LOS ANGELES, CA- On April 20th, 2019, the upstart alt-pop duo RAINNE graced our stage at Madame Siam to celebrate the release of their single “Psycho Killer”. RAINNE is the duo of Annie Dingwall and Justin Klunk, and they gave fantastic performance that gave Hollywood a glimpse into their brand of dark electronic pop.
Not ones to rest on their laurels, they’ve release yet another single “Dirty Little Dream”. Produced by Petie Pizarro and Patrick Ridgen, “Dirty Little Dream” is a “seductive song engulfed in passioun, but upon further listening, maybe that’s only part of the story,” explains Annie.
We were able to catch up with the band after their Madame Siam performance, and chatted a bit about the band’s dynamic and the new single!
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Both of you met through music at a Grammy Camp and also studying at USC’s Thornton School of Music. How did you two know that you’d be good musical fit with each other?
Justin Klunk: It’s funny how things like that pan out. You never really know how great of a fit something will be until you start playing together. I think a major factor was how we bonded over similar taste in music. We started playing together in a classroom setting at USC and would end up talking between rehearsals about how to add our own musical influences into the arrangements to make the ensembles more fun. We continued playing after college, and that was really when everything solidified. We were playing random acoustic and full band shows around LA and were working on building our catalogue of songs. Our on-stage chemistry continued to grow and develop into what we have today with RAINNE.
Annie Dingwall: Our personalities and interests are so similar is so many ways that playing together really came naturally. When you play with someone for years, you really get to know their style and learn to anticipate what they will do on the fly. Sometimes we extend sections without warning, sometimes we add hits, sometimes we drop things out, but it’s great knowing that it will usuallywork out because there is a comfort level and familiarity that has grown over several years. Playing shows together is so fun because we get to play off each other and know that our non-verbal communication will be understood.
For Justin, what’s the dynamic like for you going from touring with huge acts to concentrating on your own personal music? Are you splitting time 50/50 or is Rainne now a full time endeavor?
JK: It’s one of the best feelings, to be honest. Touring with other artists is great and your job is pretty straight-forward. Be present, be on time, and play your heart out. The only difficult part is that you’re at the mercy of the artist or band’s schedule. You’re only on the road if they are. When Annie and I had opened the discussion to start RAINNE, that factor played a big part in my decision to commit to RAINNE. We had always wanted to do what we do on a larger scale, and this seemed like the best time for us to get the band off the ground.
RAINNE is our full-time endeavor. However, Annie and I will still take on other musical projects like writing sessions, recording sessions, and tours as they come. But RAINNE is a factor we consider before we take on particular projects now. It’s hard for me to say if it’s a 50/50 split, but we go with the flow when deciding on other music projects. I feel like taking on other projects outside of the band, from time to time, helps expand our own thinking and can help the band in the long haul.
Your brand of electronic pop, based on the few tracks you’ve released that I’ve found, carry a bit of a dark tone to them. “Psycho Killer” in particular. Does the heaviness come natural to you or is it a sonic that guys are consciously concentrating on?
AD: The darkness definitely comes naturally. I’ve always gravitated towards heavier, moodier music and those influences come out when writing songs and coming up with production ideas. Distorted guitars and dramatic vocals always make an appearance in our show. Lately, the lyrical content of our songs has been a little more sinister than before, but that’s because I love playing around with ideas in songs that other artists aren’t talking about. With “Psycho Killer” we get to assume a character, rather than sing from an autobiographical standpoint, which is a fun way to mix it up. You can expect the dark vibe to continue on our new single “Dirty Little Dream.”
JK: Musical tastes will inevitably evolve over time, and although we share similar tastes in music, it’s still really diverse. Sometimes you’re listening to a lot of hip-hop and want to incorporate sounds and textures from the genre in your own music. What we had to consciously concentrate on was finding one cohesive, over-arching sound for our band. We immediately vibed to the darker toned production and it has felt the most authentic.
Speaking of the new single, “Dirty Little Dream”, tell me a little bit about it. How did the three writers come up with this new banger?
AD: “Dirty Little Dream” is a love song of sorts but toes the line of where fantasy and reality live. This song came out of a really weird idea I had while driving around LA listening to my latest true crime podcast. Luckily PLAYDED (Patrick Ridgen) and Marlhy Murphy loved the idea and we had a great time writing the song. They are both super talented. Later on, I showed it to Justin and we decided to produce it with PLAYDED and Petie Pizarro (the team who produced “Psycho Killer”).
What can we anticipate for the rest of the year? Are you just dropping music single by single or you guys close to having an EP or even album on the horizon?
AD: Right now we are going to be releasing a series of singles and touring to grow our audience organically. We LOVE playing shows and having people sing along to the songs they know. We’re always working on new songs and recording, and the discussion of an EP has definitely come up, but as of now we are planning on several more singles this year.
JK: It’s every band’s dream to have a full-length album in the record store. We are hoping that this series of singles leads to a full LP in the not too distant future.
Follow Rainne on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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