming platforms.