MTV NEWS: Is your song, "Who Is Jimmy Ray," based on personal experiences or mistaken identity?

JIMMY RAY: I guess psycho-identity is part of it but, but generally the idea is that I am singing about things that I like, you know? I guess it's self centered, but I am singing about people like Link Ray, like guitarists from the 50s who did the "Bat Man" tune and I am singing about Fay Ray, from the "King Kong" movie [750k QuickTime], and just generally things that I like and people who personally share the same surname as me, you know?

MTV NEWS: I read that your whole 50s fascination started with your sister.

JIMMY RAY: Yeah, it wasn't primarily from my sister, but my family included, used to love 50s rock n' roll music and I used to, when she used to go out to night clubs and stuff to go jive with her 50s boyfriends, I would run into her bedroom and steal her Gene Vincent and Little Richard records and run back into my room and play them continuously and then try and sneak back before she got home. She would slap me otherwise. I used to steal her records, but I kind of had a love of 50s music as well, at the same time I guess.

Generally they all originate from the stack of records that my mother used to have when she was younger, I guess, and I found them. Most people tend to find these things tend to go 'shwa!', and go buy something else, but I got into it and used to played them and really got into the sound.

MTV NEWS: Why do you think the 50s genres like rock-a-billy and Dixie music have been so overlooked by modern day musicians?

JIMMY RAY: Yeah, I think that's true, actually. I mean, I think the Stray Cats were the last big act to promote that style, or the love of that music. I don't know if there is a political connection with the music of that era. The fact that it was generally white guys, started with black guys, made all the money and I think there has always been a stigma attached for that reason. Maybe with films like "Grease," people feel it has been really well covered and it's been done.

But personally I think it was the origins of music as we know it, rock n' roll music as we know it, and you know, there were so many great artists at that time, black and white artists and so many fantastic songs and pure energy, you know? Fifty's rock n' roll records to me is pure energy and pure release. They didn't think too hard about how to perform these songs. They just went into the studios and did it. I respect that and appreciate that. So I think it is a style that is ready to be thrust back into the limelight hopefully, for me, if I am lucky.

MTV NEWS: I've read you refer to your music as rock-a-billy-hip-hop. Does that still hold? Can you elaborate?

JIMMY RAY: Yeah, I call it pop-a-billy-hip-hop because my love of music is generally pop- music. I have always listened to, you know, pop songs, and artists who are very open about their love of their music. I'm not too into artists that are trying to be too cool or too protective of their music. I like people who just say, 'Look, this is what I do, this is how it goes, and if you enjoy it, that's great.' So I've always loved pop music. I love the funkiness of hip-hop. I love the beats and I love the kind of lyrics in hip-hop music, and obviously I love rock-a-billy music as well. So I try and just combine the three to make my own pop-a-billy-hip-hop.