We have West Coast Spotlight – Rayne on deck today. I am beyond thrilled to have a chance to interview such an amazing talent. Despite the age of 18, you are considered a veteran in Canada’s music scene with no signs of slowing down. I had a chance to listen to a great selection of singles and covers. With more fans jumping on the Rayne Train, it’s only a matter of time before she becomes household name. Take a look at what she had to say about music and her new release of Bored
For the new fans, can you give us an introduction as to who you are and what you aim to achieve with your music?
Hello! My name is Rayne, and I’m a pop vocalist, writer, and performer from Vancouver, British Columbia. With my music I always try to write something I think people could relate to. I want to make people move both physically and emotionally (if that makes sense.)
As I mentioned, I listened to some of your work and you seem to have a very mature look on relationships. Do you consider yourself a hopeless romantic or do you think at this stage of your life, it is hard to maintain a working relationship while chasing down your professional dreams?
Despite all my songs being about relationships, I’ve never really been in one. I’m quite introverted outside of my stage persona and have spent more time focused on my career than on boys. It’s always a bit funny sharing my music face to face with people who don’t know me super well, as they’ll start telling me I deserve better than the fictional guy in my song.
You have quite the resume of impressive artists in which you have performed with. How important are the relationships you make with other artists when trying to get your music out there?
In the past year alone I’ve gained so many new friends and colleagues. I know they are going through the same stages of their career as I am. Sometimes it’s hard for people not in the music industry to understand the magnitude of certain opportunities or the pressure to always be topping your last release. That’s why having friends who are experiencing the same thing as you are so important, you can support each other with a completely different level of understanding. It’s also really helpful being able to give exposure to one another by sharing new releases and upcoming events!
Spotify has become such an important tool in getting music out to the listeners. Where do you see the state of music distribution heading in the future?
I think streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora will be around for a while, just because it’s easy and convenient for listeners. With Tiktok happening right now, some songs are having crazy success in a very short period of time, but with hearing the same part of the same song over and over again on videos, people are growing tired of them quicker. The turnover rate is speeding up a lot for these songs. and I think radio (as much as I love it) might start struggling to keep up.
As you know Canada has many bands and artists which have contributed greatly to put Canada on the map in the music industry. Just for fun, can you name the Canadian artist who shares the same name as you, but just spells it differently? Which Canadian artists do you listen to the most?
I’ll take ‘Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace’ for 300, Alex. I think Carly Rae Jepsen is the Canadian artist I listen to the most (sorry Shawn Mendes!) I’ve worked with Tavish Crowe a lot, who writes with Carly and plays guitar on her tour. Sometimes I’ll text him while listening to one of her songs he wrote just to say how great it is.
Which artists would you have on your playlist that may surprise even some of your most loyal fans?
Probably Billy Talent and ABBA (on the same playlist). I went through a huge rock phase several years ago and I don’t think the remnants of it will ever really leave me. That paired with ABBA is really fun to drive to, the perfect combination of upbeat sing alongs and rocking out.
Your new single ‘Bored’ is incredible catchy. It seems to echo the thoughts of many young adults today in their relationships. Do you believe technology has made relationships more boring due to our obsession with our devices? Would you consider yourself a technology junkie?
Thank you for noticing that! I don’t think technology and social media has made relationships boring, just different. Ghosting and lack of accountability when it comes to online dating is a huge issue, but it sure has inspired a lot of great songs.
As for my relationship with my phone; There’s a fine line for artists such as myself who are trying to maintain and build a social media following while still being productive and not spending all day on Instagram. I’ve noticed with social distancing and quarantine still going on I’ve built more of an emotional connection to my phone, as it’s one of the only things connecting me to my friends and family. That dependency kind of scares me, so I try to physically distance myself from my phone as to not constantly have my mind on it.
You spoke about when creating music it’s important to you to put out music that you could dance to yourself. If it isn’t satisfactory, you would scrap it. What was your process like for the recent release of Bored? How did you approach the idea of the video?
Bored has always been one of my favourites songs I’ve written. As soon as it was finished I wanted to release it and share it with as many people as possible. As conceited as it sounds, I can listen to it on repeat without getting annoyed or bored (haha). That is a good signifier that I’ve created something that’s true to me and my artistry. The video was very last minute and fun to film. My friend Richard agreed to be in it the night before shooting, and we drove down to White Rock beach with just an idea of what we wanted. I set up the camera settings how I wanted and my mom would press record and start the song for me to sing along to.
Editing is always the hardest part, so after we had all of our footage I hunkered down in front of the computer for several days and got to work. I make lots of videos for my YouTube channel, including the lyric video for my first single ‘Do With That’, and I’ve gotten a lot faster and better at it since then.
Due to the state of our world presently, does ‘Bored’ have a hidden meaning in relation to how many of us feel stuck at home? As an artist did you use this time of limited activity to begin any other new projects to surprise us fans with?
When it was written last year I didn’t expect boredom to be such a relevant feeling at the forefront of everyone’s minds. We hadn’t originally planned to release Bored as my third single, but it felt too fitting to not. When else is everyone going to be as bored as when they’re quarantined during a global pandemic? During my quarantine I’ve been staying busy with a lot of Zoom writing sessions, and working on some overly complicated cover videos for my YouTube channel! I’ve been trying my best to stay productive and creative, even when I want to do is sleep all day and scroll through Twitter.
I know many people are going to want to know when they can expect to see you live. Was there anything planned before the pandemic hit? Have there been any developments in regards to playing any upcoming shows in the near future?
During the spring and summer I tend to perform a lot locally at vineyards and restaurants. I do a more toned down, acoustic shows. I had several of those booked but they unfortunately had to be cancelled. There was also hopes of opening for some concerts but those obviously fell through as well. I’ve been doing some live streams with my guitar to fill the performance void in my heart. I think we have a special live show planned for the future where I will be performing with my band, so stay tuned for that!
If you could recommend one platform with all the Rayne news, which would it be? Which song would you recommend as a good starting point to know what your music is all about?
Probably my Facebook page. I’m not super ‘hip’ with Facebook, but it’s where everything happening in my career is posted first! If you, like me prefer Instagram, my page (@raynemusic_). That is your second best bet for what’s happening in my world, musical or not. For new fans I would suggest ‘Bored’ as a starting point. I think it best reflects where my music is moving, and my general vibe. (it’s also my favourite out of the lot, so I might be a bit biased haha).
What would you like to tell your fans?
I would like to say thank you! For supporting me, listening to my music, and just generally being really cool and wonderful! Starting out your career is always really hard, but you have stood by me and made it all worth it!
With West Coast Spotlight – Rayne in the books I want to take the time to thank Rayne for chatting with us.
Check out Bored out now!
Keep up with everything Rayne on her social media below!
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