In Conversation with Raynes
The British-American trio had an insightful conversation with BELLO! Get to know more about the group that blends folk and pop in a singular way.
1. Can you tell us about the origins of the band Raynes and how you all came together to
make music?
Mat and Joe met about 10 years ago at college in North Dakota, and started hanging out
together. Mat had dozens of songs written at that time and we thought the songs were good
enough to form a band around, but neither of us really had the voice to be much of a lead
singer. Very long story short, we ended up looking on the internet for the final puzzle piece,
and we came across some videos of Mark playing some covers on Instagram. We reached
out to him to see if he would be interested in coming from the UK to the states to join a
band, and ten days later he was on a flight to LA! Everything clicked immediately and the
rest is history.
2. How would you describe your music style and what influences have inspired your sound?
Mark is a big fan of artists like John Mayer and guitar-forward singer-songwriter stuff, Joe
loves country and hip hop, and Mat grew up playing a bunch of folk instruments and strings
and trying to recreate Beach Boys harmonies. So we really have a diverse range of
influences. None of us intentionally tried to incorporate any specific genre elements or
anything into our sound, though––as we began playing together, it just came together very
naturally. We knew that the core was going to be based on acoustic instrumentation and
our three voices, and that’s been a great foundation to build on. We used to call it
“expensive folk,” but at this point it’s more like arena folk or world pop or something like
that. We don’t spend too much time trying to categorize it.
3. Congratulations on hitting 1 million streams for “Drive You Back Home.” How does it feel
that your songs are spreading in such an organic way?
It is reassuring because organic growth has always seemed to be the most sustainable
and the most authentic.. That “grassroots” energy makes it exciting for us, knowing that
people are coming across our music and it’s genuinely affecting them. We’re hoping it
continues to grow organically like this, especially with our release schedule over the next
18 months.
4. What has been the most memorable moment of your music career so far?
There have been so so many but we’ll just pick one. We played “Lemon Drop” at a parking
lot party for a bunch of high schoolers and college kids, and they were singing it so loud
that it was drowning out our PA system. It wasn’t the biggest or most noteworthy show of
our careers by any means, but it really hit us then how our songs can affect people.
5. How do you approach the songwriting process as a band?
Typically it happens in one of two ways. Mat’s our primary songwriter, so if we are all in
different locations, Mat will come up with anything from a rough track and a topline to an
entire completed song, then we’ll add our ideas until it’s ready for Mat to write lyrics. If we
are together and able to be in an actual studio together, we’ll all bounce ideas off of each
other in real time. Mark screws around on a guitar, Joe tells stories, and Mat paces in circles
until we hit on the basic melody and structure, then Mat goes off somewhere to write lyrics
and we have ourselves a song. Usually Mat will produce a rough version for us to keep
listening to and editing and then hole up in his studio and finish it.
6. Can you share any upcoming projects or performances that fans can look forward to?
We will be releasing a new five-song EP that we are very excited about in the next couple
months, and we have an even bigger project in the works for later this year..
7. What message or emotions do you hope listeners take away from your music?
The main thing we hope for is just any emotional impact. Songs are amazing in the way that
they can affect different people in entirely different ways—some people listen to our music
to get through breakups and some listen to it at 4:00 AM after a wild night. It’s beautiful.
And it’s always an honor to hear that any of our work has touched someone even in what
might be considered a superficial way, because to us it’s never superficial.
8. As a band, with your fan base growing rapidly and building momentum for 2024, where
do you feel fans are connecting with your music the most?
We have absolutely no idea! Which is great. We’ve seen our songs on TikTok and Tumblr
and YouTube and heard them at gas stations and coffee shops, and we don’t know how or
where people are finding them. But that’s really such a thrill for us, knowing that our music
is, in a sense, on its own journey and that it really is finding people.
9. Are there any artists or bands that you dream of collaborating with in the future?
This is always the hardest question for us to answer. We’ll each pick one. Joe – Ernest. Mat –
The 1975. Mark – John Mayer.
10. Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring musicians who are looking to pursue a
career in the music industry?
Make good relationships and foster those relationships. Having people in your corner
supporting you makes the journey much easier, and much more rewarding. And, if you can,
do your best to resist the impulse to follow trends. It takes much longer that way, for sure,
but any success feels much more real and earned if you succeed by following your own
vision.