1.Your Profile
I love folk music from the early ’70s but I also love The Notorious B.I.G. I love dancing really hard and not caring that people think I’m too white to legitimately crump. I love yoga and angel cards and hiking but I have an acerbic sense of humour that some new-age people just can’t appreciate. I never let anyone define who I should be. I’m all kinds of things from one day to the next and so is my music – always evolving.
My influences range from jazz to soul and folk; the music I create doesn’t fit into a pre-described genre. It’s accessible without being four-chord pop – I want to challenge the listener with unusual chord changes and melodies. My focus is on subtlety and truthful storytelling expressed through that delicate balance of words, music and humour.
2.Keeping Busy
I’ve been keeping busy but I’m certainly not a workaholic. Sometimes I’ll wake up smiling because I love sleeping so much. At the moment I’m learning The Beatles song ‘I’m Only Sleeping’ – truth runs deep. I’ve just released my debut, self-titled EP, which is pretty exciting. It was recorded and produced by Miles Selwyn, who’s just opened his new studio in Marrickville. I also made a video clip for my song ‘Born By A River’. You can find that on YouTube under my channel RaineeMusic. Shout out to the director Zac Lynch-Woodlock. At the moment I’m just playing shows, trying to get the music out there and building a fan base here in Sydney.
3.Best Gig Ever
My best gig ever was probably a show I did earlier this year at the National Folk Festival. I was performing as Joni Mitchell, where I embody her in a one-woman show about her life and music. The whole trip seemed to run parallel to an anecdote I would tell in the show: solo road tripping in my beat-up 1992 Daihatsu Charade, ‘Daisy’, listening to Joni’s album Hejira and having a festival fling with a man with beautiful facial hair and a great hat. The show itself I did solo in a packed tent with some of the biggest Joni fans. They were just beaming at the stories I told and singing along to the songs. That’s my happy place. Those are the kind of gigs I want to be doing with my original music.
4.Current Playlist
I love Robert Glasper, a jazz pianist who collaborated with R&B singers on an album called Black Radio. It’s sophisticated, the lyrics are deep and inspiring and it’s such a wonderful showcase of superior artistry in an industry that tells us success is defined by how high cut your leotard is.
5.Your Ultimate Rider
My ultimate rider would be a grand piano in the green room, a masseuse, endless cups of herbal tea and a bar filled with top-shelf single malt whisky.
Rainee out now. Catch her withMeredith Rose atFoundry616onFriday December 19, tickets online.
