#iVoted Announces Kevin Ray of Walk the Moon as New Board Member
We at #iVoted are thrilled to announce the appointment of our new and first artist board member — the one and only Kevin Ray of Walk the Moon! Journalist Molly Hudelson recently chatted with Kevin on his decision to get involved with voter turnout during this election year of 2020 and beyond. Molly’s piece is below.
With the 2020 presidential election just nine months away, #iVoted is thrilled to announce that Kevin Ray, bassist of Walk The Moon, is the first artist to join the organization’s board. #iVoted was founded in 2018 by entrepreneur Emily White and Pat Sansone of Wilco, with the goal of boosting voter turnout by letting fans in to concerts for free, if they showed a selfie from outside their polling place. For the midterm elections that year, they activated over 150 venues in 37 states on Election Night. Talking about his role on the board, Ray shares that he’s “honored to be a part of it — this is wild.”
Ray, who has long been passionate about the importance of voter turnout, had been looking for a way to get involved. When a friend told him about #iVoted, he found the organization — and its success in its first year (“it kind of caught like wildfire”) — so compelling, he had to know more. “When I first talked with Emily, I realized how passionate she was, and we just clicked on a lot of things,” he says. Joining the board was “a natural fit”: “what a great way to combine activism with music.”
Although he now lives in Indiana, Ray and his bandmates — vocalist Nicholas Petricca, guitarist Eli Maiman, and drummer Sean Waugaman — are originally from Ohio, which has historically been a swing state. Of the past five presidential elections, Ohio has voted republican three times (2000, 2004, 2016) and democrat twice (2008, 2012). For Ray, growing up in Ohio “made the importance of voting so apparent. It was always a conversation piece at the dinner table between my parents and I.” Since it was never obvious which way the state was going to vote, “you didn’t know until Election Day, so you just had to vote, because… it was so up in the air.”
The non-partisan message of #iVoted and the voter registration movement is part of what drew Ray to get involved. “I meet so many people [of] so many different beliefs and backgrounds every day when I’m on the road, in different cities, different countries”: voting is something that everyone can agree on, and low voter turnout is something that everyone understands to be an issue. Further, he adds that “the more people that vote, the better represented we all are.” The US is split right now, with elections being close while citizens are as divided as ever — making it all the more critical for every individual to represent themselves and vote: “It’s clear to see that one little nudge in either direction can tip the scales completely.”
Though he expects his role on #iVoted’s board to evolve over time, right now, Ray sees himself as the liaison between the organization and the artists involved. It was a recommendation from Joywave — who Walk The Moon toured with back in 2018 and have since become good friends with — that made Ray reach out to White in the first place. “It made it legit in my eyes- when I had no idea about the organization, I haven’t been involved, but a friend of mine who I respect so highly is like, ‘you need to talk to this person, this is the real deal.’” As artists, promoters, and managers hear about #iVoted and look to get involved, seeing someone like Ray on the board will “[put] potential artists at ease in the same way, knowing that we’re serious about the mission,” as he’s a direct connection to the music industry.
In 2018, #iVoted partnered with artists of many different genres; shows included performances from Drive-By Truckers, Playboi Carti, Iron & Wine, Hoobastank, Good Charlotte, and many more. There isn’t a set formula for how artists are chosen, but Ray is personally eager to welcome artists who share the same passion for voter turnout, regardless of their political views. He wasn’t able to confirm if Walk The Moon will be participating with a show on Election Day this year, although he hopes to make it happen pending their availability: both Ray and Maiman have recently become fathers, “so we are — sort of in different worlds, currently.” Ray’s daughter Moxie is “brand-spankin’-new,” but “anyway to set a good example for her is good in my books”; if #iVoted is still going strong as she grows up, “that’s only gonna be a good influence on her.”
