Macy Gray Is Hitting The Reset Button

CREDIT: Derrick Rodgers

Following her latest album with The California Jet Club, The Reset, Macy Gray is gearing up to hit the road on tour! It was such a pleasure getting to know her better and learning the stories behind the songs (and movies!) that we’ve loved for years. Check out our interview below!

How does it feel to be heading out on tour again?

Oh, really excited to go out and hang out with the fans again. We're gonna have a blast dancing, shaking and screaming; our shows are amazingly fun. It's gonna be good night.

What motivated you to put your latest album, The Reset, together?

It was actually written during COVID which was a very emotional time for everybody. So, it was perfect to make a record. Everybody who wrote on the record was, you know, emoting like everybody else and had strong opinions and so it was good too, although it was a horrible time for the world really. It was a good time to make records because there was so much to talk about, think about.

One of my favorite tracks on the album is Every Night featuring Maino. What was it like working with him on that one?

Maino’s cool. He's been around for a long time and and he's still doing it. I always have so much respect for that because the record business is so hard. He just really nailed it. I didn't give him any direction and he came right in with something totally positive and, like, just so perfect for the song. It was probably one of the best collaborations I've ever done.

Taking it back to the early 2000’s, can you tell the story behind your Grammy winning song, I Try?

I had just met my husband; I must have been 25 or 26. We were actually in different rooms in our apartment because we were mad at each other and I wrote that song for him. Then I went upstairs to play it for him and he is watching basketball. He was a huge Knicks fan; he's from Queens. So, I played it for him and he was kind of annoyed that I was interrupting his basketball game. He said, “Oh, yeah, that's cool. That's great.” Like that. So, I never thought it was a was a big deal. I had that song for a while, and I didn't think it would blow up. Nobody was more shocked than I was because, you know, my husband had told me it was “okay”. It really was a huge gift from the sky for me, because I had no idea that people would like it that much. And still like it.

Do you ever get sick of performing I Try?

No, I still love it. I mean, we play it, of course, every time we do a show and people just go crazy. There's always people that come to shows and they just want to sit down; even those people will get up and they'll just start singing. They'll go crazy. It's a great song. I still don't get what all the fuss is about, but you know, we still love playing it and I just like seeing the smile that that it puts on everybody.

You released your debut album in 1999 - how would you say the music industry has changed since then?

Oh, it's totally different, like unrecognizable. It's a completely different industry and and I don't know if I would say that it's better. I think it's been devalued a little bit. I think music is something that makes people better, makes people feel better. I think they've kind of made it where, you know, they've kind of presented it whereas it's not worth what I think it's worth. So, it's changed a lot. It's good for the fans because the fans have access to anything, anytime. There's a lot more artists; if you're an independent artist, you have a much better chance in 2023 than you did back when I started. Everything changes, you can't really sit and say, “Oh, I wish it was the way it used to be,” because nothing is. It's cool. I liked it better when I started out though; I thought it was a bigger industry. It was a little more exclusive. When people put records out, it was important. Now, it's just kind of something that happens every day. It is what it is, you know, so you adapt. You can't really bash it because that's it. I think somebody like me, who started back then, has had to really adjust and learn to do things differently. I mean, it's going to change again, too, you know, so, everybody get ready.

In addition to music, you’ve also done a fair share of acting as well! What has been your favorite role thus far?

Probably Idlewild. I did a movie with Outkast’s Andre 3000 and Big Boi; we had so much fun on that film. It was like, a bunch of kids at Disneyland. We all moved to Wilmington for about a month and we just partied and made a movie. It was the best, it was like heaven. It was like, what heaven must be like. We had a good time making that.

Do you plan to do some more acting down the road?

Yeah, like everybody else in town, we had stuff coming up before the strike. We'll see what happens after. I think it's gonna take a while to settle back into it and catch up on all the projects and stuff. So, I don't know when the movie I was gonna do kick back up. It was sad to actually start filming the month of the strike, it’s so crazy. I do like acting and I love the process of making movies and I'm excited to do more.

You’re going to be performing live with The California Jet Club at the Waterville Opera House on 10/7! What can fans expect from the show?

Our show’s very musical. I have great musicians with me. We paced the show and curated the show for the fans just to have a really good time, you know, just to give everybody that that break that you need; that two hours of coming out and just dancing and screaming and forgetting about all your troubles, you know? That's what the show is designed for and that's what we do.

Have you ever been up to Maine before?

I think way early in my career, I went everywhere like every other artists do. You kind of start routing your tours to the places where you have the most fans, so I don't know if that was Maine. But I know I went like early, early in my career. Definitely.

Here in Maine, our state motto is “The Way Life Should Be.” According to Macy Gray, what is the way life should be?

I think life should be easy. I think people have so many like hurdles, you know, like, we're kind of conditioned that. You have to work hard and, you know, overcome your struggles. You have to fail to succeed and all that shit, you know. I just wish, you wake up every day and it's just laid out for you; you just get up and live and have a good time. I don't see why we have to struggle to be okay in life, so I just think it be should be easy.

Much love to Macy Gray for taking the time to chat with me. Snag your tickets here to see her live at the Waterville Opera House on 10/7 and stream her album, The Reset, here!