Youth Music - BongoClub.org.uk

New York based children's artist Mr. Ray has become something of a star in recent years and has been called 'The King Of Kindie' by The Times and the BBC.  As a seasoned musician who has shared the stage with legends such as Meat Loaf and Bruce Springsteen, his music appeals to mums and dads and kids alike. His fun lyrics about dinosaurs, manners and other themes relevant to kids, have all proved a big hit with the younger audiences. Mr. Ray's albums are available on his new website www.mrraymusic.com

I understand you were into The Beatles from an early age. Which of their songs inspired you the most to write your own songs?
It would have to be I Wanna Hold Your Hand and I Saw Her Standing There. It got me pounding on anything I could, with kitchen utensils...chairs, floors. The rhythm is the thing that hooked me first. Then I got my first drum set, a silver Tempro kit (which I just got back from someone I gave it to in the early 70's!). As far as venturing into guitar, it would have to be the White Album...particularly Dear Prudence. The way the guitar chord sequence descends, sent me to heaven. Also, my parents took me to a drive-in to see Let It be (bless them) and The Long & Winding Road stuck in my head for days until my mum bought the album for me. That being a piano song inspired me to play piano, hands-down.

You had a private tour of Abbey Road studios whilst here for your tour of Greater London. What was that like for you?
It was magical. It was like visiting your dreams, a place you've always imagined - but in real-life. Takes my breath away every time I think about it.

You play all the instruments on your recordings. Do you write your songs on a guitar, the keyboards, or both?
I write them on both instruments, usually guitar, though. I write a lot while driving, too, singing melodies into my phone's recorder. Sometimes I'll just go on my drum kit and pound away a beat and start singing/chanting dummy lyrics, melodies.

What's your biggest inspiration now?
My daughter is my biggest inspiration, for sure, but any music that strikes me, inspires me, vintage or new, as does all aspects of life, what kids/adults say and do.

Do you find your training as an actor has helped you understand how to connect with kids in a physical as well as a musical way?
Definitely. That brief time studying acting helped me to get out of myself. Also my parents weaned me on old-school show-biz greats, so I'm sure their influences are in my psyche when I perform.

Do you find that playing in Meat Loaf's band and jamming with Bruce Springsteen helped you gain credibility with the parents in your audiences? 
It's been great that way. Parents always tell me, the children's musical genre has been barely tolerable for them for many years now... Only in the last few, have some of us tried to raise that bar. I'm sure fact that I've been on stage with some of these folks does give me some music-cred.

Do you find that many of the dads really connect with you because it is a dream with them to jam with The Boss?
Absolutely - even their teenage sons ask me all kinds of questions about Bruce. Often I call kids up to play a song on an instrument they're taking lessons on, and at one particular show, a 12-year-old boy sang & played Born To Run to perfection! I just saw Springsteen perform for 30,000 people last week, and I still am in awe of his gift to connect. He has no peer in that regard.

Which celebrities have brought their children to come see your show?
James Gandolfini, Julianne Moore, Brian Molko from Placebo, Chris Meloni from Law & Order.

You have a new website made for kids that is very interactive and educational.  Which is Layla's [Mr Ray's daughter] favourite element of the website?
[Layla] LOVES the interactive guitar strings and the coloring game, but seeing daddy as a baby really lights her up.

One of your most popular songs is 'I'd Be A Dinosaur'. Do you have a favourite dinosaur and why?
I'd have to say Tyrannosaurus Rex. Totally menacing-looking, but new evidence suggests they could have been vegetarians! Plus it's one of my favourite 70's bands!

Many of your songs deal with issues such as manners and the sensitive side of growing up. Is this insight a result of your own experiences as a child?
Very big on manners, I credit my mum and dad for that. When I was a boy I always had longer hair than the other boys, and got teased a lot, but that taunting never persuaded me to cut it. Those guys are probably all bald now - and I still have a full head o' hair!

On your last UK visit you caught Meat Loaf at Wembley Arena. Has he heard any of your songs and if so, does he have a favourite?
I can't say if he has a fave, but the last year of my time with him, 2001, even HE was calling me Mr. RAY! Seriously, when I decide to leave his band, he was fully supportive of my decision. I simply wanted to entertain kids full time and start a family.

You have performed to such critical acclaim in the UK with waiting lists for your gigs even on your debut tour. Now you have signed a record deal with Universal Music here in the UK, do you find that you need to translate the live stage show banter you have with the kids?
Actually not much. The only thing I always check up with my management team, are pronunciations of long and short vowel sounds, as in my tune, Zibby the Zebra, whereby the 'e' is short in the UK. Oh, also sports songs. I reference baseball and basketball quite a lot, which isn't big [in the UK].

Which is your favourite song to perform?
I'd have to say, Family Ride. It's the song and point in my show where I ask the kids to grab their parents and grandparents, get up and start dancing together. Wonderful to see families dancing, singing and smiling all together.
 
What is it like being a busy musician with a young child?
I have a built-in song jury in the person of my almost 4-year old, Layla. There's one line that kids inevitably say after I play them a song for the first time if they like it : "Do it again!" I don't hear that line if they don't dig it. Layla is no exception. But I will tell you - parents always tell me that I must serenade her 24-7. TOTALLY not the case! It's hard for me to perform an entire song for her at home....she wants to play the guitar I'm cradling at that moment, instead of the twenty or so hangin' on my walls or lying about.

What is a normal day like for you?
I'm the early-morning parent, so I get up first, take my vitamins, make the coffee for Patti [Mr Ray's wife] and I then wake up Layla by tickling her to no end. Patti wakes up, makes Layla breakfast. I make cereal with fruit, we all eat together, then one of us drives her to Montessori Pre-School. I usually have one or two shows every other day or so, depending on the week.
Throughout the day, I write, record, network...whatever hits me or has a priority.

As we all know, children can be the most difficult audience to please. Have you had to deal with mini hecklers?
Sure - how 'bout..."This is the last song, right?"