When you live for music, it shines through your performance. Meet Ray Melo, a talented guitarist and performer. Ray talks about his journey from playing the drums as a kid living in America to performing on the Beats on the Beach F1 Fan Zone in Abu Dhabi. He loves to meet new people, make new music, and perform to a diverse audience…
“My name is Ray Melo and I am a musician. I started playing music when I was 12. I played the drums at the Robert Van Wyck Middle School band in New York for two years. From there, I took keyboard piano courses at Osceola High School in Kissimmee in Florida. However, it wasn’t until I was 17 that I became heavily interested in the guitar. My uncle gave me my first guitar for my birthday. It was a beat-up Spanish acoustic with nylon strings so thick it caused my fingertips to bleed but I taught myself how to play basic chords on it. I learned how to tune each string correctly, and how to play by ear, alongside music CDs.
“After a year and a half, I started taking guitar lessons with Clint Stewart, who was a mentor and a virtuoso. Through his teachings I learned how to sight-read, incorporate different scales into my playing, improvise, and compose my own music. My early influences ranged from all genres of music – from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Band, and Bob Dylan to hip-hop legends like Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Busta Rhymes, and Nas.
As a guitarist, I base my playing on the blues, rock, and R&B music. My heroes include Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and Pete Townshend as well as bluesmen like Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, and B.B. King. I am also influenced by rhythm ax-men like Steve Cropper, Jimmy Nolen and Catfish Collins from the James Brown Band, Eddie Hazel from Parliament-Funkadelic, Charles Smith from Kool & the Gang, Nile Rodgers from Chic, and Ernie Isley from the Isley Brothers.
“What motivates me is to play alongside some the best musicians the UAE. It not only gives me the opportunity to showcase my talent with them, but becomes a learning experience of what to do and not to do on stage. I’ve been blessed to work and collaborate with people like Kenda Roberts, who took me under her wing and invited me to play guitar at Beats of the Beach at the F1 Fan Zone, White Cube’s Metronome, and Rooftop Rhythms’ Abu Dhabi Soul. Through her I met my musical sister Zainab Hafiz, who is one of the most powerful singers around and with whom I’m currently developing a super group called The Hype. Our band consists of her on lead vocals, Sarah Gamal El Gohary on lead vocals/rapping, yours truly on lead/ rhythm guitar, Soufian Rabhi on lead/rhythm guitar, Jose Mohamdo on percussion, and Khalid Al-Temimi on the drums.”
“A few week ago The Hype showed up unexpectedly at Viewz in the Cristal Hotel for Open Jam Night and we shared the stage with Eric Sesbreno and his band YFY, who are the best in the Abu Dhabi music scene. There was a sense of camaraderie with everyone and we enjoyed feeding off one another musically.
“Music is probably the only art form that touches people on an emotional level. I find music to be very therapeutic because it allows me to escape from all the hardships of life. Whenever I feel like the world is against me, I either grab the Stratocaster or sit in front of the keyboard piano and play my heart out. By the time I hit that last note, I feel a sense of joy that makes me forget what I was upset about in the first place. In the words of Bob Marley, “When music hits you, you feel no pain.”
