Ray West | Spread Eagle | October 2014 |
Thanks Ray so much for doing this..
Im sure your new to the Music Mayhem site…
So first off we like to go backwards… and start alll the way at the beginning of when we all first saw you…
J - If its ok can you tell us a little about Spread Eagle.. How did you join the band.
R - I joined the band with some crazy glue .
Seriously though, it was serendipitous .
We all happened to end up in New York City at the same time .
Rob, Paul, and Tommy were recording in the same studio that the band I was with, used as well. My manager/producer was helping them record their Demo . They were a good band in need of a singer. My manager asked me to put some tracks down, so that we they would have something to audition singers with.
Long story short , after we worked on a couple of songs, then heard the playback, we all had the same thought , " yo! we sound like one helluva damn good band " . So we ran with it . We made the demo first, then the name came later .
J - Did u guys get along?
R - We had good times, and bad times .
I would say most of the time, Yes we did get along.
Other times, no . We were a band made up of very strong personalities . That makes for lots of ups and downs .
J - Any good touring stories?
R - Yes, but they all involve a bottomless glass of "Jack Daniels", and a multitude of mind altering substances , so I really can't remember any of them in great detail . I do remember that we would turn the front cabin of our bus into a dance club after every gig . We would play "2 live crew", The Gap band, Michael Jackson, you get the drift. The bus was Sorta like our own studio 54 on wheels . lol. You wouldn't believe the amount of people you can can cram into the front of a bus. Any fire marshal would have shut us down.
J - Whats the craziest thing a fan has done to meet you?
R - We were all very accessible on , and off the road , so nobody had to do anything crazy to meet us, but just show up. To be honest it was us that would do crazy shit to meet our fans . We were the kind of band , that would go to a house party, when invited, and then we wouldn't leave until we drank all of your liquor....
J - Who did the song writing in the band?
R - On the first self titled release, Everyone contributed. If someone had a good idea, we'd throw it up against the wall to see if it'd stick .
On the second release, "open to the public" things were a little bit less democratic. I'll leave it at that .
J - Biggest crowd you ever played for.. In Spread Eagle or otherwise..?
R - Back in the day, I would say the biggest crowd was a festival crowd somewhere in north Florida . ( I should mention once again, that due to the polluting of my brain back then, The size of the audience was kind of blurry. ) I can tell you from my experiences though, that playing for larger audiences is much easier than smaller . (J - Im guessing this show was Livestock.. I was there.. and there was ALOT of people.. GREAT SHOW)
J - Favorite Spread Eagle song of all time? It's a song that should've been a single . We never got to play it out much . It's called "shine on".
R - It's got a lot of harmony vocal overkill going on, so it was difficult to reproduce live. It's a really good peice of music . We were the kind of band that would never use backing tracks , looking back now, I guess maybe, we should've.
J -Least favorite, or just didn’t turn out like you had hoped?
R -There are quite a few that didn't turn out as I'd planned. The particular songs that I don't like, are usually The ones that I sing like shit live . I had a lot of songs where I sounded like a cat on helium, so those things are kind of hard to re-create, and kind of hard to get into, for me .
J - With glam bands/ hair bands being big at the time you guys were out.. How important was the look back then?
R - Like any band, I Think the band members should all look like they belong together.
Our look wasn't a thought up concept. We pretty much dressed like we did every day of the week in New York City. Of course when it came to photo shoots, we brought in hair and make up people. We were a rock band after all .
Most glam bands are basically style over substance. We did a lot of substances with style.lol
J - What led to the break up of the band? (the original line-up)?
R - A culmination of Bad timing in the Rock n Roll universe, Personality conflicts , Bad decisions.
& To tell you the truth , I lost my passion, I lost the fire I once had , and I lost my soul , so it was best for me to walk away .
All my life I thought getting signed, and being in a band would be fun. But the shit just got way too complicated for me .
J - You put the band back together with different members.. Who were they? And what happened to that?
R - Rob Deluca, and I had always kept in touch over the years. Through the magic of Facebook, I had been approached a few times by booking agents about gigs for Spread Eagle. So I would bring up the subject to Rob. He'd always agree it was a good idea, but we would always have scheduling conflicts. I give Rob his props, he's always kept himself busy with working bands, and basically kept himself in the business, by being a reliable hard-working guy .
