Macy Gray: All She Wants For Christmas (Interview)

A couple of months before she’s due to perform in New Zealand as part of the Raggamuffin Festival, Macy Gray has created a bit of controversy by recording, of all things, a Christmas single. The song, an original composition titled All I Want For Christmas, addresses current political and social issues such as the US presidential election, climate change, gun control and health care, even going as far as mentioning Donald Trump. The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda spoke to Macy Gray about her new single and found out who she is backing in the upcoming election. She also discusses her latest film project and meeting one of her musical idols.

Click here to listen to the interview with Macy Gray:

Or, read a transcription of the interview here:

MD: I see you have a new Christmas song out. It has gathered a little bit of controversy and interest because of the subject matter so maybe you can tell folks here in New Zealand a little bit about it and why you decided to record it.

MG: Most artists get asked to do Christmas songs, they’re usually for compilations or some people make Christmas albums…blah, blah, blah. So usually every year you get requests to do a Christmas song so I’ve already done a few so we were trying to find another one to cover but everything has really been done so many times, and done well, so there’s no point in doing it if it’s already been done great. So we decided to write an original and I went into the studio and that’s just what was on my mind…politics and the way of the world…and so it came out to be this Christmas song with social messages in it and I’ve got a lot of criticism for that but I think it’s alright, I think it’s a super-catchy, great song. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpCBFoWDemQ]

MD: It is pretty catchy, and it seems to be very positive in, what I can gather, is a very negative climate in the United States at the moment. Was that your intention, to try and bring a little positivity into the atmosphere?

MG: The point of it is, in the hook where it says, “Come save the world with me”, it’s more about participating, like if you want the world to be a better place then you’ve gotta do your part. You can’t just sit back and criticize all the people that you voted for. I mean, even if you just get up and volunteer someplace once a month…like, you gotta pitch in, you know…or if it’s down to recycling. It’s asking everybody to do a little bit more for the world because we obviously need lots of help right now. So that was the main point of the song that everybody seems to be missing. They’re making it all about gun control and Donald Trump, but it was never about that.

MD: Well you do mention him in the song so people are naturally going to glom into that I guess. Did you have any second thoughts about doing that?

MG: No, it was just…in America you can say whatever you want about whoever you want and that was just my take on Trump. He’s interesting, but I don’t want him to be my president. Even by what he said yesterday, that’s just so amateur, like, people think that kind of stuff, but you don’t say it when you’re running for president. It’s just stuff like that; I just think this is not a good idea. I have nothing against him but I do not think he should be president of the United States. So I put that that in the song because the song is about saving the world and I just think if you’re going in that direction, Donald Trump is not your guy, that’s all.

MD: You say he says things that people are thinking, I guess that’s his appeal. A lot of people seem to think that he’s a very straightforward kind of guy and tells it like it is, but that’s not necessarily a good thing, I guess.

MG: Yeah, but you don’t need that. No one needs an honest president, you need a president that knows what he’s doing, that knows what to do when you go to war, that understands how things really work, that knows the head of China. Donald Trump doesn’t know nobody, he has no connections. Anybody can say what they’re thinking, that’s not …liker you said, it’s an appeal, it’s sexy, but this is not what the president…this is not what you hire him for.

MD: Is there a candidate that’s got your vote yet?

MG: Um…I really like Hillary, you know, she’s just been around so long. I think everybody is just so used to her. I think she has a really good shot. I really like Bernie Saunders a lot. Out of the Republican candidates, everybody gets so upset when I say this, but I watched two of the debates and the person that made the most sense to me was Jeb Bush.

MD: Really? That’s pretty interesting!

MG: I know!!! Like he’s cursed because of his name, but he’s the only one that actually had good ideas to me. But you know, his legacy is probably going to get in his way but he would be the only Republican candidate I would follow.

MD: Now I also understand that you’re doing some acting and you’re appearing in a production Where Children Play, is that right?

