It’s another in my continuing series of interviews that never were. Here is the lovely Gemma Ray, who was promoting her CD ‘Lights Out Zoltar!’

JH: Your new album is called “Lights Out Zoltar!”. It’s not a reference to the Zoltar from the children’s show “Battle Of The Planets”, is it?

Gemma: I haven’t heard of that Zoltar, actually! Not really. I used the phrase for the imagery. It’s about the battle of science versus superstition, and it’s referring to the Zoltar The Great fortune-telling machine. Have you seen those? It was based loosely around that, and the concept of getting stuck in and doing stuff for yourself, as opposed to waiting for a fortune cookie to tell you what to do!

JH: So it’s like “seize the day”?

Gemma: It’s the battle of science versus superstition. One isn’t better than the other. They are the two outlooks on life, which I veer between quite dramatically. The overriding thing is to take control of your own fate and destiny.

JH: This is your second album. How do you think you sound has developed and progressed?

Gemma: I’ve spent more time on this one. I still had a fairly limited budget, but I had enough to get a string arranger in, which really added a hell of a lot for me. A woman called Fiona Brice came in and did a great job. The sound has naturally progressed since the first album. We had more time. I worked with producer Michael Sheehy and the gut of it is the two of us experimenting with different noises and unorthodox sounds. I wanted it to sound like a big orchestral record, but without the orchestra.

JH: It has a real gothic sixties feel to it!

Gemma: That’s an interesting description! I have never tried to be loyal to one particular era or genre. I’ve always tried to mix things up. I love the beauty of minor chords and I’m always drawn to writing eerie sounds, but I want to shrink things into condensed two or three minute pop songs. The ethic of the Brill Building (a New York office popular with songwriters - JH) and 60s thing applied to my natural mode of songwriting. It’s more me than the last album in that respect. I thing I managed to bring everything together a bit more successfully. The first album (“The Leader” – JH) is great and I enjoyed doing it. It started out as demos with Michael and myself. I just wanted to get some ideas down, really. It ended up really clicking and my label wanted to put it out. I’m happy with it. I always build tracks up and see how they develop, but I did have more ambition about the sound. I feels a bit more me.

JH:You also were not very well while you were doing your first album, were you?

Gemma: Yeah, I had to get it done very quick. I quite enjoyed that. There was a discipline in that I couldn’t pick over vocal tracks. I quite liked the way it came out. With this album I did indulge myself more. I still had to work within a strict schedule because I wasn’t totally better, but I had a lot more energy. I could work from 10 to six everyday. I certainly had more energy to have fun with it and be a bit of a perfectionist, which is probably a bit of an understatement.

JH: You have already put one single out ‘100 MPH (in second gear)’ – was that your bid to get on Top Gear?

Gemma: Yes! (laughs) No, not really. I do love cars, but I’m more into classic cars. I don’t know what Top Gear think of old cars, but I’d be happy to go on it.

JH: What sort of classic cars are you into?

Gemma: My dad’s a mechanic and he has always had classic cars, which I’ve borrowed on long-term loan. My favourite being Morris Minors. I always had them, as a teenager growing up and driving around. I used to have a Morris Minor pick-up track, as well, and a Mini Clubman with the doors that open-up and the wooden panels. I’m not an enthusiast who can reel off loads of different models, but I used just old classic cars that are beaten up and need a bit of love.

JH: You have some male voices on the album, particularly the song ‘Death Row’ – who was that?

Gemma: ‘Death Row’ wasn’t really a duet, but it did have a lot of male vocals on it. It was two of the guys from my band – Nick Foot (drums -JH) and Mal Bruk (guitars –JH). Michael Sheehy’s voice is quite dominant on there, as well. They immediately got that kind of comic version of really over-the-top vocals. I was going to use to Welsh male voice choir, but I didn’t get around to it. There is a proper duet on the album, which I did with Joe Gideon, from Joe Gideon and the Shark, and that’s ‘1952’. I like using male voices sometimes. I like the deep theatrical thing. I was really playing up to the whole breathy female juxtaposition with it.

JH: How did you start out and what first made you want to become a musician?

