Skip to content

Ray Meade: 'When they told me I had MS, I thought I was done'

Pauline McLean
BBC Scotland Arts Correspondent
Getty Images Raymond Meade, on stage with an Ocean Colour Scene backdrop, sings into a microphone while playing bass guitar. He is wearing a navy and white spotted shirt and a denim jacket.Getty Images
Raymond Meade, who has played with Ocean Colour Scene, was diagnosed with MS in 2021

Like most of us, guitarist Raymond Meade had a slow and quiet summer in 2021.

The pandemic had put a stop to live touring with Ocean Colour Scene, with whom he had played since 2016.

And without recording studios, he was unable to continue with his successful solo career.

But there was a further barrier for the bassist, who has been playing since he was in school.

"I'd started to get these really intense pins and needles in my hands. It was like throwing a snowball and then running your hands under hot water afterwards. It's really painful and hot."

"And then it spread to my feet."

Getty Images Three musicians stand in a line on stage and we look at hen from the right side of the stage. Two have guitars and the middle man is singing. A drummer sits behind them and speakers are stacked up either side of the drum kit.Getty Images
Raymond (far right) has played with Ocean Colour Scene since 2013.

In August that year, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) which affects the central nervous system.

"It was almost a relief to have the diagnosis because it allowed me to make the necessary adjustments and get on with my life."

But he was also concerned that his professional career might be over.

"The day they told me I had MS, I thought I was done. I wasn't even 40 at that point and I thought I'd have to sell my guitars and find some other way to make a living.

"But the neurologist said, 'Give it time'."

Within two months, he was on a new treatment, and ready to leave hospital.

Ocean Colour Scene had just announced their first tour in almost two years – and Meade was keen to be part of it.

"My hands didn't work. I couldn't tie my laces. I couldn't do a zip up - I was dropping everything.

"To have something to aim for was important."

He called the other band members - Simon Fowler, Steve Cradock and Oscar Harrison - and told them what had happened.

'Outpouring of emotion'

"I said I was aware that I might not get back to the level of being able to perform live, but they just said 'Get fit, see you in December'."

The gig in the band's home city of Birmingham was an emotional one, for them and the audience.

But Meade was just focused on getting through the set.

"I had a stool hidden behind an amp and I thought if I can get through this without sitting down, I'll be doing ok.

In the end I didn't need it. And there was this outpouring of emotion. It was such a terrible time and it was a release to get back to playing live music."

"We all had a hug when we came off stage."

Having returned to live touring, Meade had another challenge to face. Making his own music.

"I couldn't hold a pen – which means I can't do my crossword either. My head was just scrambled with too much information. I made the mistake of googling MS and I was just swamped with information.

"The thing to remember is that no one - with my brain - has ever had this before so I needed to find out what's right for me."

Raymond Meade The five members of ocean Colour Scene link arms and look out over the crowd in Birmingham, the photo taken from behind with the house lights up so we can see the crowd's faces.Raymond Meade
Raymond made it to the OCS gig in Birmingham and admits it was "emotional"

He started to train his brain with games like chess, and slowly the songwriting abilities returned.

The result is his first new single since his diagnosis, Holy Water, which has been released on Alan McGee's new label Creation Youth.

For a boy who grew up in the southside of Glasgow, idolising Oasis, and later ran Liam Gallagher's clothes label Pretty Green, it was a dream moment.

"I used to send him demo cassettes. It's a full circle moment. And to be writing again and to have that music released by Alan McGee meant everything."

"I'd never thought I'd get back to playing with the band and writing my own music, being able to record it and being at a level that Alan McGee finds it worthy of releasing."

This week he and the rest of Ocean Colour Scene kick off their latest tour in Leeds. The band whose hits include The Riverboat Song and The Day We Caught the Train will play two dates at Glasgow's 02 Academy on 15 and 16 April.

Another dream come true for the boy who saw the band as a teenager at the Glasgow Barrowlands.

Raymond Meade The record sleeve for Holy Water shows a white disc with "Ray Meade" in pale blue and the words "Holy Water" written in different coloured letters in three rows in the centre.Raymond Meade
Raymond has released his first single since his diagnosis - Holy Water

And he's planning it carefully.

"My neurologist said you need to think when you wake up that you have an allocation of energy tokens and be careful how you use them. I'm an expert napper. If I'm doing something in the evening, I lay off in the day to balance the fatigue. It's manageable."

"I found out that the actress Jamie Linn Sigler from the Sopranos had MS all the way through the show. It didn't stop her. I get fans coming up all the time to say their mum, or their uncle has MS.

"I want to be an example that it's not the end if you get it. It's manageable. Lean on the MS nurses. You can carry on with your life. You can still be you."