One day he calls me up and says " fuck it , let's go for it . I believe it was "Spread Eagle 2006 ".
We got word out to the other 2 original band members, but obviously they did not want to come out to play in our sandbox .
Putting together a lineup in 2006 turned out to be easy. We needed to reach out to a guitar player and drummer who understood the musicality of Spread Eagle really well. Let's face it Debartollo was an extremely talented player.
For our tour in 2006, We brought in an ole friend of mine ex Savatage /Trans-Iberian orchestra guitarist, and all around MetalGod head "Chris Caffrey"to come out with us, as well as drummer John Macaluso. Johnny Mac played drums on open to the public for us, so you seem like a perfect fit.
Then a few years down the line we got a more set lineup with Ziv Shalev on guitar, and Rik Deluca on drums. That's the unit that we'e kept up-to-date. Ziv , and Rick make the band sound like a freight train, they are extremely talented.
Because I don't take it all so serious, I'm able to really enjoy the music now, an just have fun with it. I mean come on we're not building rocketships after all , it's just rock 'n roll
J - Do you still talk to any of the original members?
R - Rob Deluca is the only one.
I truly wish I was in touch with Tommy Gallo, that guy was a comedian/drummer.
J - Where the hell did Tommy Gallo disappear to?
R - I guess I answered that last question too soon .
The word I have is that he went to live on a farm somewhere in Massachusetts. I assume he does his art ( paintings drawings, etc...) that's all the information I have. Like I wrote in the last question, I really miss Tommy, he could always make me laugh. He made the road fun . Tommy had a sixth sense about music, he was the first guy I knew to be into "rage against machine" before anybody else. That's the kind of musical mind he had..
J - And any plans for any more Spread Eagle dates…? Recordings?
R - We always have plans. It's a matter of getting everyone schedules to lineup. Our drummer Rik Deluca, & Zivv .Are gifted writers. So there's a lot of material to choose from we just have to put it through the spread Eagle groove machine, and see what comes out. In a perfect world. If there's an audience for another spread Eagle record I'm sure will find a way to get it done, and get it to them.
J - After the Spread Eagle days, what do you do?
R - In The years after, I did about five or six stints in different rehabs.
I also put a few failed bands together.
Then I put myself through cooking school, because I wanted to become one of those food network "rock 'n roll chef types ". I LOVE GOOD FOOD!
In my opinion putting a great menu together is a lot like writing songs .
You mix in a little bit of this, add a little bit of that, and hope the end result is in good taste.
I also took some time to travel to some great culinary spots the world.
As far as music nowadays goes...
I've had some good luck with my APW music ( All pointz West). Licensing and song placement in TV shows, independent movies, things like that.
I've had lots of fun playing that music live. The Songs translate very well to a live audience, and my voice is in a very comfortable pocket . I feel very strong singing APW music. I'm always looking to innovate, and try something new. So I really can't tell you what the Hells going to happen as far as my musical taste in the coming years.
What I can tell you for sure is
I've just finished a vocal book, with the push of my vocal guru friend "jamie vandera". He's all over the web, he's actually quite famous for being able to break glass with his voice, the guy is amazing. He's been on MythBusters quite a few times. The book is called called "Melody to madness". It's a way for singers to find their true tone. The book will be out soon, and I'm also teaching, I think it's important to teach what I've learned about vocals, and life as I know it .
The way I look at it, I feel like I've learned from my past mistakes, so I should pass on what I've learned, so kids out there don't make the same mistakes that I did.,
J - I see you were in the musical comedy Viva Patshiva… please explain what that was and how you got involved?
R - There was a time when I did some standup comedy, and I also did some sketch work. That's how I met my friend David Jenness. He had written a part for me in his play called Viva Pat Shiva, . The director that he had did not want me for the part, but David pushed for me anyway.
I'm very glad I got to do it, it was one of the best times I've ever had. I wish I could have done it more. But life goes on, and I'm always ready for what's next.
J - You also give vocal lessons… when did you decide to do that? And how does one sign up? Do you do them from a music store? Home? Online?
R - lol , I feel so silly now because I gave you such a long-winded answer in the last question before this, but I'll keep going anyway. Lol
Through the magic of Facebook I was contacted by a guy who I refer to now as Thee vocal guru/vocal coach god "Jamie Vandera".
