Victor Ray On His Debut Australian Tour: 'It's Quite A Soulful Experience; It's Very Raw'

Victor Ray is primed to be the next busker-turned-superstar following Ed Sheeran and Tones And I. He's already playing increasingly larger venues in the UK. But, about to hit Australia for the first time, the humble Stay For A While singer hasn't forgotten his come-up as a street performer. "Strangers on the street would be like, 'Oh, you should do this – you could make it!'" he reminisces.

Ray's press releases are full of impressive streaming and social media stats in addition to media accolades. Yet, Zooming from his London flat at 9 am, the Brit's charm is paramount.

Ray is familiar with particularly Naarm/Melbourne's busking circuit. "I used to watch an artist called Tash Sultana on YouTube all the time," he enthuses. Otherwise his image of Australia is derived from sunny soap opera exports. "I did used to watch Neighbours – my sister used to watch it all the time growing up. So, yeah, definitely the propaganda is there that I thought the sun is always shining!"

The 25-year-old has an intriguing diasporic tale. He was born in Uganda and briefly lived in his mother's homeland of Kenya prior to migrating to the UK as an infant. The family settled in post-industrial Newcastle. Here, Ray would be raised in a single-parent household with his siblings—Dad now absent. "I definitely got the kind of Northern grit and rebelliousness in me," he ponders. “Maybe it's tamed by my mum's African culture."

As a lyricist, Ray writes about family dynamics, romantic relationships and coming of age. In fact, he first sang Christmas carols publicly in primary school and progressed to learning guitar. In his mid-teens, he began penning songs, admitting that "they weren't amazing."

Later, Ray gigged at weddings, covering throwbacks like Wheatus' pop-punk Teenage Dirtbag. "I loved that song," he laughs. "I didn't even realise that people loved that at their weddings, but it makes so much sense. It's such a cute song." It's still his "karaoke song". "I just love it – I love it so much!"

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However, Ray had his breakthrough as a busker. "I had a long conversation with my brother 'cause I was debating, 'Should I study?' I didn't get into the uni I wanted to go to. So, he sat me down, and he was like, 'Listen, you sing more than you speak. Why don't you give this [music interest] a real go?' It was always a dream, but it was like a pipe dream in my head. After that conversation, I took a gap year – that's when I started singing on the street. And, in that year, I wrote a lot of songs."

Initially, Ray busked around Newcastle – passersby riveted by that emotive voice. The exposure was educative and boosted his confidence. "I figured out that, 'Oh, I can just fully let go and focus on the song – because no one really cares unless they wanna care,'" he recalls. "And that's when more people started watching. It's ironic – you kind of stop caring about who's gonna stop and everything, and then suddenly more people stop."

At 18 Ray relocated to London, enrolling in the BIMM Music Institute. Eventually footage of the troubadour's impassioned rendition of Hozier's Take Me To Church went viral on TikTok, audiences recognising a rare authenticity. In late 2022 he released his first original – the indie-folk ballad Hollow.

The prodigy subsequently launched the I AM. series of EPs – conceived as both his "introduction as an artist" and a conscious route to resist rigid definitions of British Black music. "I wanted to touch on different kinds of musical genres and stuff that influenced me and that I will be delving into for the rest of my career."

Ray's inaugural EP, i was., is in the Novocastrian "singer/songwriter" vein, being composed at home on guitar and a laptop. The second, i felt., pays homage to 2000s R&B ("Growing up, I loved Usher and all of these kinds of guys"), while 2024's I TRIED. leans into soul (Ray often cites Donny Hathaway).

Last year was momentous for Ray. Signing to Universal Music Group in January, he then supported US YouTube sensation Teddy Swims on a tour of the UK and Ireland (after busking with him in London's Piccadilly Circus), performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, and had a sold-out show in Camden's concert venue KOKO accompanied by his new band. The rising star also expanded into fashion, becoming an ambassador for the Karl Lagerfeld brand.

In April, Ray will deliver the fourth and final volume of his I AM. project, I WILL. – led by the head-nodding single Still The Same. This time, he's embraced hip-hop, even rapping on Sticks & Stones alongside Kojey Radical and Strandz (of Us Against The World fame). "I really wanted to do more storytelling – and that's where a bit of the hip-hop influence comes in because I've always loved hip-hop, and I've loved how those artists can tell stories."

The key track on I WILL. is World At My Feet, which Ray previewed at KOKO. "It's almost like a big manifestation and declaration of, 'Okay, listen, I've done this, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere.'"

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Ray's brother intuited that the singer expresses himself more in music than real life – among his most touching songs i felt.'s acoustic Popcorn And A Smoothie, addressed to a younger half-brother he's never known.

Ray isn't necessarily reserved. "I'm quite a chill person," he suggests. "I think I'm extroverted. But I'm a good listener. So I can just sit back, and I can coast." Still, he appreciates that songwriting is "very therapeutic" – adding that "a lot of my songs come from personal experience, if not all of them. So I think, without it, I'd probably have a bit of a jumbled-up mind."

Potentially soon headlining stadiums post-KOKO, Ray has amplified his sound. "It all came out of me and I started moving around, jumping around, and I could really let my voice go."

Regardless, his music has always had a rock vibe. "Growing up, I listened to a lot of Linkin Park," Ray says. He can hear elements: "Powerful vocals and big chords; big energy." And he'll record more rock rock. "I'm actually exploring that now. I'm working on some music, and I even said to my producer, 'Listen, let's go up on the rock.'"

Ray has teased an album – and today he confirms that it's in the pipeline. "I'm even hoping to put out like a mixtape, maybe in summer, before my album – which will probably come out start of next year."

At any rate, Ray isn't rushing his debut. "I'm trying to be a bit more concise with everything. I've always loved albums, honestly. I love listening through a whole body of work, and I love when people can paint almost like a movie with their songs. So I'm really trying to be quite intentional with my writing right now." Above all, he needs to be "proud of" it. "I feel like an album, for me, in my head, that's when I'm like, 'Okay, you're a real artist.'"

On the Australian leg of the I AM. tour, Ray will be joined by his guitarist. "We're trying to make it a little bit more intimate, but we've still found a way to make it sound grand because I really love the big-sounding stuff – and a lot of my tracks kind of demand it."

Live, he aims to connect with punters. "It's quite a soulful experience. It's very raw. I feel like it's quite wholesome. I like to chat a lot. I chat a lot of nonsense on stage as well! Hopefully my fans don't mind it too much. But I like to be able to explain some of the stories that I'm telling – especially when it's new fans or people that haven't seen me before. It's good to give context behind it."

Nostalgic for those busker days, Ray cheekily hints at pop-up performances Down Under – although, if present, his manager might urge him to plug official shows. "We'll see what we can do – we're gonna try and sell these tickets out A$AP Rocky," he jokes. "But, yeah, I will at some point be trying to busk on the streets of a city."

Ray unwinds by playing video games, watching TV and catching up with friends. "I'm trying to get back into basketball," he chuckles. "I used to play it in high school, but I wasn't even very good then, so getting into it now is difficult." But he may discover another pastime in Australia. "We're gonna head to Byron Bay and try to just relax. I'm gonna try and go skydiving as well with my team!" Victor Ray, flying high.

Victor Ray will tour Australia for the first time this April. You can purchase tickets via the Frontier Touring website.

Presented by MG Live and Frontier Touring