Kat Harlton
Vancouver dark pop singer songwriter Rayne recently releases her EP False Love on July 30 via all streaming platforms. At just nineteen, Rayne is gaining attention from fans and the music industry alike. Her catchy, heavy hitting pop choruses, witty, relatable lyrics, and soaring vocals have also caught the ears of Top 40 radio programmers with early support coming from across Canada for her singles ‘Do With That’, and ‘Envious’.
We had the opportunity to chat with Rayne about her EP, her creative process, and what’s next.
Kat: Can you talk about the inspiration behind your latest EP “False Love”?
Rayne: Honestly there’s inspiration coming from lots of different places. Some of the songs are loosely based around my own life and experiences, others are inspired by my friends or family, and some songs are completely fictional. I’ve always been a person who consumes a lot of media, whether that’s through reading, Netflix, a podcast I listen to, or a YouTube video about a video game I’ll never play, I `find ways to fill up my subconscious with inspiration.
Kat: What do you hope fans take from the new EP?
Rayne: I hope they enjoy the songs and can relate to the lyrics. Everyone has been in some sort of unhealthy or unhappy relationship in their lives, romantic, platonic, or work related, so I hope anyone listening can relate those experiences to my songs and feel seen.
Kat: What do you find is the most challenging part of your creative process?
Rayne: Not quitting halfway through a song! There’s always a point during the writing process where you get stuck. That could either be for 30 seconds, or 30 minutes, but no matter the amount of time, it’s very easy to get frustrated. When I’m writing by myself, I tend to give up on a song whenever I get stuck and never really go back to it. But since I’ve started co-writing I’ve done that a lot less, as we can brainstorm together and hold one another accountable to finish a song instead of quitting.
Kat: What has been a career highlight for you so far? What have you learned along the way?
Rayne: A career highlight for me was being told by my collaborator and friend Tavish Crowe that a song we’d written together was probably one of his favourites he’s ever written on. I’d been going through some rough imposter syndrome at the time, and receiving that text almost made me cry haha. It’s incredibly cool to have someone you look up to say that, especially when it’s a person who’s written as many incredible songs as he has.
Along the way of my career I’ve learned to not let people talk over me. When I first started writing with other musicians, I was afraid to speak up. Everyone I worked with had a lot more experience than me, and was a lot more outspoken. I tried too hard to be polite, and assumed that everyone else knew more than me. Eventually though, when a 40 year old man tried to explain to me how teenage girls feel about things, I realised that wasn’t going to work, and started expressing my opinion a lot more. Now that I’ve had more experience working with producers and other songwriters, I’m a lot more comfortable speaking my mind, and don’t let my experiences be written over by guys more than twice my age.
Kat: What’s next for you?
Rayne: Now that ‘False Love’ is out, I can focus on completing projects I have planned for the future. I have a lot of new music in the works right now that I’m really excited about and think my listeners are going to enjoy! With Covid still being a major issue, touring isn’t really looking like an option for me right now, so I plan to keep growing my online audience, and then take that to the outside world when things are safe again!
For more on Rayne visit: https://raynemusicofficial.com