Quick-fire Questions: 10 minutes with Ruth Lyon
With each passing day, it seems society is moving further and further away from being able to enjoy a bag of Space Raiders on a park bench. There are myriad reasons for this, from the rising cost of once-cheap corn snacks to the diminishing upkeep of public pews, but the factor that Geordie avant-folk musician, Ruth Lyon, focuses on with her new single, ‘Perfect’, is the increasing pressure we feel to somehow align our lives with market forces.
“It’s about how modern life traps us in a toxic pursuit of perfection,“ she says of the song. “We’re all celebrities of our own life, worshipping at the altar of our egos. It’s kind of infected us all, I think. The perfect mother, the perfect wife, the perfect health and a perfect body flaunting perfect hair/skin/tits/bum blah blah blah.” But rather than ram that uncomfortable message down our throats, Lyon delivers it wistfully, wryly riding on an off-kilter rhythm and hooking melody.
With inspirations that include Adrianne Lenker and Moondog, it seems like the perfect fit that she’s paired with John Parish for her forthcoming album, Poems & Non-Fiction. The catchy yet off-kilter production, which pairs classical flourishes with dainty folk, sits perfectly beneath an excision of the experiences Lyon has been privy to as a disabled woman. The songs are honest and earnest, but never solely serious, as Lyon explains, “I have surprised myself with the raw honesty in these songs and I hope these stories inspire healing and growth.”
With that blossoming sense of honesty in mind, we decided to throw as many questions Lyon’s way as we could in ten short minutes. Ahead of the June 13th release of Poems & Non-Fiction, we discussed The Beatles, being on tour with Zaho De Sagazan, and dream shows in Italy with Regina Spektor.
Quick-fire Questions with Ruth Lyon:
1. What song would you want played at your funeral?
“‘Change’ – Big Thief
Would you stare forever at the sun,
Never watch the moon rising?
Would you walk forever in the light,
To never learn the secret of the quiet night?”
2. What has been your favourite album of 2025 so far?
“Derya Yildirim – Yarin Yoksa. I went to see them just after the album came out, and the show was spectacular.”
3. If you had to liken your music to a film, what film would it be?
“Eeee, I was gonna say Amelie but I don’t know if that’s just because I would like to be the main character, the intoxicatingly beautiful soundtrack or whether I just fancy Audrey Tautou. But maybe more accurate is Lord Of The Rings—but if the cast were all female. Natasha Lyonne as Boromir, Judy Dench as Gandalf. Something like that?”
4. What’s the best restaurant in Newcastle?
“Estate Tea Co. They make the best food, and they are the most beautiful collective of humans. They run poetry nights, cooking classes, sake tastings. It’s wonderful.”
5. What Ruth Lyon song would you recommend people start with?
“I would say ‘Wickerman’, but listen while watching the music video to really feel it. It’s a tragic comedy, a marriage of self, and it’s authentically weird, sad, dark and funny all at the same time.”
6. What album have you listened to more than any other?
“‘Designer’ – Aldous Harding”.
7. When are you at your most creative?
“Depends what the moon is up to. My hormonal cycle gives me crazy bursts of creative energy and wisdom, and then huge crashes, causing me to want to rip my life up in a moment – it’s a wild ride, but it keeps me present.”
8. If you could’ve played one classic guitar solo, which would it be?
“I actually don’t play guitar and I have never really been interested in them – much more of a piano guy myself, but I love the way Nick Drake plays. ‘Time Has Told Me’ is a masterpiece, and the way the guitar carries the song along, locking in all the other elements, is perfect. It breaks my heart.”
9. What would be your dream gig?
“I did a grassroots tour of Italy a few years ago and so many of the small venues were just a stage on the beach right next to the sea. So somewhere like Pescara – quick dip in the sea, right onto stage, mid-summer, BBQ fish, salty, sandy, sunset hues. Any day of the week! If we could get a grand piano onto this beach shack stage scenario, I would love to have Regina Spektor solo and then Orchestre Tour Puissant Marcel Duchamp. What a night that would be!”
10. What’s the best hangover cure?
“Getting in a body of cold water and having a good cathartic scream, hot bath, strong coffee and a load of raspberries.”
11. What is the weirdest gig you have played so far?
“Uber Eats Arena in Berlin! I recently toured Europe with Zaho De Sagazan, this French megastar, and it was the maddest experience of my life. I got added to the line-up only a few days before the first show, so it was wild; me rocking up in my tiny electric van with my two best friends, all of us quite shellshocked next to this star-studded tour bus and a sea of techs and crewmembers all wearing headsets. The backstage food was all French cuisine: coq au vin, boeuf Bourgogne. I would love to be that sophisticated, but if I’m honest, if I ever get to take my own chef on tour, it’s gonna be sausage, mash and onion gravy. Maybe some BBQ hula hoops if I get snacky.”
12. What one ‘classic album’ would you happily delete from history?
“The Smiths album, The Smiths, could happily get on the bonfire for me.”
13. Which song features the best vocal performance of the last 15 years?
“Lankum – ‘Go Dig My Grave’. Whenever I hear this tune, I need an hour to recover in silence. It’s so visceral. Saw them live at Glastonbury last year and it was my favourite moment of the whole week, sat on the hilltop getting existential, letting life go for a minute. Kneecap and The Mary Wallopers were sat right in front of us on the grass, and it was a mega powerful shared experience.”
14. Who was the first musician you wanted to be?
“Joni Mitchell – still do. I have always been obsessed with her storytelling and the way she never seems to hide from her own pain. Sometimes I can’t even listen to her music because it’s too overwhelming. I love that pure musical connection between the listener and the writer, a real conversation between two people who will never meet; it’s rare.”
15. Are The Beatles overrated?
“I don’t know. Perhaps? I think the ongoing hysteria is bizarre. I recorded a session at Abbey Road last year, and it took about 20 minutes to get into the car park because of the hordes of tourists with selfie sticks running about in the road. People had no idea who we were, but were asking for photos and autographs just because we were in that space. It made me super uncomfortable, that creepy obsession with the cult of the celebrity. Have any of those people even listened to a Beatles record? I reckon it has nothing to do with art, and that level of crazy really turns me off.”
