Popping up onto the scene back in 2017, RayRay exploded onto the international dance scene with a steady barrage of music in addition to throwing down at club venues and major festivals across the globe. While being a Red Bull Thre3style competition winner is certainly one of the finest accomplishments of her career, 2022 saw the Taiwanese talent take that next big step as an artist with the release of her debut album, Unearthly World.
Being a true bass enthusiast and Barong Family fan favorite, her 10-track offering serves as a stunning and diverse look into her psyche and childhood inspiration while also showcasing her versatility as a producer throughout venturing into the realm of dubstep, trap, house, and hardstyle.
“I am so stoked to share it with you. over the past 2 years, there have been so many changes in my life. I was torn apart after the loss of my cousin & my good friend, the breakup, and my depression. music has been my only getaway, so I decided to make an album to express my feelings and everything I have been experiencing in the past. through this album, I want to share with you my true self,” RayRay explains.
Still buzzing off the release of her Unearthly World, we took the time to get to know RayRay a little better!
DJ Life Mag: Who or what introduced you to the world of dance music?
RayRay: At a young age, I was into Hip-Hop, R&B, Funk, and Soul music, and I started learning turntablism and the cello. After getting into the Hip-Hop music scene in Taiwan, I was crowned champion of the 2013 Red Bull Thre3style DJ competition. The same year, I presented Taiwan to Toronto in the International DJ Championship which provided me the opportunity to explore the world and experienced the diversity of music genres. Since then, I have been focusing on my own music production, because I didn’t want to just have the other artists’ music in my set, but I want to make my own music and create my own sound. In 2016, I was selected as the participant of Red Bull Music Academy in Montreal, and I was in love with Trap music, because it was like a bridge to me which connected Hip-Hop with Electronic music.
DJ Life Mag: What made you fall in love with dance music as a whole?
RayRay: As musicians, we are carriers of influence. Our music has the power to culturally and emotionally influence our society. Every artist has it’s unique story. I want to be able to tell the world my story through my music, share with the world what I see, feel, and experience in my life, and proudly represent Asia, my gender, my hometown in the music world!
DJ Life Mag: What made you want to follow a path in music?
RayRay: Honestly, my life is only about music, I started with the Classical and moved forward to the Hip-Hop and then Electronic. I enjoy sharing music with the people around me. I enjoy listening to every beat, and I like the feelings when I’m surround by the music I love. This is my only passion, my only hobby, and the only thing I’m really good at. I also enjoy playing shows. I love seeing people getting excited during my set, and I enjoy receiving every heart-warming and meaningful messages from my fans and friends. I love the fact that my music can actually do something or help someone in the world, and this is what makes me keep going and absolutely wanting to follow my path in music.
DJ Life Mag: DJing or production – which came first?
RayRay: I started djing before producing. I’ve been collecting vinyls for 10 years. I started to DJ with Hip-Hop music, and J Dilla was my first influence. He is my all time favorite DJ/Producer. When I got to know 90’s music, I fell in love with it right away. I found out that so many tracks I loved are produced by J Dilla. After that, when I started to DJ at the clubs in 2010, I started to listen to different kinds of music including electronic music. I was so into the bass sound and the 808. And I found out that DJ Shadow and Hifana produced a lot of good electronic music but with the Hip-Hop influences. For my productions, I also combine a lot of Hip-Hop music with the electronic elements. I was making pop music and movie soundtracks in the beginning. After learning the skills, I started to make my own music. Fortunately, I met many good producers around the world. I learned a lot from them.
DJ Life Mag: What does your studio setup look like these days?
RayRay: Ableton is my DAW. I use Senheiser HD25 as my headphones, Adam T5V speakers, Shure SM7B as my microphone, and Apollo Twin X as my sound card.
DJ Life Mag: When you have a tough week or hit a wall creatively, how do you get yourself back on track?
RayRay: I think traveling and meeting friends from all over the world can help you see many things different from your daily life. I like to hang out with talented artists so I can understand their ideas and the different ways they view the world. I also love to listen to all kind of music including jazz, funk, soul, reggae, disco and house for inspiration. I also love to record all the sounds that surround me and I always make them into music. I think the only way to prevent your heart and your life from getting stale is to be open-minded, enjoy the moment and create something cool from your heart.
DJ Life Mag: How would you say your sound has evolved since first popping onto the scene in 2017?
