Check Out Rick Ruiner’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rick Ruiner. 

Hi Rick, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a kid I used to set my bicycle on fire, jump off of the roof of the house into the swimming pool and perform all sorts of stunts for the neighborhood kids. My mother worked three jobs, so our house was sort of the hangout center for kids. The lack of supervision led to headaches for my mother and lots of trips to the ER. I became the neighborhood “Evel Knievel.” 

At the age of twelve, I discovered Rock-N-Roll. I garbage picked a reel-to-reel tape player that had a microphone and audio amplifier feature. I used this rig to start my first band in my basement bedroom. 

Eventually, I found myself combining stunts and music. I formed a band called The Ruiners with a high school friend. We were pretty terrible in the beginning. Our performances over the years have included flame-throwing guitars, leaps from balconies, destruction of large home appliances, and of course, setting myself on fire while I was singing. 

For a while, the music started taking a back seat to the stunts. The shows attracted people who were more interested in fist fights and breaking chairs and tables. We were getting invited to be on reality shows as we had developed a dangerous reputation, unfortunately, this also resulted in it becoming somewhat difficult to find venues willing to put up with the problems that followed the band or liability for shows. We began to focus more on music and songwriting, and major labels did come to scout us multiple times. They still found us a bit rough around the edges to market as a “musical” group. We really took that to heart and focused on the music more. This brought us tours and festival invitations. Indy labels started releasing our music. Tv shows licensed our songs… 

Eventually, when I went back to college and became much more involved with visual art over performance art. I took my mechanical skills from my experiences with working on cars and created “The Bat Hearse” car in 2004. 

This was important to me because my dad was gone traveling on business when I was a kid. He had told me he couldn’t come home for long periods of time because he was Batman. He had to fight crime, and I had to be good and look out for my mother and sisters at home. I truly believed he was Batman and became somewhat obsessed with anything Batman-related. When I built the bat hearse, I imagined it being the final “batman” vehicle after the bat mobile, bat boat, and bat cycle. 

During covid, some of The Ruiners were quarantined for a year. I started meeting up with my friends Josh (who is in The Ruiners with me) and AJ (my friend and my dentist) to create a little side project with Nina and I. Nina suggested naming the project after the “Bat Hearse” I created. The name stuck, and the project really took off. Since the band was primarily made up of visual artists (photographer, videographer, sculptor as a, painter) it became much more entrenched in combining visual art with music. I began creating ambitious sets, and AJ learned software and camera editing to make videos in my barn. 

While I love both The Ruiners and Bat Hearse, they are different enough musically and performance-wise to keep me inspired to do both. The Ruiners is much more aligned with stunts, dancing, partying, and good time music, While Bat Hearse is linked my more to the visual arts combined with darker imagery, video films, and music. 

I am very proud of both bands! It’s an honor to work with fellow musicians/artists; AJ Kahn, James Trunko, Dana Forester, Skeletor Goldsworthy, Jungle Josh and my wife Nina Friday! Without their talents, these bands would not nearly be as successful or fun.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Shortly after finishing high school, I became a father. I essentially spent my 20’s raising my daughter (often alone), working seven days a week for many years. I love being an artist and musician but raising a great person like my daughter is my proudest accomplishment. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I teach art classes at eastern Michigan university. I also am a sculptor and mechanic. 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/bathearse/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/Bathearsedetroit
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCnvZLwWLZyJFiji3PLjPkZQ

Image Credits
AJ Kahn photography