“Staying true to my heart gives me a constant continuum of a life well-lived. It chooses me.”

Composer/Singer/Multi-Instrumentalist/Producer Ray Andersen, was a full time band member of Meat Loaf, as his guitarist, keyboardist, backup singer, from ’98-’02, touring all of Europe and the US and US and European TV shows.

As part of the Asbury Park NJ Stone Pony house band through most of the 80s, he performed with Bruce Springsteen as his backup band, multiple times, as well as many other events. He’s also played keyboards for rock pioneer, Chuck Berry.

He’s recorded music for many national TV commercials including 20 Publishers Clearing House commercials, recorded in his home studio, and in 2023, he recorded the Linda Ronstadt classic hit, “Different Drum,” for the Netflix Top Ten movie, “The Tutor”, starring Noah Schnapp from Stranger Things.

For over 25 years, he has written and performed music for children and families as Mr. RAY…writing, recording and performing original songs with messages of kindness, inclusion, being creative and staying healthy & active. His streams for kids music was over 9 million in 2024.

He recently composed music for a short documentary called “Vienna: Suddenly an Angel,” which was just included in the Garden State Film Festival in March 2025.

In January 2021, Ray became an Official United Nations NGO (a non-governmental, non-political organization) Representative of Pathways To Peace, on behalf of his musical work and message of kindness, diversity and inclusion, with children… an ambassador of peace through his music.

Let’s get right into it. What makes him tick, so that others can talk. (more…)

It was a day unlike any other day.  But this day was different.

We were glued to our television sets. Black and White. Only three major channels.  ABC. NBC. And tonight it was CBS.

The Ed Sullivan Show, specifically, and while most young girls were screaming passionately at the top of their lungs, the boys were discovering their life paths.  Most boys wanted to be the boys in the band.  And this night, the band was The Beatles.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, most of the guys wanted to be the band because, it was assumed that the band got all the girls. And all the attention.  To this five year old kid, I wanted to be Ed Sullivan. The man who introduced great talent to the world.

I met Beatles’ producer, George Martin at the infamous Sardis restaurant in New York City.  A celebration honoring the return of The Who’s legendary “Tommy” to Broadway.  It was a charity engagement, which charity I do not recall, but I went to have a few words with Pete Townshend, who conceived the rock opera.

Little did I know that one hour into the party, my friend told me about the affair confronted me, telling me that Sir George Martin was ten feet away from where I was standing on the second floor of the restaurant.

“My God! The Father of God!” I thought.

Going over to say hello to him, he asked me if we could talk a bit later.  Naturally, Yes! I’ve waiting my entire life to meet him!

Sir George tapped me on the left shoulder,  “Hello, you wanted to have a word with me?”

I looked at him, shook his hand, introduced myself and said, “I’ve waited over thirty years to say these two words to you!”  He asked for the words:  and said “Thank you!”

He patted my shoulder this time, and said, “Well, Thank you!”

It was all that music we grew up with that I felt compelled to thank him for. Afterall, he produced the soundtrack to my early childhood.

A few years later, I had the idea to ask for an interview.  I wanted to know what made him tick. And these “ticks” made others talk.  I had to know how he came up with such brilliant arrangements, and was the man  who signed the Beatles to EMI.

(more…)

Re-imagining media and the arts as a public service:

Michael Masucci, co-director of the pioneering media arts collective EZTV, offers an extraordinary chance to explore the evolution of independent video art, the birth of digital culture, and how media can be a vehicle for radical transformation, equity, and experimental collaboration.

Our conversation is designed to bring forward his decades of innovation at the intersection of art, technology, activism, and community.

Experience the uplifting story of EZTV and the importance of  decentralized community media.

The arts has served as a method of traversing cultural barriers and geo-political ideologies and has been the bleeding-edge of innovation in both thought as well as practice.

How can we leverage the enormous potential of the current media tools and the distribution and communication possibilities of those who have access to online experiences?

How can media benefit from the forward-thinking experimental model that art cultivates and preserves?

It is time to re-imagine both how mass pop culture and the more esoteric niche practices in the arts build bridges between seemingly different communities and belief systems.

Michael Masucci, EZTV Media and EZTV Museum, DNA Festival, Santa Monica