To understand the soaring heights that Gretta Ray is currently flying atop of, perhaps it’s best to backtrack first.
“I was so happy,” says Ray recalling the moment she had won Unearthed High. “I hadn’t really expected anything in the lead-up, but I wasn’t convinced that anything was going to come from it. I was so grateful to be a finalist in the first place. I was so happy to meet [triple j presenters] Matt and Alex. It was good to be introduced to that community, and suddenly become a part of it.”
Following the win, Ray’s music was added to high rotation at the station as her fanbase continued to grow. For most, it’d be tempting to rest on your laurels after such a life-changing event. Wake up and coast through the rest of high school as the gap between you and your dreams continues to close. However, Ray isn’t like most people.
“I was in the middle of Year 12 studies,” she says. “There was obviously a lot to process, and it was a lot for my family to process. After the announce, I had interest from labels and managers coming in and that was quite overwhelming. Weirdly – and as exciting as it was – I had to stay in the same headspace that I was in the entire year. There was all these exciting things happening, but my biggest task at the time was to finish high school. That needed to remain the priority.
“I didn’t like the idea of abandoning interest in my studies just because other exciting stuff was happening. I didn’t like the idea of letting that fade. It was August. I was at a point where I’d gained so much from school and I wasn’t willing to drop it. I wanted to continue accomplishing things in that area until it was finally done, as much as I wanted to accomplish things in music as well.”
One of the most awe-inspiring things about Gretta Ray’s music are the layers of complexities that can be found beneath the surface of a finely crafted, hook-laden pop tune. When you combine that with her lyrical prowess – possessing a knack for internal rhymes and evocative phrases that turn in on themselves, only to draw the listen further inside her world – it comes as no surprise that music has been an essential part of her life since she was a child.
“I’ve been involved with music for as long as I can remember,” she says. “I grew up with a very musical family and was immersed in a lot of music; listening to a lot of records when I was younger. Songwriting was something that I was unconsciously learning about from a very young age.
“I joined a choir when I was five. I started playing guitar and piano when I was nine or ten. I was going to concerts and spending my time watching musicians thinking, ‘What makes a good performance?’ and ‘What makes a good song?’ Basically, what would I have to do as a musician to captivate people? Music has been this underlying theme throughout my entire life.”
Like countless other music-obsessed kids, Ray was infatuated with the pop stars that saturated the airwaves of her childhood – with a yearning drive to one day do the same.
“I really wanted to be a superstar,” she laughs. “I remember being five or six, standing on coffee tables and putting on performances for my parents. I was very involved in the daydream sequence of it all.”
Now, those childhood daydreams have been turned into reality. The makeshift coffee table stage has been traded in for an acclaimed performance at Falls Festival and her forthcoming set at St Kilda Festival. Ray has broken through to the other side of fantasy, and isn’t about to slow down now. The next item on her agenda? To head to Nashville in September and complete her highly anticipated debut album.
“Having this be the only thing to focus on has provided me with a new sense of freedom and control, but at the same time puts a whole lot more pressure on me,” says Ray. “I’m a huge perfectionist. When I come up with a line in a song that I think is good, I will change it five times until it’s absolutely perfect and I don’t think I can make it any better. It’s good, because it means when I have a finalised product, I’ve looked over it and reviewed it enough times to make sure that there’s nothing about it I could have changed. It’s very important to me, and probably will be as I continue to make the record. My challenge is going to be approaching this as a job and approaching this with discipline and structure. It’s interesting, and it’s brand new.”
As for Drive, the song that made the highest debut on the Hottest 100 by any Unearthed artist in history, it’s safe to say that it will be looked back upon as a precursor for bigger things to come.
“When I heard the mix for Drive, I saw the entire album. That was a really amazing moment, because I knew how I wanted my next bunch of songs to sound. It definitely provided me with a vision for the album I was going to be creating the following year.
“Throughout the project, all we were doing was giving this song so much love,” she continues. “From making the guide track to being mixed – all throughout its journey of being created – we were giving it something special. That’s what the audience gave it as well, which is something I don’t think I’ll ever be able to describe how happy it’s made me.”
Words by James Di Fabrizio
Image by Ian Laidlaw