RayRay: When I made my first EP, it had a lot of trap noise, and I was still searching for my certain sound. When I did my first EP “Purple Alien” on Barong Family “, it was kind of a way to introduce “RayRay” into the EDM world with the Barong Family Signature sound. After that, I started focusing on my vocals in the production. There were just some short phrases in the beginning, and it transited to the proper verses and Hip-Hop influenced raps in the second EP “Alien Invasion” on Barong Family. For my third EP “Alien Mutation” which I dropped during the Pandemic. I would say my sound had some significant changes in this EP. Instead of having only one music genre, I was able to play around my vocals and my sound in multiple music genres. I took the vocal lessons to improve my singing skill and apply it to my music. In this album, I combined a lot of different genres and different elements which is not just Trap or Dubstep or No brain party bangers anymore, but also some elements from Techno, Future Bass, and House music. I wanted to show the listeners and my fans the emotional side of me. Everything you hear in this album has some meanings – the way I processed my vocals, the way I sang on the songs, the reasons I came up with the ideas of the songs, the way I structured the songs, the orders of the track list, and so on.
DJ Life Mag: What was your creative process when putting together your debut album, Unearthly World?
RayRay: Unearthly is a very vague word, but it’s also a word which can link to my alien branding. From my past EP “Purple Alien” to “Alien Invasion” to “Alien mutation”, and now we are talking about a world that only exist in hearts or other dimension. over the past 2 years, there have been so many changes in my life. i was torn apart after the loss of my cousin & my good friend, the breakup, and my depression. music has been my only getaway, so i decided to make an album to express my feelings and everything i have been experiencing in the past. through this album, i want to share with you my true self. why is it called “unearthly world”? i hope this album can be a mirror to reflect everyone’s imaginary world – there’s no perfect answer to the question. it can be an utopia or it can be the world in your mind. the only thing i can assure you – it’s gonna be a very exciting journey with me. I want to provide my audience an album with the diversity of my sound and my vocals. I want to introduce the listeners my own unearthly world.
DJ Life Mag: How does it differ from your previous work?
RayRay: I used to make a lot of party bangers, but in this album, I poured all my emotions in the songs. There are songs about the difficulties I faced during the pandemic. There are songs about my break up. There are songs about the old RayRay. I also tried to challenge myself with producing different music genres. I want this album to be very diverse, and full of the taste of RayRay.
DJ Life Mag: If you had to pick one, what would you say is your favorite track of the album?
RayRay: ‘Butterfly.’ I’ve wanting to work with JVNA for a very long time! She is such an inspiring person! It’s very interesting and fun to blend her airy music sound with my hard trap elements together. We started making this song since July last year. We actually came up with the vocals first. We were thinking to write something which is meaningful to the audience. “Be strong & be brave, eventually you will be like a butterfly emerges from the caccoon. This is also the experience we have been learning as artists. Life isn’t a bed of roses. There are a lot of obstacles. However, as long as you pull it through, you will become a beautiful butterfly. We also wrote some Mandarin lyrics in the song because both of us are originally Taiwanese. We also want to tribute the song to our friends and fans in Taiwan and Asia.
DJ Life Mag: Barong Family has become a staple within the world of electronic music; how does it feel to continue to have releases on the powerhouse imprint?
RayRay: Barong Family have put their efforts into the Asian & European market over the past years and they have honestly created such a big international family of creative talents. I feel like Barong really push for an intimate vibe with their artists and that’s why it really does feel like a family. We do a lot of shows together, label nights, writing camps and all come together during music events such as ADE. Barong are really inviting towards everyone from around the world as long as they see potential in someone. Artists who have been with Barong from the very start are also very welcoming and supportive towards your vision. FAMILY IS EVERYTHING!
DJ Life Mag: With 2022 about to come to a close and your album finally unveiled to the world, what does RayRay have in store for 2023?
RayRay: I just did a LIVE concert at a 1,000 people capacity venue in Taiwan, and it was the first full production show I’ve ever done by myself and my team. We are planning for the world album tour which combines the live shows and the club shows all together, and we are trying to do the LIVE show in multiple major cities. Also, we are planning to do a deluxe album with 2 more new songs and remixes early next year. More good news for you – I just signed with a new agent in US, and I’m starting working with my new US based Mgmt. I’m looking forward to spend more time in US and start building my music community there.
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