I asked for a connection to the hotel room of one Mr Scooby Doo. Then I listened to the ups and downs (pun intended) of the world's roller coasters for more than 10 minutes. I don't think I can be entirely blamed for questioning the authenticity of this interview.
You only have to look at the many directions her fourth studio album, Big, pulled Macy Gray in to predict an interview with the American singer and songwriter could have an element of surprise. But by most standards this interview was off the scale.
"I love to play," said the gruff-voiced diva, who will perform at the Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival on February 17. "Play is everything. It keeps us young and it reminds us what life is really about."
Replace musical genres on Big with topics of conversation and this interview is exactly like listening to that diverse 2007 album from start to finish.
There's very '60s pop in One For Me, more traditional ballads with Slowly, Ghetto Love brings a bit of hip-hop, a disco element comes from Everybody, a new wave musical pulse flows through Treat Me Like Your Money and there's even an R&B strength in Okay.
Hopefully that will put what's to come in some kind of perspective.
"I love movies, poker, having people over, good times," she said, her mind flitting to the next thought before the words of the last had left her lips. "I love camping and that kind of s**t," she said, giggling nervously. But before I had chance to consider why she was nervous, she was off again. "Roller coasters".
She stopped. Was that it? I worryingly thought and racked my brain for a professional way to keep the conversation flowing.
"You're a fan," I managed, intrigued — and maybe a little concerned — about where this could possibly go. I had no idea.
"I think they may be my favourite thing," she said. "I love them. The adrenaline. The speed. I think I have been on so many, but I can never remember which is my favourite. There is one called Magic Mountain, but I'm not sure where it is. That could be the best. I know there is one in Abu Dhabi, so that's what I'd like to do if I have the time.
"They make me happy and they make me smile and laugh. Roller coasters are like a drug."
Click. Everything dropped into place. Maybe she'd just ridden Disney's Space Mountain, because she seemed as high a kite.
When she was in college, Gray, now 43, didn't really like her singing voice. She was into film and songwriting and, no surprises, performing, but she never saw herself as a front person.
"It's was just a crush which got me where I am today," she said humbly. "I had a boyfriend in college who was in a jazz band and had a little studio in his room. We started writing songs together. I didn't know if I had a good voice, I just wanted to hang around him."
‘Love and murder'
The woman who at first seems crazy, wired and lacking direction, eventually becomes humble, modest, genuine and unassuming. Well, maybe with just a tad of "nuts", as conversation turns to something she once said in an interview about her interest in murder.
"I just think love and murder is really interesting," she said, justifying her songs Strange Behaviour — about a wife who kills her husband for the insurance money — and I've Committed Murder (for obvious reasons).
Laughing, she went on. "I think people who kill the people they promised their lives to is a deep, interesting topic. I don't know, it always comes up in my albums. But I haven't killed anyone."
Phew, I thought to myself, realising I have no control over where this interview has come from, or where it is going. Luckily the worry is short-lived as I let go and relinquished my usual need for structure.
"I couldn't murder," she continued. And there was me thinking we'd been there and done that. Silly. "My mother would finish me off. She's the one lady I'm scared of. She calls me up and says, ‘I read this and I've read that' and reminds me not to swear in interviews. Well, anywhere actually. Sometimes I look back and realise the one woman I still self-regulate myself for is her. Even after all these years."
No editing
This goes against everything she believes and everything she teaches her three children Aanisah, Tahmel and Cassius. "You mustn't edit yourself around your kids," she said, after having battled with her memory to pinpoint her three teenagers' exact ages.
"Whatever you are, whatever you believe and whatever you may hope to be, they should be aware. If you start editing yourself, then they will too, which can only lead to negative things. I love that they are exactly who they want to be."
Gray has one of the most intriguing and individual voices in soul music, something which became recognised internationally after she took the charts by storm with I Try in 1999.
It was literally impossible to tune into a radio station that year without hearing the lamenting "...goodbye and I choke. Try to walk away and I stumble..."
In the years since, there have been a few others, including Why Didn't You Call Me? and Sexual Revolution, as well as a few more acclaimed albums and movie appearances, but nothing seems to have ever taken her as high as the first attempt.
"I still love that record," she says, as if expecting me to be surprised. "I hear it now and it still makes me smile. It was a great record and it makes me happy to think of what it helped me achieve."
Beauty In The World, the first single from Gray's fifth studio album, The Sellout (which was released in June last year), as well as the second single, Lately, were both top 10 hits in the US.
"We've never really had a plan, you know?" Gray said.
"We knew we wanted to do something different. The key is always who you're in the studio with. So it was just a matter of getting the best musicians."
But it was the final few minutes of the interview which, although they flew past, embodied exactly who Macy Gray really is. The talent is there, but she doesn't know it. The world is a tough place to break, but she's having fun trying and, reassuringly, isn't as confident as her stage presence would suggest.
"I have weight issues from looking at myself on TV. The worst thing is when you watch yourself and don't like what you see," she said after admitting her favourite song in the world is Sir Mix-a-Lot's Baby Got Back.
"He talks about big butts and how nice they are," she said. "That's brilliant."
Don't miss it
Macy Gray will perform at 8.45pm on Thursday, February 17, at the Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival and promises "a party on stage". Tickets, priced Dh275 standing, Dh350 middle seated, Dh495 front seated and Dh975 for VIP, go on sale today at ticketingco.com and ticketingboxoffice.com as well as at all Virgin Megastores. For more information, visit dubaijazzfest.com.
Just jazz
Check out the acts at the Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival:
Wednesday, February 16: Mica Paris, then Alison Moyet, followed by headliner Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. Kylie loves him and goes on his show almost every year. Featuring Ruby Turner, Louis Marshall, and Gilson Lavis, composer Holland promises a rocking show.
Thursday, February 17: Mindi Abair and Peter White, then Macy Gray, followed by Lifehouse. For the duration of Los Angeles-based Lifehouse's 10-year career they've been delicately balancing two identities: radio-ready song craftsmen and raucous live rock and roll band. An impressive resume, their Dubai gig will also include songs from their fifth studio album, Smoke and Mirrors.
Friday, February 18: Jessy J, then Joshua Radin, followed by Train. The unusual Grammy Award-winning rock band have albums peaking in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 and have sold a total of more than four million albums across the US. Everyone will know their biggest hit Drops of Jupiter and sing along.