Gemma: It was just a natural evolution. I wasn’t brought up around music. I was a 13 or 14-year old, and wanted to learn my favourite songs on the guitar, which I worked out with lots of odd tunings. It grew into something more addictive and consuming. Music quickly took the place of visual art, which is what I grew up doing. It ended to swallowing up all up any other ambition I had and just became my main focus. It became natural for me to write and express something. I’ve always had highly charged emotions, and an equal love of music and the need to create something. I’ve always been that way inclined.

JH: What sort of artists really inspired you?

Gemma: When I really young, I was really into the American grunge thing. There was lots of art punk and Sonic Youth. I loved the concept of making something yourself. If you had a rubbish guitar, then rebuild it yourself. If you can’t play, just find a way to make the instrument your own. That really inspired me. Then I also like the simplistic pop of Buddy Holly and early sixties girl groups. I’ve been through all sort of phases. I found Bo Diddley later in life and he has really resonated with me. There’s also a lot of Tex Mex and I really like early sixties and seventies psychedelic music.

JH: You are also a big fan of Harmony guitars.

Gemma: Definitely! I feel like I have found a guitar for life. I’ve just ordered three off eBay, which is probably a bit stupid. I think I had a nightmare and woke up panicking about the supplies being exhausted, so I have a few to set up. I just think they have great pick-ups on them. I have never found a pick-up I like as much.

JH: They look really cool too.

Gemma: They do look quite nice. I’ve got one that is really small, a Bobcat, which I’m not so mad on the look of. They are getting sold for a lot of money on Denmark Street (one of the best places in London to go guitar shopping – JH) now, but you can still get them pretty cheap on eBay if you look obsessively enough. They are great guitars.

JH: You also have a very interesting way of playing slide guitar.

Gemma: I think a lot of the sonic sound from the last album was a droning noise created by using the back end of a kitchen knife. It brings the harmonics out of the strings and creates a nice soundscape. It’s not so good for playing slide guitar, but it makes a one-chord shape really interesting.

JH: It can’t be very safe!

Gemma: My bass player has made me gaffer-tape the knife end up for life use! I took the danger element out of it. I’m quite accident prone, so it’s probably not the best thing for me to play every night on the tour.

JH: What sort of stuff are you listening to at the moment?

Gemma: I’m actually listening to Sonic Youth’s “Goo” LP now. I’ve been listening to a lot of Bo Diddley and I just got a best-of Groundhogs LP, which is very good. Enrico Morricone – I love a lot of early soundtrack stuff. I’ve been listening to a lot of records recently. I decided to get rid of all my CDs and get vinyl, because I just don’t treasure them enough. I end up losing them. They don’t fill up the room in the same way vinyl does. I’ve been listening to a lot of Calexico. I go through phases. When I’m making music, I don’t really listen to things. My ears are just full up with sound and I just don’t get the urge, but at the moment I’m winding, so I’m enjoying listening to music.

JH: Do you like Nick Cave?

Gemma: I like Nick Cave a lot. I really love his band (the Bad Seeds – JH). Their dynamic and how they operate as a live band should be a template for any band trying to stir up every type of human emotion. I just think they just get right to the point. I learn a lot every time I see them playing.

JH: Do you go and see many bands live?

Gemma: I do, but I don’t like going out to see gigs for the sake of it. I do wish there are more bands in London who I would like to play and hang out with. The Bad Seeds are one of those bands who have never let me down in that respect. I only like seeing bands if I cry or feel euphoric at some point.

JH: Do you consider yourself a bit of a retro chick?

Gemma: A lot of my influences are from days gone by. I don’t get out of bed every day to recreate music I love. I try and keep it in my heart and make something new from it. All my passions in life, whether it be things I buy for the house or music, are from the 50s and 60s. I try and create something new for the future.

JH: You also have fans in Jimmy Page and Seasick Steve!

Gemma: Well, I’ve known Seasick Steve from the beginning. I’ve done a lot of tours with him. I think Jimmy Page made some passing comments about my record, but it’s not something I’m going to shout from the rooftops. It’s always nice when people like what you. I always want people like my Nan to like it. If they can get something from it, then I’m doing my job. I like the idea of all sorts of people liking my music. JH