LESLEY RANKINE
Lesley Rankine
Bio
Music Art
Music
Ruby, Pigface, Silverfish.........
Lesley began her music career as the lead singer of post-punk noise band, Silverfish, in London. Gaining recognition in the UK music press, the band toured extensively in the EU, UK and US, and released several albums in their short, 5 year lifespan.
She is one of the earliest members of Pigface, the loose knit industrial noise collaboration headed by Martin Atkins of PIL/Killing Joke, whose members have included Trent Reznor of NIN, Randy Blythe, singer of LAmb of God, Bill Rieflin, drummer in Ministry, REM and King Crimson, and Danny Carey, drummer in Tool.
After leaving Sliverfish, Lesley subsequently moved to Seattle to create her solo project, Ruby, who’s first release was the acclaimed electronic-downtempo-trip hop album, ‘Salt Peter’, a classic of the mid '90's alternative & dance music scenes and one of the first albums to be recorded entirely digitally. ‘Salt Peter’ & the follow-up, ‘Short-Staffed at the Gene Pool’, were remixed by the likes of Primal Scream, Bench, Peshay, Gilles Peterson, Danny Saber, the Mekons, Mira Calix, Conor Oberst.
Among Lesley’s other notable projects, a duet with Tom Jones on a cover of ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ for the Jackie Chan movie ‘Supercop’, and a Pepsi commercial appearance singing ‘Thank Heaven for Little Girls’, directed by Samuel Bayer, which premiered at the ’97 Superbowl.
There is now a 25th anniversary remake of Salt Peter, completely reimagined, with Lesley and her brother, Scott Firth (Bass player in PIL) on production and mixing duties.
“Going to a Ruby gig is the closest most of us will come to milking a snake”
--- David Bennun,
Art and Photography
"Texture, saturation of colour and experimentation with both, are the mainstay of what I try to achieve and explore. Whether it’s sewing sun-dried tomatoes together or layering watercolour, with a plethora of other medium on top of thickly textured paper, wood, metal or a mixture of all. The need is the same – the feel must look good and the look must feel good, for me. Art is the process of using a visual medium to display the contents of the heart, or to capture a moment and an aesthetic and translate it in your own language."
Lesley studied graphics and illustration at Wimbledon and Camberwell Schools of Art. However, as her band, Silverfish rapidly grew in popularity at a time when arts funding was all but scrapped by a Tory government, Lesley never finished her degree course, choosing to instead "go off n' be a rock star for a bit!!!"
She now makes visual art using printmaking and a range of media, including things like paint, fabric, metal, found objects, wood, plant material, and occasionally wasps nests!