QX Meets…Ray Noir

Most of you probably know Ray Noir quite well. If you haven’t bumped into him in a smoking area in East London, YOU’RE NOT GOING OUT ENOUGH. We once passed out during one of his music video shoots and woke up three days later in a storage unit in Hackney Wick. But that’s another story for another feature intro.

Hey Ray! So get us up to speed…what did you get up to last year?

I tried to party a little less and make some more music. I had a few gigs in Madrid, Tokyo, London and at Oslo Pride in front of 5000 people which was awesome. Other than that I haven’t been doing much. I wanna go on a beach holiday without sun soon though, I feel I got to tanned this year.

What did you do for Christmas? Do you celebrate Christmas?

I don’t believe in fairytales, so no I didn’t celebrate Christmas. I just worked and planned my gig for Torture Garden I did for the Not the NYE ball.

Have there been any new musical acts recently who have inspired you?

I’ve been listening to shitloads of the latest Bring Me The Horizon record ‘That’s The Spirit!’ It’s such a great record. The latest Mortiis album ‘The Great Deceiver’ and Samantha Togni’s single ‘Queen Nemesis’ is amazing! Super proud of her, you should all check her out!

We’ve had a lot of dance and pop in mainstream music over the last few years. Do you think rock and industrial are due a comeback?

I hope so, we need some more edge in the mainstream music again. Everything sounds the same these days, especially in the chart music. Don’t get me wrong though, I do like a good pop song now and then.

What do you think of the London gay scene? Is it dying like everyone says?

I don’t think it’s dying, I think it’s more vibrant than ever! It’s just evolving like everything else, I guess it get’s more mixed as well, like you have all these parties at The Egg now like Berlin Berlin where there’s a tons of amazing gay people, but also straight people. I’ve always preferred to go to mixed parties anyway.

What’s your fave place to go out?

I don’t think I have a favourite at the moment! I like a good house party and I have a weak spot for afterparties, haha

If money was no object and you could live ANYWHERE, in ANY kind of house, what would it be?

A big black Gothic church in Transylvania maybe?

You’re from Norway. What do you think makes Scandinavians so good at making music?

I think for Norway the biggest music export is Black Metal and dark electronic music. I think it has to do with the lack of day light half of the year and there aren’t many people living there, so then you sit at home getting creative. Sweden is really good at pop music though, dunno why? Haha

Tell us about your music! What’s going on with it? You’ve got a new track out right?

I’ve got a new single out in February which is called ‘All Alone’ feat. Mariann Rosa. It’s a bit different from my first single ‘Double Trouble’ a bit more moody but still with a dark dancy beat. I took some inspiration from Depeche Mode, The Sisters of Mercy and Peaches. I love catchy melodies! I feel like the chorus in this track is gonna stick in your head. I’m really happy to have Mariann Rosa singing on the track, as i’ve been a long time fan of her and her music. We also did a music video for ‘All Alone’ with support from fans through a kickstarter campaign I did. I actually tattooed some fans name on my body for their contribution to fund the video. I’m really happy with it and it’s of course Directed by my favourite Kassandra Powell.

And what have you got in store for the future?

I’m working on new music. I’ve just been in Studio with Frankmusik again. The song is called ‘Bigger Than Life’ And hopefully I will have an EP ready by the end of the year.

• All Alone featuring Mariann Rosa is out on 3rd February

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