Baby Ray Interview

INTERVIEW WITH BABY RAY FROM TheCelebrityCafe.com ARCHIVES

DM) A lot of reviews describe your music as sounding like XTC. Have they been an influence?

KL) Sure. Everyone has influences. Bach influenced Chopin, Chopin influenced Scott Joplin, Joplin influenced Louis Armstrong, Armstrong influenced Bob Wills, Wills influenced Hank Williams, Williams influenced Buddy Holly, Holly influenced the Beatles, the Beatles influenced everybody in rock, including XTC and Guided by Voices; and they all influenced us. I don't think we sound that much like XTC, but they impress the hell out of us as a band that obviously loves the pop song form enough to keep f---ing around with it.

Okay, we're not really influenced by Bach and Chopin, but it made me feel important for a moment to say so.

DM) Is there any band that you find you're trying to emulate?

KL) Badfinger...a gifted band and a string of great hits, followed by exploitation at the hands of evil, opportunistic music industry freaks who should die, followed by two of the founding members committing suicide. Not.

DM) Your latest album is called MonkeyPuzzle. But what is a MonkeyPuzzle?

KL) It's a strange kind of spiny tree, very attractive-looking in a hideous sort of way, or vice versa, and difficult, if not painful, to climb. Our manager, the fabulous Judy Collins (a fluent intellectual), had one growing near her childhood home, and she suggested it as the album title because it behaves somewhat like our album does.

DM) When did you learn to play guitar?

KL) I started messing around with a friend's guitar in college, got hooked, and bought one with my student loan money. And no, I haven't defaulted on the loan!

DM) I've read the lyrics and I've listened to the song a few times, but what is "The Ballad of Baby Ray" about?
KL) Erich (Groat, singer and fellow guitarist) wrote the song, but if I were Erich, I'd say, "It's about Baby Ray, a sonofabitch, who doesn't drink much cuz he's always drunk." In other words, it beats the hell out of me.

DM) I read that you're recording your second album. How will it differ from the first one?

KL) It will be a much better recording. Our first one was, basically, a homemade demo, rounded into shape at the mixing stage with some help from the lovely and talented Pete Weiss. This time we have the lovely and talented Paul Logus, who has worked with such luminaries as Jimmy Page and Puff Daddy, involved in the recording from beginning to end. He's a magician, and we'll be the rabbits. It'll have a different bunch of songs, some written by different people, all played by the same people at different times. In short, it will be just like our first album only more so, and in more ways.

DM) I've heard your guitar performance described as unusual. The one that struck me the most was an article that seemed disappointed and said that you "didn't bleed on your guitar as usual." How would you describe your performance?

KL) Erich and I try to take the unusual step of actually listening to each other; with the result that we generally avoid playing identical parts unless we want to. So you sometimes get that ping-pongy guitar thing--hence all the XTC comparisons. The bleeding usually happens when I'm pissed off and rip open a callus or something during the set, and then proceed to paint my guitar. It's like, Art, man. But I can't really do it on demand, hence the disappointment.

DM) What is your favorite album that you're listening to lately?

KL) I've been wearing out "Spilt Milk" by Jellyfish. Talk about a band with good influences! It's the "Pet Sounds" of the '90s. A close second on my CD platter is "Gold is Dead, Hide Your Rock & Roll" by Boston's own Ross Phasor. Get it!

DM) A lot of articles talk about your live performances and gigs starting up in the Boston area. What has been your favorite gig?

KL) Often the worst thing about gigs is sitting around at the club waiting for your turn to play. It just sucks the life right out of you. So I'd say that one of our best gigs was at Baby Jupiter in New York, this past May. We'd played in Washington, DC the night before, and on the way to the gig we had a tire go flat and then got lost in New Jersey for a while. We rolled into the club about 15 minutes before our set, tossed our gear up on stage, downed a beer, and just played. It was sweaty. It was rock. It felt great.