“This is what inspires me as a musician– real emotions within outlandish circumstances.”

Synthesizers are the driving force behind what compels me to write music. When I was a 9th grader I asked for a Moog for Christmas. What I received was a pretty crappy 90s era Casio from Costco. This started me on the path to using bad keyboards to create unique sounds. Not having a lot of money, I had to make do with what I had. I would record onto cassette tapes and manipulate the speeds to create odd samples that I could then use on the computer.

Technology has progressed quite a distance since then, but I still find myself going back to terrible instruments to create signature sounds. I’ve always loved sci-fi and the soundtracks that go along with it. Something about the moodiness and somewhat real nature of the fantastic themes always struck a chord with me. They are human stories, and human emotions.

Ray Rude is an electric wizard who creates moody and synth-based music in his rainy southeast Portland studio.