Phone Interview Transcript – Friday, February 17, 2017 Jack Pott (JP) Marques Ruff (MR) JP: So, I am here talking over the phone, one continent to another, with Marques Ruff. Just for the record, please state your full name, age, and current occupation? MR: Marques Jerrell Ruff, 30 years old, and musician. JP: Wonderful. So, starting with a small circle of your life, where did you grow up? MR: I grew up in East Hartford, CT. We moved there when I was in 4th grade. JP: Ok. What is your earliest musical memory? MR: That’s a great question. The earliest musical memory that I can recall is being in 5th or 6th grade, and I had a music teacher at Hockanum Elementary School in East Hartford named Mrs. Godfrey, and she played a recording of “Think of Me”, from Phantom of the Opera, the original Broadway cast, followed by a recording of “Prima Donna.” When I heard “Prima Donna”, I was over-the-moon exhilarated by those high notes. They were glorious! JP: That’s great. Is your family musical? MR: Yes, and no. My grandmother, who passed away when I was four years old, I was told, was a very good singer. She sang in a choir, she was a soprano, she had solos. Then it (singing talent) kind of hopped around a few people. My aunt Toni actually is a fantastic singer. I also have a cousin, McKenzie, who is also a great singer, then me. Neither of my parents are very musical, although, my father, who probably wouldn’t like that I’m going to say this, my father can sing, and I don’t think he knows that I know he can sing, and I think he’s a high tenor at that. JP: There may be some duets that need to happen there! MR: (laughs) Possibly. JP: What was the first song you learned as a solo? MR: It was a song I learned growing up in the church, the Church of God in Christ, Latter Rain Christian Fellowship, formerly Holy Trinity Church of God in Christ, under Pastors Hubert & Jacqueline Powell. I sang in the Children for Christ Choir, also known as the CFC choir. My first solo, that I can recall, was a song called “Thank you, Lord.” The words were, “Thank you, Lord, for saving me. Thank you, Lord, for keeping me. I love you, Lord above. You hear my call. We praise you, we thank you, Lord.” I can remember enjoying that solo, but also being terrified whenever we had to sing it on any given Sunday. JP: What sort of influence has your family had on your current career as a musician? MR: Great question. My family has always encouraged me to dream. I can recall being in 7th grade, and my mother had these plaques made. These decorative plaques that had these various sayings. One of them she hung over the head of my bed because she wanted me to always look at it when I woke up in the morning, and see it before I went to sleep at night. It said, “Shoot for the moon, and if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” And so, my family, while they maybe haven’t always understood when I sing in other languages, they have always encouraged me to just shoot for the moon, and just absolutely go for it. JP: Who are the teachers who influenced you the most k-12? MR: Ah, yes. Well, that’s an easy one for me. As I mentioned before, Mrs. Godfrey, my elementary school music teacher. Then, I would follow that up with Nancy Kirchmyer, who was my middle school music teacher, and really got me on the track, and also had me singing tenor, I might add. That was a feeder program into East Hartford High School, where I met Jereme Martineau, who completely changed everything for me, and really opened my eyes to the talent that I possessed, and truly got me on the path. JP: What about College? MR: Well, you can’t mention Central Connecticut State University without mentioning Dr. Pam Perry. She is a mentor. She has become a friend. She is a fantastic educator, and was my advisor through college, and gave me the scholarship that I went to school on, which was through University Singers. She really opened my eyes, not only to musicianship, but also to the world of travel. It was because of her that I travelled internationally for the first time (France & China). I credit her with helping me to hone the gift, and focus my energies forward. Then, of course, I can’t forget my voice teachers, two actually: Joanne Scattergood absolutely saved my voice. She got me free, and got the voice moving. There height in the high notes, there was depth in the low notes, and consistency throughout the registers, and I credit that to her, and the technique she taught me. Then, Jolie Rocke Brown, who was, and still is my mentor. I met her when I was 15, and she has been with me throughout my entire career, just guiding me, being a sounding board, and vocal coach, voice teacher, you name it, she is it for me. JP: What are your fondest musical memories from high school? MR: My fondest musical memories from high school? One of them would have to be show choir. Yes, I was in show choir all four years of high school, actually. My sophomore, junior, and senior year, Jazzappella, the show choir, won the championship at the Nutmeg Show Choir Festival in Windsor Locks. My sophomore year, we knew it was coming because we worked hard. My junior year we did the same. My senior year, we wondered if we could do it again. The program we did was different, and out of the box. But, we won, and it was just remarkable, so we called that “The Dynasty.” That’s the one that sticks out the most. There were others that were great, but that will always be my fondest memory. JP: Is there one from college as well? MR: I think, actually, in college they all kind of run together. But, I will say this: the various experiences that I had all have significance, but the one that solidified that I not only wanted to teach, but to perform, was being at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lakes, MI. I was 19, so that was the summer of 2005, and it was the first time being around other singers who were also a part of music programs, who understood the struggles of music theory, and orchestration, and this and that. It opened my eyes to finally see that, “wait a minute, there are other talented people out there.” I don’t want that to come out the wrong way. (laughs) I knew that there were other talented people than me, but never had I been in such a high concentration of talent in one area. I mean, everybody was a superstar. So, being around those people, I actually felt “less than”, but it was good because it challenged me to get to their level of musicianship, to their level of performance, to learn my five arias, and such It really motivated me, and shifted things around a bit. JP: So, you’ve alluded to this a little bit in one of your other answers, but, thinking back to when you were in high school, what did you want to be when you grew up? MR: Mmm, that’s a good question! Well, it shifted in high school when I started singing because, honestly, growing up, I always thought that I was going to become a lawyer, and then become the first black president. Well, clearly, someone beat me to that, (laughs) and I’m grateful for that. But, once I found the voice, I remember Jereme Martineau telling me that my voice could take me anywhere that I wanted to go. It could take me anywhere. Once I realized that, it kind of shifted. I didn’t really intend to do music. I honestly thought that I would just sing in choirs, and what not, and I was going to do broadcast journalism, because I liked the idea of being an anchor, and of course, using my voice. So, yeah, I thought I was going to be a broadcast journalist. JP: Wonderful! Were there any particular recordings that had an influence on you growing up? MR: Yes! The first one that comes to mind was an album called “Finally Karen”, by my vocal aspirant, and gospel favorite, Karen Clark Sheard, who is a member of the illustrious Clark Sisters from Detroit, MI. Her debut album came out in 1997, and we had it on cassette. I listened to that album so much that I wore the cassette out, and we had to get another one. Every time we got in the car that’s all I wanted to listen to. I’m sure my parents were so tired of hearing that album! I emulated everything I heard. I just tried to recreate, recreate, recreate. Really, mimicry. Just trying to think, “How she was able to get the florid coloratura she sang with, her identification of key areas. Of course, at that time, I knew nothing about that, but her virtuosity was just jaw-dropping. So, that album, I wore that thing out. As a matter of fact, I have two copies of it now: I have a digital one on my iTunes, and I also have a cd.