We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Carrie Ray a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Carrie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

My sister and I were child actors. Our mom was a typical stage mother. As kids growing up in the 80’s our mom would pull us from school and schlep us all over LA. We’re talking Los Feliz at 1pm to West Hollywood by 2:30 back to Beverly Hills by 4pm. We spent a lot of time in the car rocking out to what was popular on the radio. We’d sing and dance and laugh and that’s how I remember the 80’s. My sister landed a Michael Jackson Pepsi commercial and we jumped up and down screaming! She played the sister on Mr. Belvedere and I did a couple of commercials, TV series including St. Elsewhere and Highway to Heaven and starred in the TV movie remake “The Bad Seed” with David Carradine. It all came crashing down when our mom was diagnosed with The Big C. I remember vividly a few grueling years with ambulances and fire trucks called to our little house in the valley. She hung in there taking us to dance, singing, acting lessons and auditions all while wearing a wig and receiving chemo treatments but it got the best of her and she died January of 1987. That’s when things drastically changed the course of my life.

After the loss of my Mom, I made some pretty poor choices along with little to no discipline at 11 years old. Let’s just say I got clean and sober in 1996 and now have 25 years clean, I’ve always loved 80s music and have always sang. I answered an ad on Craig’s List back in 2019 for an 80’s singer. It wasn’t a good fit so the guitarist and I branched away and it pushed me to start our own 80’s band – Memberz Only. The joy I feel when singing is beyond anything I can describe. Every time I perform with the band it’s a tribute to my mom for giving me the best years of my life. I feel such a sense of joy and freedom on stage singing that I hope it brings that same freedom to those that watch us. Getting lost in the moment dancing and singing is the best feeling!

Carrie , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve been singing since I was 7 years old. I’ve performed on stage all of my life. I began teaching students in my 20s but realized I couldn’t get them as far as I wanted to. I went back to school and got my Bachelor’s in Music Education. I continued to teach voice and piano in the LA area for many years, coaching up and comers for auditions on The Voice to private concerts. I started Memberz Only in 2019 and we’ve performed all over the LA area – The Canyon, Concerts in the Park, The Whisky and more! We cover mostly 80’s rock and my fave is the angsty females – think Joan Jett, Blondie, and Pat Benatar. After several years and making a name for ourselves, we finally performed at two concerts in the park which allowed us to have enough funds to open an account, pay for proper photos, and purchase some T-shirts to sell! We now have merch! Things are finally taking off after years of hard work and perseverance.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to learn how to let go and be myself completely and totally. Things began to change for our band when I completely became my most authentic self. No reservations, no holding back just waving my freak flag high and owning it. Once I started to really be myself on stage I became a better singer and performer allowing to connect with the audience more. Finding what you’re best at and growing as an individual and as a band. THAT is what it’s been about for us.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My sister is now a kick-ass Real Estate agent and she has really taught me about perseverance, ambition and not giving up. I know with every door closing; our band is closer to the next opportunity. When we first started Memberz Only, we couldn’t get into places we are playing for now. Fast forward, we are filling the spaces and they are asking us to keep coming back.

Still to this day, I have left messages for places trying to get the band gigs and never hear back, but then you make that 20th call and they finally respond. This is the music business and in order for us to succeed, we need to play to our strength which is passion, authenticity, and tenacity.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.memberzonly.com
• Instagram: memberzonly80s
• Facebook: memberzonly80z
• Youtube: memberz only

Image Credits
withthe.band