She’s a Grammy Award winning 21st century icon with a voice and heart of gold. From day one of Macy’s global debut, her spirit of funk was infectious to our soul. The long-awaited official music video for “Buddha” (featuring guitar by Gary Clark Jr) premiered via Rolling Stone. It reflects Macy’s newfound inner peace and calm after two decades of chaotic fame and touring. Dark Beauty is thrilled to share our exclusive interview with you…
Interview Meikee Magnetic
Where were you born and where are you now?
I was born in Canton, OH, but I live in Tarzana, CA, now.
We’re excited about the new album ‘Ruby’, with amazing songs like ‘Cold World’ and ‘Over You’. I’m sure this will be a classic, what does this album mean to you and how does it make you feel?
Thank you! I’m glad you like it. It’s all very exciting. My tenth album that’s big. I want the whole world to hear it because it’s so good. It feels strong. It feels good!
“Buddha” is a reflection of your newfound inner peace and calm after two decades of chaotic fame and touring. Could you elaborate more on this realization:
The song “Buddha” really speaks to being in the here and now. I’m not a Buddhist, by the way. But not racing ahead nor living in the past is good for everyone. It can be a process to get to that point, but it’s worth the hustle. I understand myself a lot more and feel lucky to be able to have that perspective and live that way.
Your an advocate for mental health, tell us why this is so important and personal for you?
It’s a different kind of suffering when your mind isn’t working. For example, if you have a stomachache, your brain tells you to get some Tums. But when your brain isn’t working, it can’t tell you what you need in those moments, and it’s all over the place. Sometimes you don’t even know what’s happening! It’s not something I can completely put into words for anyone. Psychiatry and psychology have a long way to go, and I want to be a part of helping people with mental disorders because I know about the hurt and the things it destroys. I’m launching my foundation MY GOOD in 2020, so I’m excited about that. I also just recorded the end title for a film called “Cracked Up”, which is the story of Darryl Hammond from SNL (Saturday Night Live) and his struggle with mental health. It’s really a powerful story and I’m honored to be a part of it.
You held an official “Buddha” cover art contest hosted on Instagram receiving over 300 submissions from artists in anticipation of your release. This sounds very cool, we’d love to hear more details and who the winner was:
Yeah, this was a lot of fun. It was super hard to pick. We had some really extraordinary ones. The winner did an awesome job! His name is Jonathan Caustrita. His was just so different and gnarly, it has all this wild detail. He saved us because not in a million years would I have been able to come up with something that cool.
How have you grown as an artist since you first started out in the industry?
In every way. My voice. Me. The whole bubble.
We’d love to hear about some of your upcoming plans and tour:
Hoping to make it to the moon someday soon! CLICK HERE FOR TOUR DATES
What does Dark Beauty mean to you?
Beauty is all beauty. Dark light brown green purple red white and blue… just not crazy about orange.
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/MacyGray
www.macygray.com
