Make Means For RayRay, The Otherworldly EDM Star From Asia Who Is Yellow Claw’s Newest Prodigy

by Olivia Wycech

Someplace slightly over a decade in the past, a purple-haired alien from outer house descended upon this planet and unleashed an otherworldly type of lure meets future bass on this new world of hers. Initially on the hip-hop tip, RayRay pivoted over to digital music after discovering the heart-racing sounds of EDM. Not one to be certain by classifications, she carved out her personal very distinctive type that seems like a motley of her many musical backgrounds. She used this freshness to lure followers from locations like Japan, China and Indonesia to the paranormal cult of RayRay. However in Asia, the place over 4 billion folks reside in a tradition the place normal observe doesn’t equate to the form of excellent that society expects of you, there’s loads of actually good expertise within the area. So RayRay wanted to face out. Maybe that’s why she colored her hair purple. Nevertheless it’s undoubtedly why she fucking practiced.

RayRay’s fast ascent into the higher echelons of EDM began with a Crimson Bull 3Style win in 2013 (she went on to compete on the planet finals as the one feminine within the competitors). She was already poised to turn into Asia’s largest EDM famous person in Europe after touchdown a string of high-profile gigs at Glastonbury, Sonar, ADE and Tomorrowland (the place she was the first-ever Taiwanese DJ to play the competition) nevertheless it was when she formally signed to Barong Household that shit received actually actual.

The RayRay-meets-Yellow Claw anecdote goes slightly one thing like this: they’d met about three years in the past, again when Yellow Claw’s love affair with Asia was nonetheless in its infancy. She was DJing at OMNI (Taiwan’s go-to membership for all issues EDM), and upon assembly her, they have been smitten from the get-go. They requested to listen to some music, and by the top of the identical yr she was engaged on tunes for her first EP that might ultimately launch on Barong Household known as ‘Purple Alien’.

“Moreover RayRay’s character and positivity, she stood out as a result of she is a tremendous DJ and tastemaker,” stated Yellow Claw on what caught their eye about RayRay. “Having her and her vitality amongst us and the opposite artists on the label is wonderful.”

Now formally being co-managed by the Barong Household, Yellow Claw has taken a really hands-on strategy to nurture RayRay’s skills and pushed her to up the ante on ‘Alien Invasion’. The output of that was RayRay flexing her vocal chops over each monitor on the EP. “RayRay developed over the past yr into such a dope vocalist,” Yellow Claw stated of their protégé. “Together with her personal type and informal perspective, she simply drops simply bangsssss.”

Inside every week of its launch, ‘Again ‘n Forth’ (additionally Yellow Claw’s prime decide from the EP) was sitting at quantity 5 on Beatport’s Prime 100 Entice / Future Bass chart. The mind-altering video for ‘Outer Area’ has additionally simply surpassed 40,000 views on YouTube and presents a glimpse into the supernatural world that RayRay lives and breathes each time she steps out of the home in Taipei.

‘Alien Invasion’ was formally launched in its entirety August 30th on Barong Household and is making Asia actually fucking proud to see a small slice of the area lastly make headlines within the west. Yellow Claw feels the identical.

“Moreover this insanely hearth EP releasing on the toughest label on the market, it makes us actually proud that it represents each the rise of Asian artists in addition to feminine producers—two vital actions the EDM group is just not seeing sufficient of,” Yellow Claw captioned on their Instagram when asserting the EP.

So if Yellow Claw can go to Asia and discover a vastly experimental and superior scene that’s rife with “so many gifted artists slowly reaching the floor,” then why is it that the US hears so few sounds from the Far East? Why aren’t extra Asian artists taking part in American festivals? And when is RayRay touring the US? We wished to know extra, and so we talked to RayRay.

Taiwan doesn’t get loads of consideration within the music information. Inform us slightly bit about Taiwan’s music scene, what’s taking place over there, and who else we ought to be searching for?

