“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.

We first met when you were performing in a rock band.  Let’s talk about the realizations, epiphanies and transformations you dealt with and how you stayed the course…

I started out watching and listening to the Beatles at a very young age. They were truly my very first epiphany of elation through the arts.
They instilled in me the joy of, initially, performing, and then, writing a song.

In my house, my folks were constantly playing Sinatra, Rogers & Hammerstein, Ella & Louie….the American Songbook…and the intoxicating sound of Bossa Nova. That instilled in me a sense of rhythm that had me starting out on drums.

On the TV was Danny Kaye, Dick Van Dyke…folks who transcended age, entertaining ALL ages, and the Ed Sullivan Show, where I witnessed talent from all across the board.

I believe how I eventually made music for children and families was a direct result of that magic potion of rock and roll, and some of the aforementioned musical personalities and genres I took in, as a child. They spoke to me.

And how could this inspire others to rethink, recalibrate and reimagine both career and lifestyle?

Right from the get-go, these artists transported me into a fantasy world, unmatched from any other life stimulant I eventually could’ve indulged in.  It shaped me, put me on the earliest path, in the face of life’s unhealthy temptations, etc. I’m human, and graduated to performing in night clubs and such, so those dark forces of what almost everyone else was imbibing in, didn’t escape me, but ultimately, I realized that they were getting in the way of my muse.”

So, you want to do inspire young people to be kind to one another. How did that work for you and how do you stay true to your vision today?

“I grew up in a house of manners …not just in my home, but my grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles’ homes. Somewhere along the lifeline, I absorbed the mantra ….”do unto others as you would have done unto you.

Kindness. It’s not utopian, as far as I’m concerned. Not woke.  It’s essential for living. Nourishment for the soul. Not a dessert. It’s THE meal I feel we need to co-exist, as we are not quite doing, presently.  That’s not a political statement.

That’s a human statement.

I’ve lived long enough to have witnessed the downturn trajectory in accepting our differences and finding what we all have in common with each other, instead.”

There is something important to be said about being young and free to express oneself whether either art or music or dance.
How does this translate in the current fear greed and selfish economy?

“Every day that I witness darkness and descent in our world, it drives me to plant my musical seeds of Kindness, Good Manners, Being Creative….to the countless children I entertain, and/or who stream my songs. “

Are there things that people don’t know about you that you that you might share?

“There are, but I really believe that as someone who makes music their life and puts it “out there”, I like to retain aspects of that life that are precious to me. Private. Not a social media party for everyone to take in and judge. That is in no way, a guideline for anyone else, other than myself. I will share an occasional post about my daughter or the reflection on the loss of someone in my life, but social media is basically my way of informing folks about what I’m offering, musically. “

Was there something about growing up in West Orange, New Jersey that inspired you the most to create this new trajectory?

Yes. The second home my family moved into, in New Jersey in the mid-60s, was purchased from songwriters, Carole King and her husband, Gerry Goffin.

Something about that house gave me the utmost drive to develop my craft. Perhaps, the creativity that magical songwriting duo were engaged in, was in the air, in that home.

My bedroom was the room they originally had the piano in, where Carole King has said, besides them creating gems like Pleasant Valley Sunday in, she also started working on melodies and musical passages that later became the iconic album, “Tapestry.”

Also, every summer, all of my neighborhood friends went to sleepaway or day camp…and I was all alone for so many of those summers, leaving me to retreat to my basement and play my instruments, write songs, sing….it was my sanctuary where I simply plowed away. “

Do the epiphanies still manifest?

“Oh my gosh, more than ever. An artist always takes with them, the whole spectrum of their time creating, performing, loving….the beginning, the time in-between, and where they are, spiritually and artistically, in the very moment they exist. It’s like looking at a painting that visually represents the whole sweeping gamut of your life, yet you’re constantly pulling elements from it, to produce your current work. “

Your work is important for the youth of today, the leaders of the future. How do you stay true to your heart and soul to remain curious and enlightened to inspire others?

“Have to say, there’s nothing I do that I need to re-instill a sense of purpose. I do nothing that doesn’t ring true for me. Staying true to my heart gives me a constant continuum of a life well-lived. It chooses me. “

Mr. Ray online