A long time in the making...Ray Black finally blesses us with his
Fresh Air mixtape. I asked a few questions to Ray so everyone can get a lil insight into his music and this project.
First of all Congrats on finally getting the work out and released. Its been far too long in the making...a whole year. How's it feel to finally have it done?
THANK YOU!! Dude it feels like....a breath of fresh air haha for real though I've been sitting on some of this material for over a year and a half so it honestly does feel like a big exhale! I can't wait for people to listen. You can tell in your music that you seem to touch on your own life, personal experiences, etc.......how do you incorporate those things into your music so easily and where do you gain that confidence from?
It's just natural. I want people to know who I am after listening to my music. There's not much else to write about other than what I experience in my life. It's almost like I feel more confident to express myself through music than through words by itself. Like with relationships for example, sometimes I find it real hard to express myself to a girl with words..they don't really understand where I'm coming from but when I hear that certain piece of music it brings out exactly how i feel. I really don't know why or how.. it just flows out of me and then when I'm done I kinda sit back and be like Hey.. now that's what I'm feeling. I'm no longer confused! haha When it comes to beat selection...do you discover a beat and then write or do you have ideas in mind about your verses over specific beats?
It really all depends on the piece of music. Sometimes I'll be coolin out and an instrumental comes on that puts me in a certain mood and then I just write. Sometimes I'll have an idea in mind and then look for a beat that goes with that idea. My all time favourite is jamming out with musicians and just riding out the vibe and coming up with a song. In the end though.. it's all about the background music.. thats what puts me in the mood and basically plants the song. What gives you the inspiration to write often?
I take my inspiration from a variety of things. People, music, little things that make me happy or little things that make me sad. I love being outside and involved in nature which plays a big part in my creation. The earth. So pretty much everything has at least something I can draw inspiration from... I gotta dig for it sometimes though. After putting all the work in on your first solo project and all the work you've done with Mad Mak for OkayCity how do you feel
satisfied about all your work at the end of the day?
It feels pretty good...I've come a loooooong way since I wrote my first verse.. I think I'm comin up on the 9 year mark. At the same time though.. I'm not even close to being done, I'm only 23 and got alot of growing to do as a person and an artist. I'm looking forward to the future and meeting new creative people to make music with. What do you want people to take away from this project?
I want people to understand that life's too short to worry and stress about the little things. Whether it be family issues, relationships or money etc. There's fresh air all around us.. outside, in music, in love. Don't forget to breath! You can download the tape
here through us....or
here through Ray's bandcamp page!