MG: Yeah, yeah, it’s a good movie; it was a really great script. I haven’t seen it yet. I was a really awesome script, it has a great cast and a new director so it was really interesting and it was independent so we had a lot of fun and I learned a lot about making movies and it’s cool, but I haven’t seen it yet enough to comment on it.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzsFmYvkH64]

MD: You’ve appeared in a few things…Lackawanna Blues a few years ago…

MG: Yeah, that was one of my first movies. I did Training Day, I did Paper Boy, Spider Man, I’ve done quite a few now. I can’t even really name them all. Not like that! I mean, off the top of my head I don’t know all of them. Idlewild, I did, the Outkast movie, that was fun.

MD: Oh right, yeah. Are you trained as an actress or is it something that just comes naturally to you?

MG: Yes, I’ve definitely had coaches and training. Not proper, like I didn’t go to college for it and I didn’t do theatre for 20,000 years but I’ve definitely had help and I’ve learned the basics for sure.

MD: A music-wise, other than your new Christmas single, what’s happening with you? I’ve seen in your set lists that you’re performing The Pretenders song Brass In Pocket these days and I thought it was pretty interesting.

MG: Yeah, I love that song.

MD: When did you discover that?

MG: When I was a kid. I actually heard it for the first time when the video came out and she’s in that waitress outfit in the restaurant. I always just loved that song. She’s actually one of my favourites, she’s actually a huge influence on me…and she’s from Ohio, where I’m from.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7Hy7uAb_eU]

MD: Oh, that’s right; you and Chrissie Hynde are both from Ohio. Have you ever met her?

MG: I did, I met her at a festival. She had went on on another stage and we ran into each other and I was so shocked that she knew who I was, I couldn’t get my words together. I was like babbling, I don’t even know what I said. I was so star struck she probably thinks I’m a weirdo. I think I said something really stupid and then that was it.

MD: Well she’s another performer who tends to say thing controversial, with her views about vegetarian and animal rights and things like that.

MG: I’m not opposed to being controversial, I just think if you want to be president you’ve just gotta take some media training, you know.

MD: Fair enough. You’re coming to New Zealand here in February as part of a festival. I was wondering if you remembered the first time you performed here in Auckland. I think it was 1999.

MG: Oh, see you remember. Someone else asked me what year and I didn’t remember.

MD: I was there.

MG: Yeah, I remember coming out there. I just didn’t remember when but I knew it was a long time ago.

MD: Yes it was. Is that the only time you’ve been here?

MG: Ummm, I’ve been to Australia a few times but, yeah, I think I’ve only been to New Zealand once.

MD: And how do you feel about doing festivals? This is a…the Raggamuffin thing has got reggae and Urban artists, there’s UB40 and The Game and folks like that.

MG: I know, I can’t wait. When they play Red Red Wine I’m gonna lose my…I love that song. But, yeah, festivals are great, festivals are the best. It’s in and out, you don’t get to sit there and overthink everything. You get an hour and a half and you do your thing and it’s cool. The backstage is always a big party. Festivals are a lot of fun.

MD: And your most recent album is The Way, which came out last year. Are you still promoting that? What can you tell folks about that album?

MG: Yeah, we’re still full-on promoting it. It’s one of the most gorgeous albums I’ve ever made. It’s ten really interesting songs and it has these really great lyrics in it and it’s a good album. I would recommend it highly.

MD: And you worked Booker T Jones on it, or he worked with you on some of it, right?

MG: Yeah, he produced one song called The First Time. That’s actually got the most streaming hits. It’s everybody’s favourite, apparently.

Listen to First Time from The Way here:

MD: Ok. And how did you manage to get together with him?

MG: Ummmm….I found his daughter on Facebook. I Googled his name and it had his kids and I thought, “He’s probably not going to be on Facebook”, but I looked up his kids and it turned out his daughter was on Facebook and she was his manager and then I had my manager Facebook her. And that’s how we hooked up…isn’t that crazy?

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