Taiwan’s music scene really does get loads of consideration, simply primarily from Chinese language talking nations. Japan, Korea and all of Southeast Asia have just lately taken notice as properly. All the massive western festivals manufacturers try to get in now, nevertheless it’s actually been the homegrown occasions like LOOPTOPIA which have elevated the scene and given Taiwanese artists a global platform. It could be nice if everybody made extra of a worldwide effort. So far as golf equipment go, OMNI is well the largest and greatest membership in Taiwan and is the place I play probably the most. The group is absolutely open to all types of digital, and the organizers are tremendous dedicated to native artists. Really, they hardly ever guide worldwide DJs, but the membership is loopy and full each weekend.

There are loads of nice producers from Taiwan, too. Preserve a lookout for Vonik, a brilliant gifted and skilled DJ, and he’s beginning to produce his personal music.

How did you get related with Yellow Claw and ultimately signed to Barong Household?

I met Yellow Claw in Taipei in 2016 after a present they did at OMNI nightclub. We related instantly, they usually requested me to point out them a few of my music. Shortly after that, I received signed to Supermodified Company, which represents many of the Barong Household artists in Asia. Clearly, we stored bumping into one another at festivals at lastly at ADE in 2017, Yellow Claw requested me if I used to be able to launch an EP on Barong Household. Just some months later, they personally invited me to hitch the Barong Household writing camp in Shanghai.

Even earlier than this, I used to be working actually arduous and had a serious position within the Asia bass music scene, so I’m vastly grateful that Yellow Claw gave me the chance to additional that and work with much more artists world wide. They’re all the time pushing me to take my music to new dimensions, and are actually even co-managing me with my supervisor Alan.

What was it about Barong’s id that resonated so properly with you (or vice versa)?

My music type already fits the sound that Barong Household seems for. However in addition they put loads of effort into serving to Asian artists escape into the bass music scene. It helped that I used to play loads the music they launched in my units even earlier than I launched my first EP on their label. To me, Barong is rather like one large household. Everybody on the label is absolutely welcoming and vastly gifted. I particularly love that they’re so hands-on and all the time prepared to assist share with me their musical concepts and experiences as artists.

How did getting picked up by a western label change all the pieces for you? Can artists in Asia make it within the west if not granted the identical alternative?

Getting picked up by a western label completely supplied me with alternatives to discover the world, and most significantly, I received to satisfy and work with a wide selection of artists. It gave me extra worldwide alternatives than something. So, whereas it helps, it’s undoubtedly potential to interrupt out of Asia even for those who don’t work with a label. There are such a lot of other ways to get your music heard these days. SoundCloud is well the most effective platform for artists in Asia seeking to get heard but in addition for the west to scout for music in Asia, too.

How has Asia’s (Taiwan particularly) music scene influenced the artist you’re right this moment?

Taiwan is extremely open to all types of music from world wide—there are not any restrictions, and persons are wildly open-minded. I grew up listening to loads of hip-hop and pop music from Taiwan, and likewise from world wide. This led me to arrange a form of hip-hop music group after I was in faculty. There we shared loads of music, so it uncovered me to loads of totally different artists and supplied me with methods to satisfy and work with locals DJs and rappers. The Taiwanese hip-hop music scene is a brilliant small and tight-knit group, however we assist one another loads. And due to my hip-hop background and the help I nonetheless get from that a part of the scene, I really feel like you may actually hear that affect in my music.

‘Alien Invasion’ is a melting pot of types and influences packed into 5 tracks. What artists are you listening to and getting inspiration from proper now?

I’ve been listening to A LOT of drum ‘n’ bass influenced music just lately, like Ivy Lab and Noisia. They’re all the time my largest inspirations. I’m additionally actually fascinated with Canine Blood and GTA’s new releases, that are on heavy rotation.

The most important distinction between ‘Alien Invasion’ and your first EP ‘Purple Alien’ is that you just’re singing over every monitor. What was it like getting into the foreground like that?

I actually like writing lyrics; it virtually comes effortlessly to me. Folks may not know this, however I additionally did the vocals on ‘Ninja’ from my final EP. The outcomes have been so good that Yellow Claw inspired me to discover doing a whole EP utilizing my very own vocals. Having a hip-hop background has helped me write good lyrics, and likewise supplied me with extra alternatives to work with artists in several genres.