Regardless of the band’s availability on Election Day this year, Ray is looking forward to being involved on that day. Though they aren’t bound by genres or formulas, Ray would like to see this year’s concerts target youth, who have typically voted in low numbers. While voter turnout did increase in the 2018 midterm elections as compared to the prior midterms, with 53% of people voting per the US Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey [https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/04/behind-2018-united-states-midterm-election-turnout.html] — the turnout for young voters was still low. Though voters ages 18 to 29 saw an increase from 19.9% participation in the 2014 midterm elections to 35.6% in 2018, these numbers are far lower than any other age group: 66.1% of those 65 and older voted, making those 29 and under an under-represented group.
There are many different factors behind the low turnout among young people, but Ray stresses that when he was younger, “it wasn’t completely clear to me what it took to vote.” To fix this, the registration process must be made physically accessible — and less confusing. Once you’ve registered and voted, “you understand how easy it is and what the infrastructure is like” — but if you haven’t had someone to walk you through the process, “it can seem foreign.” Young people might not know what’s required to register, or how absentee ballots work — and they might be afraid to ask questions. Ray adds that he, too, found the process intimidating: “I didn’t know, for the longest time, that once you registered to vote, you’re just registered to vote. I assumed, at some point before an election, I had to get registered — I didn’t know where to go get registered.” He’s sent in absentee ballots over the years as Walk The Moon has been on the road — but admits that figuring out that process isn’t simple.
While the voter registration process is still “nowhere near clear to young people,” the internet has made resources and information more accessible. Ray also points out the “extensive web of organizations that are all fighting for the same thing, all helping each other out,” and encourages anyone not already registered to utilize them. HeadCount, for example, will set up tables at shows, with volunteers ready to help concertgoers register to vote on the spot. But getting people registered to vote is a continuous process, and even something like HeadCount can be intimidating, Ray points out: “you see somebody older than you standing there with a clipboard and the same shirt as ten other people — you don’t know if it’s like a religious organization, or… you just have no idea.” The best way to combat this is more visibility — for organizations like #iVoted to continue their work and to keep educating people not just on the importance of voting, but on how easy it actually is.
And sometimes, people may be aware of how to vote, but choose not to do so because they think their vote doesn’t matter — or they don’t vote because they’re not in full support of any candidate on the ballot. To Ray, however, that’s even more reason to vote: “If you think that none of the candidates are good, then that’s the best reason to vote. Write-in a candidate. Vote earlier in the process — vote in the primaries. Get involved locally, support someone you do like from the early stages.” Voting in local and primary elections means getting your voice heard from the start — so when it comes time for major elections, you’ll be able to once again support the candidates you believe in.
Anyone who’s seen Walk The Moon live or listened to their music knows that there’s a constant message at their shows and in their music of equality, self-expression (“Eat Your Heart Out”), and acceptance (“Different Colors”). When asked if he considers them to be a political or activist band, Ray says yes. Walk The Moon stands for “the feeling of being able to be who you are, love who you are, love who you want” — and they’re not afraid to speak out on their views. Walk The Moon has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, 7.9 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and regularly sells out shows around the globe– and with that platform comes power and responsibility. Ray circles back to the fact that voting is something everyone can agree on and explains that, “I do consider us activists. We are activists because the change we’re fighting for all the time is just more people voting.” While he doesn’t want to tell anyone what causes to fight for, Ray believes that musicians do “have a responsibility to be active, because they have a platform.” Everyone is political in some way — “We all have our opinions. If you’re standing there saying ‘I hate politics,’ you are political — you can’t avoid it. And I love that.” When there’s so much to speak out against and fight for, “being apathetic or not doing anything speaks volumes.”
Discussing the future of #iVoted, Ray says his main hope is to see things working first-hand — to be at an event “and meet someone whose mind was changed about voting because of #iVoted.” Goal-wise, he hopes to see it grow. He references an early conversation with White: “When I first talked to her, what sparked the idea for her was that there was an election that was decided by less votes than the amount of people who could fit in an arena. Wouldn’t it be great to have an arena full of people who got there because they voted and wanted to come celebrate with a concert? So — I think that’s the ultimate goal.” — Molly Hudelson
