Interview with Ray Li
Here at TMN we were pleasantly surprised to see Ray Li’s name appear on Aleksandar Dimitrijevic’s website for Teddy Bear Music.
We had written a brief article about his CD release, and just two months later he had music on Teddy Bear Music’s first release, Smash the Screen! Ray kindly took a few moments for an interview, and we’re excited to share it with you all.
TMN: You’re not the typical trailer music composer that we usually interview. Tell us a little about yourself! What’s your musical background? How did you become interested in trailer/production music specifically?
Ray Li: My musical background pretty much doesn’t exist. I took a few weeks of piano lessons when I was around 7-8, but that’s about the extent of my musical training. Since those lessons, I haven’t had any experiences with music until about two years ago, when I just sat down at my family piano and started messing around. Everything I know about music I’ve taught myself, and I’m fairly proud of that.
My intention has never been to create trailer music. When I was working on my CD, Final Horizon, I really just wrote tracks that appealed to my tastes… And those tastes just happen to correspond with trailer music style.
TMN: How did you get involved with Alexandar Dimitrijevic’s Teddy Bear Music?
RL: It was actually TrailerMusicNews.com that started the whole thing. You guys were kind enough to include a link to my website in a short article on TMN, and in a great stroke of luck, Alex visited my site. After listening to some of my songs, Alex contacted me via the AIM that I listed on my website. At first, I was really skeptical that the person talking to me on AIM was really Aleksandar Dimitrijevic. Haha, I put him through a torturous amount of confirmation tests to verify that he was who he said he was. I just couldn’t believe that this could be happening to me.
TMN: What tracks from your Final Horizon album were chosen for Smash the Screen? Did you make new versions of them for Teddy Bear Music? What was that process like?
RL: Alex chose my songs “Life” and “Forsaken” to include on his CD. I sent Alex MIDI files for those songs, and he re-arranged and produced them for the CD. I’m very impressed with what he’s done with my songs. It shows just how much I still need to learn about music production.
TMN: Being self taught, and making a public CD must have taken a lot of dedication. What drove you to produce Final Horizon? Do you have any favorite tracks of yours?
RL: Really, just a love of music, and a need to express emotions that I can’t express any other way. When I’m working on a song or improvising at the piano, it’s a great experience. Sure, the production and tweaking is a lot of work, but the whole endeavor has taught me a lot about myself and has been very fulfilling.
Hmm… Favorite tracks… I pretty much like all of my tracks equally, but if I had to choose I’d say some of my favorites are “Forsaken,” “Edge,” “Life,” and “Starlight Grace.”
TMN: Do you have any favorite composers, or trailer music companies?
RL: The odd thing is, I only discovered trailer music AFTER I had finished with my album. It wasn’t until a friend of mine listened to my music and suggested that I listen to Immediate Music that I became interested in this whole trailer music stuff. I still have a lot of listening to do, so I’ll hold off choosing favorites. But so far Immediate Music and Aleksandar Dimitrijevic’s stuff is great!
TMN: What are your plans or hopes for the future? Will you be pursuing music as a career?
RL: Right now, I am in the midst of the college application process… (Applications are due in less than a month!) I most likely will not be studying music in college. At this point in my life, taking on music full-time just seems too risky. Also, I’ve kind of dedicated myself to exploring music on my own, so I wouldn’t really be interested in music theory classes anyway. In college, I plan to study physics or engineering. I’ll always be working on new songs in my free time though, and hopefully one day my music can become a real way for me to make a living. It would be my dream job.
TMN: Any last comments or words of wisdom for our multifarious readers?
RL: I still have a lot to learn, and I really appreciate the comments and support that everyone at TMN has given me! I’d like to apologize for not coming out with anything new recently. As soon as I finish this whole college application process I should be pumping out songs on more a regular basis. Thanks for reading, and I will try to deliver newer and better songs!
You can check out Smash the Screen here; it’s the first epic release from Aleksandar Dimitrijevic’s Teddy Bear Music. Also, be sure to head on over to Sycross Music for Ray Li’s CD Final Horizon.
Smash the Screen is currently not available to the public for purchase. For licensing information, contact Teddy Bear Music. Final Horizon is available to the public on the Sycross Music website.