When it comes to vocal knowledge he knows everything from A-Z. . It's one of those times in life where you talk to somebody for the first time and you feel like you've known them since forever .
He asked me if I'd ever thought of giving lessons before. He told me he thought I had something to offer as a vocal coach. I hate to admit, but I never really thought I had anything to offer a vocal student , Because I'd never really taken the time to know what it is I did vocally, as far as the technique .
The next thing you know he's got me all fired up about writing a book .
You have to excuse my ADD rambling, the answer to your question is , I teach in my home, and online.
J - How do you think technology has changed the music business..
R - Technology has put the power of music selection in the listeners hands now. The music listener can create his or her own playlist, listen to what he, or she wants when he or she wants to.
I've always despised corporate radio, so it's great that people now can create their own radio stations, podcast, webcast, etc. etc.
Also It seems pretty much anybody with the capability to record a song at home and you go viral on YouTube, Twitter , etc .can become an instant rockstar .
Get ur likes, and comments. Can you say "Gangnam Style".
It's the wild West out there, as far as music goes.
Social media is all about instant information, when back in the day it used to be all about instant gratification.
An artist can now use use social media to his or her best advantage . Like I said beforeYou can now be famous in a one block radius. LOL.
Back in my day getting a record deal was an all encompassing task. You played, you recorded, you partied 24 seven. At the Time we got signed, MCA was putting together a brand-new rock department, so they needed to fill slots liquickly, so getting a record deal seemed almost easy, it was keeping it that was the hard part. Let's face it Spread Eagle was signed during one of the most decadent times in rock music, and it's a life experience that I definitely definitely will never forget.
J - How do you feel about music downloading?
R - Doesn't bother me in the least. Give the people what they want.
J - How do you feel about social media, Facebook, Twitter… #hashtags..lol?
R - It's given everyone A platform to do, and say whatever the hell they want, no matter how idiotic some things may seem.
J - Sorry got a little off track for a #minute..
You went on to form the band APW (All Points West) .. Tell us a little about that? When did you put that together?
R - APW music came about, because I wanted to be able to express myself in a very honest and sincere way. So with the help of a good friend, I was able to do that.
A good friend of mine Miguel Gonzalez down in Miami Florida is a great writer, and song producer. We took some time in the studio together and came up with what we thought were pretty cool batch of songs, he's easy to write with, and we think alike musically. So APW is an easy groove .
J - Any releases?
R - Only to a few licensing agreements.
J - Any videos?
R - There's one garage type video for the song Novocain it's up on YouTube.
J - Touring plans?
R - Honestly, at the moment none
J - How would you describe the music to someone who hasn’t heard it?
R - Very easy to move your body too. It's Melody with a hard groove .
J - Are you currently still playing with this band?
R - Yes . I have an awesome lineup of great guys.
J - What are your plans for the rest of 2014?
R -My definite plans are to get the word out as best I can about my book ,and the vocal warmup series , that accompanies the book as well .
I WANT TO WRITE MORE .
J - Is there any new bands your listening to?
R - I recently got turned on to " The Black Keys". Now I'm listening to them all the time . I definitely dig Bruno Mars, and Adele, Mumford and Sons, and other artist we seem to have a good sense of the classics.
I mean to be honest , I pretty much give everything a chance, except the homogenized pop bullshit that seems to permeate today's radio. Thank God for Bluetooth, so I can drive with my iTunes on. Or listen to want while I'm walking, writing, etc.....
J - What would be in your cd /ipod player right now?
R - My player holds a lot of stuff. I have everything from Aerosmith to Frank Zappa. Yesterday I listened to a lot of Deftones, then I switched over to the temptations . I have a huge eclectic mix of songs in my library.
J - Well that’s about it Ray..
Is there anywhere your fans can find you online? Facebook? Website? Etc…
R - The easiest way to find me is go to my website. Ray West music.com. I do have Facebook, twitter, and a couple more, but in the end it's all linked up to the website
J - And anything you would like to say to your fans reading this?
R - I'm grateful for all the friends I've made through Music. I've had a good life, great experiences, and I'm still around if you need me, so don't be shy and drop on in anytime you want.
Love and respect!
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