Rebekah Higgs' Split Personality

Rebekah Higgs initially devised an alter-ego to provide her with a mask that separates her more reserved, elegant solo music from the raucous electronica she makes with her friends in Ruby Jean And The Thoughtful Bees. But it seems Ruby Jean has taken on a life of her own lately.

"I'd imagine that my solo stuff is kind of the side-project, just because [Ruby Jean] is more accessible right now," the singer/songwriter says over the phone from Halifax.

"Clubs love it because it gets people out there dancing and drinking and having fun and staying out late. It's one of those things you always end up doing on the weekends."

Ruby Jean And The Thoughtful Bees' eponymous debut — which features Higgs' normally sweet, girlish vocals looped and warped to match a sound far more danceable and austere than her girlish folk-pop — recently spent a couple of weeks in the top spot on the Canadian electronica chart.

"I think that eventually Ruby Jean will be something that takes up more of my time," Higgs says.

It's little surprise, then, that Higgs' doppelganger is starting to creep into her 'own' material, which boils down from the five-person electro extravaganza to Higgs, a smattering of instruments and looping pedals, and some added muscle from drummer Jon McKiel. The follow-up to her 2006 self-titled album is in the works, and Higgs envisions it as being considerably "darker."

"There's a lot of experimenting with vocals and looping, using your voice as an instrument, which is part of what Ruby Jean is all about. I'm kind of going in a psychedelic direction," she says, using her cover of Eric's Trip's "Behind The Garage" on the upcoming Songs For Eric: A Tribute To Eric's Trip compilation as an example.

"But there's also some fun songs that have drum machines and finger snapping and trumpets and vocal layering. It'll probably be sort of cute, psychedelic music."

The touring schedule behind both projects allowed Higgs to test her new solo material with far-flung friends.

"I've done stuff all over the place, different places with different people, wherever I could," she says.

Higgs has completed 17 tracks and is still looking to lay down more and find a producer with which to re-record the whole thing.

"I really want there to be a flow and a thread to all the songs," Higgs says. "I want to put out something I'm going to be really proud of, something that's really valuable, not just something that I'm doing because I feel like it's time to put out something new — something that's a good artistic contribution to Canadian music."

Touring's the priority until then, and Ruby Jean and crew are playing several dates leading up to Canadian Music Week in Toronto. Ruby Jean And The Thoughtful Bees will play Toronto's Drake Hotel on March 12, and Higgs will perform solo at CHARTattack's showcase at the Horseshoe Tavern two days later.

You can also catch the Ruby Jean And The Thoughtful Bees here:

March 5 Fredericton, NB @ The Capital
March 6 Quebec City, QC @ The Scanner w/Les Mommographes
March 8 Montreal, QC @ Il Motore w/Hexes & Ohs and Zeroes
March 9 Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox (free)
March 10 Peterborough, ON @ The Montreal House
March 11 London, ON @ Call The Office
March 13 Hamilton, ON @ Pepper Jack Cafe