Today we share with Elinés Raymond (Eli Ray), a very talented, Venezuelan woman who tells us about her artistic career, a goddess of the saxophone! I hope you enjoy it!
Astrid: Since when were you interested in making music and what was the first instrument you learned to play?
Eli: Well, my interest in music arose since I was a baby, because in my house, my dad always played music and we grew up with that culture there and then at age 9 I started my studies in Cuatro (instrument) and I always participated in school choirs.
Astrid: What was the name of your first band and when was it formed?
Eli: Well in the first band that I was as such of the Jamaican genre was “Burning Onions” and already this band was formed, I happened to be with them just 5 months with my instrument (the saxophone) then I went through other bands like the mythical “Dur Dur” and then if I formed a band of mine to say it with my husband who at that time was my novii (Euli Méndez) and two more guys from Caricuao (Caracas) that band was called “Don Khumalo”.
Astrid: What is the environment like for a girl in the musical field from your own experience?
Eli: Well, my experience being a girl was always good and it was fun because in all the bands I came to I was the only woman and I really liked sharing with guys and in fact it has always been easier for me to work with men than with others of the same gender.
Eli: Well I have done many things apart from music, at first I studied (when I left high school) I started studying automotive mechanics, I did not finish my studies because music pulled me more and after that experience of having studied mechanics, I even got to work in the workshop with my dad (mechanical workshop).
Well, I had always been interested in the plastic arts and I took courses at the ‘Cristóbal Rojas’ (school of arts), at that time I took sculpture courses and then I went to study at the ‘Armando Reverón’ (University) there I lacked 4 semesters to finish, I studied painting, sculpture and other things related to art as body expression and all this.
I also really like yoga, exercising, jogging, I also studied with my husband in Colombia some bioconstruction, we learned a lot and in fact we made our house with our own hands with ecological and sustainable techniques.
Astrid: Have you done collaborations with other bands? Which?
Eli: Yes, I have done many collaborations since I was in ‘Don Khumalo’, jice collaborations with a band called ‘Skabiosis’, ‘Hora cero’, also in this return that I had through the pandemic two years ago (which are fulfilled in April) I have done collaborations with many artists of the reggae genre such as two of the most important artists in Spain, with some friends also of the same genre in Uruguay ‘Soltura’, I have also made several collaborations with artists from Mexico that is about to come out this year, the most recent “single” I released in November was accompanied by 2 members of the band “Desorden Público” (Danel and Caplis); I must have escaped others, what I had taken a few weeks ago was a collaboration with a Jamaican producer who contacted me and said he wanted to work with me, his name is K.Berry and it was something super exciting for me to work with a Jamaican and I’m sure I’m skipping some more that at this moment I do not remember.
Astrid: What is your goal or message when composing melodies and lyrics?
Eli: Well when composing music and lyrics actually as every artist seeks to express and reveal a truth that is always inside you, I have had many facets when writing during all these years and I always rely a lot on personal experiences, at some point I can write things about love, things of heartbreak, also the last letters I have written is based a lot on this spiritual search, on those answers that all human beings have on how to live better every day, to always seek light and growth to (it will sound trite) evolve and be more aware of what life is, I love everything that has to do with the new era, there are many lyrics of mine especially in Reggae that are based on that but I just think it’s always like an introspection of looking for what I’m living in that moment and I just capture my questions or my feelings that are happening at that moment.
Astrid: What do you think is the social impact that your artistic work can cause?
Eli: Well my lyrics are not so much for the social sphere, I did not write towards that point but as I said in the previous question, they are revelations that I have deep inside and suddenly if there are people who connect with what I am singing or playing at that moment, I think I really like to think that I am a moment of escape or distraction or joy because it has happened to me a lot, I am a full-time musician and it fills me a lot when people enjoy, when they see me playing, when they smile, when they applaud me excitedly or come after a show to say “thank you” or “how wonderful you are” it is because I like to transmute the energy from the bad to the good and I think it is very energetic.
Astrid: Would you do this for life?
Eli: Well if I would do it for life because in fact when I was one year old I was already playing with microphones and singing songs and I have many years living from music, it’s the only thing I do even though I had a STOP when composing and writing since our last album we recorded in 2004/2005 I stopped composing because I had several disappointments and things that sometimes make us stop along the way. but I never left music, rather at that time I resumed musical studies and I prepared to sing Jazz and Bossanova and from there we were moderately prepared to go out and work with music and I have already 14 years only living to play and I appreciate it very much in life, it is the only thing my husband and I do, And it is already a fact that it is what I will always do.
Thank you very much Eli for allowing us to know part of your artistic work! I invite you to follow them on their social networks:
Social media:
Instagram:
@eliray_music