Craymo

Music seemed to possess his soul from an early age as he had always tried to imitate the singers and bands eminating from his little 45 rpm record player. In 3rd grade he picked up the alto saxophone taking lessons from Kenneth Van Winkle, father of future Grammy winner Dixon Van Winkle. Craymo continued taking lessons and played in elementary and Jr. and Sr.High Bands and the school Jazz Rock group. Craig wrote his first song when he was 16. He sang in the school choir from elementary through high school. The young performer craved the stage and graced it every chance he got joining the local vaudeville style minstrel group Showtime. Craymo performed in community theatre and high school drama and musical theatre productions.
As a senior in high school he took interest in DJing and got a job spinning at Big Ed's Dallas Lounge and also at a local radio station where co-workers first started calling him Craymo. Craymo went to Fredonia State University majoring in Broadcasting with a minor in drama.
Feeling the call of the big city, Craig left college and moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dreams. He soon landed acting gigs in the TV soap operas General Hospital and days Of Our lives, most recently in the HBO original film Recount. Craymo continued to DJ in Nightclubs and was one of the first "video jocks" to beat mix videos! All the while focused on his music Craymo wrote hundreds of songs and started recording demos in Los Angeles recording studios. He auditioned to be the lead singer for several bands but ultimately realized his destiny was to be a solo artist. The determined young man took vocal lessons with R&B great Bobby Womack and recorded a demo of one of his songs. Craymo then met record producer David Longoria who took him under his wing and they recorded his first professionally recorded song Love Touch and filmed his first music video. Then they went on to create several more songs including Craymo's first EP entitled Be My Girl who's title track was licensed in the indie film Paper Thin Immortals. The next video was Take It Slow with a sixties beatnick vibe and the song was licensed in the indie film Accidents Don't Happen. Craymo appeared as a male vocalist on Star Search 89 with Ed McMahan. He formed several backup bands performing at the Whiskey A Go Go, The Roxy, Genghis Cohen and opened up shows for Smashmouth, The Plimsouls and Fishbone. He then met record producer Chris Irwin and recorded several songs in his Malibu studio. Craymo then ran into his old friend, songwriter and producer Brandon Jarrett. They went into the studio and magic happened. Combining their song catalogs into one company, Moho Productions, LLC. They recorded One Love One World which became a worldwide phenomenon being featured on the United Nations project UNESCO web site www.newsongsforpeace.org. School teachers all over the world downloaded the song, taught it to their students who then performed it at their schools in the USA, Canada, China and Australia!
The world premiere music video for One Love One World is January 2010.
Craymo has been a semi-finalist and finalist in several songwriting competitions including Unisong, the Hollywood Spiritual Film Festival, UK Songwriting Competition, Pacific Songwriting Competition and the Artist Undiscovered Competition. His songs have been licensed in the indie films Super Southern Sweet Sixteen, Silly Movie 2 and Successful Failures 2. Also in television including The X Games on ESPN, The Orlando Citrus Parade, Sinbad's Reality U (pilot), Toddlers and Tiaras (TLC) and Chris and John To The Rescue (Canada). His first full lenght CD Cosmos and followup Cosmos (Singles and Remixes) are available on iTunes. Craymo is currently receiving airplay on commercial and internet radio all over the world.
His influences include Duran Duran, George Michael, The Beatles, Morrissey, Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, David Bowie, Elton John, Sting and The Cars. He has been enjoying discovering London and the UK scene!

Transcript from an Interview with Craymo

Why this name?

It's a nickname given to me by other DJ's when I worked at a radio station in upstate New York. My real name is Craig Raymo and I used to sign the program logs with my first initial C then my last name Raymo. Put em together and you've got Craymo! I guess it stuck!

Do you play live?

Yes, whenever I am invited to!

How, do you think, does the internet (or mp3) change the music industry?

It gives us unsigned artists a voice. It helps us to create new fans too. It helps us discover the music we like without having radio and labels dictate what we listen to.
Would you sign a record contract with a major label?
Of course, because then my music has the chance of being heard more often, all over the world, reaching more people. Touching more fans. The internet will still be a big outlet for my music.

Your influences?

The Cars, Sweet, David Bowie, The Cure, Duran Duran, Prince, ELO, Elton John, Morrissey, George Michael, Robbie Williams, Michael Jackson. Craymo is about rockin' guitars, emotional vocals, fun grooves and interesting harmonies. There's a little glam as well as R&B and punk influences and best of all you can dance to my songs!

Favorite spot?

Inner Bliss, the meditation zone!

Equipment used: Pro-tools.
Anything else...?

MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/craymo