Inform us in regards to the collabs on the EP. Who’re they and the way did they arrive about?

‘Alien Invasion’ options three collabs. I invited Aazar, who’s the dopest producer from France, to work with me on ‘Again n Forth’. We made the monitor collectively at ADE in 2018. ‘Drumstick’ is with Juyen Sebulba from Dallas, Texas, who’s a part of Barong Household, too. We beloved working collectively a lot that we’ve got one other single with Yellow Claw popping out quickly. ‘Like This’ is a collaborative effort with two artists: Gianni Marino and Lil Debbie. Gianni is that this superior Dutch producer, who additionally labored with me on ‘Like That’ from my final EP—that is form of a follow-up to that one. Additionally, Lil Debbie is a brilliant well-known rapper from LA who’s simply nice enjoyable to make music with. She works with so many artists from Barong Household as properly, like Yellow Claw and Moksi.

The mainstream appears to be shifting from EDM and conversations surrounding the bubble bursting are trending. Is that the case in Asia, and the way does that have an effect on what you’re doing trying into the longer term?

EDM continues to be very a lot alive right here in Asia. However, I’m attempting to do my very own factor and navigate my very own manner via the scene. I’m not too bothered if any explicit pattern or sound is dying as a result of I simply deal with what’s forward for me. Nevertheless it’s good to have a wonderful understanding of what’s taking place within the west after which evaluate it to the present state of Asia’s scene. This manner, you may form of forecast what’s going to occur subsequent, and this permits me to remain forward of the sport.

The music trade is a little bit of a boy’s membership. From all that you just’ve skilled, do you’re feeling that the music trade surroundings is egalitarian?

Feminine artists have typically been mischaracterized in historical past, each deliberately and unintentionally. Nonetheless, we live in an equal world now. It’s all the time nice to see females taking part in vital roles within the music trade and expressing their very own ideas and tastes in music. To me, gender has by no means been an issue in any respect. Each women and men can all achieve success by working arduous.

In 2013, after I was in Toronto for the Crimson Bull 3style competitors, I skilled a very unimaginable vibe there. Though I used to be the one feminine DJ within the competitors, this didn’t change the truth that expertise, concepts, and spectacular performances are the keys to successful the competitors—nothing about gender. Furthermore, I noticed that sharing what you could have with others is paramount to serving to anybody to study on this trade. Throughout the competitors, though you have been competing towards each other, all of the artists have been nonetheless prepared to share their experiences, expertise, and opinions after listening to the set you ready. Subsequently, so long as you’re employed arduous, and you’re properly ready for each state of affairs, you’ll attain your objective when the alternatives come alongside, no matter whether or not you’re male or feminine.

What’s subsequent after ‘Alien Invasion’? Something on the horizon?

Proper now, I’m nonetheless attempting arduous to turn into a job mannequin within the music trade worldwide. I’m additionally trying ahead to taking part in at new festivals world wide, attending to know all the good artists, and sharing my music and my tales with everybody. Now that the EP is out, I’m shifting my focus to releasing some music on Spinnin’ Data and Protocol Recordings. Simply final week, I signed with Tiësto’s Musical Freedom label for a few tracks. Moreover releasing music, I’m going to do a giant EP tour of Asia in September and October.

It looks as if the US is the final market it is advisable to enter. What are your plans there?

I like the US. I’ve made loads of buddies there via my music, so I’ve been capable of go to a number of instances. It’s given me an opportunity to take a look at what golf equipment and festivals within the US are doing, discover inspiration, and new folks to collab with.

Really, I’m in search of North and South American illustration, an company that believes in my music. I’ve a really intensive schedule at ADE this yr, and that features some conferences with American brokers. That may hopefully end in a full-fledged US tour.

Artists, brokers, and managers within the US, ship me a message—I’d love to satisfy!

Observe RayRay on Fb, Instagram and SoundCloud.

Photographs by way of Nachi Lee