Raynes was Social Distancing Before it was Cool
Image courtesy of Raynes on Twitter // @raynesmusic
Spread across two continents, Durham, UK-born Mark Race alongside North Dakotans Mat Charley and Joe Berger have been tangling with time zones, saving brilliant ideas on voice memos, and logging hours on FaceTime and Zoom since they met in 2017. With one foot in the U.K. another - technically two - in the U.S., they lead by example in this new necessity of making the people furthest away from us feel the closest. And they lead well.
“We’re very used to the way we’ve had to work for the last year, because we’ve kinda always been all over the place.” Mat, who was in Phoenix when I spoke to the band, recalled when I asked. “We definitely knew how to do it, and it was frustrating because we were ready to be together and tour and all that, but we weren’t going to just stop doing anything at all.”
Raynes came onto the scene with their first single, Lemon Drop, before quickly following it up with Second Thought. Both songs were well received by critics, and they had started touring the U.K. when the world went into lockdown. Then, in April of 2020, they released Come My Way, which had been slated for release before lockdown. They were initially hesitant about the timing.
“It seemed weird right at the beginning to release anything, because no one cared, right?” Mat explained, when asked about the timing. “But we kept with the original plan, and by the time it came out we realized it was good because you can, in fact, listen to music while you quarantine.”
Come My Way, which is three driving, incredibly-produced minutes of harmonies and the feeling of being in love, is the third perfect example these guys released showcasing just how well they work together.
A bright point in my own personal pandemic experience was sitting down - on Zoom, obviously - with Raynes, and chatting with them about live shows, being a transatlantic trio, and Joe’s love of hats, among other things.
Miri Henerson: Are you guys all separated right now?
Raynes: We are! Yeah, Mark is in London right now, moved down there officially eight months ago. Mat is in Phoenix, and Joe is still in North Dakota. We’ve just been weathering the pandemic like this, Joe and (Mat) actually haven’t seen Mark since March of last year! We’re excited though, because we’ve been working on some stuff, and we have a release planned before too long.
MH: You guys have kept yourselves really busy in quarantine! You released Come My Way quite early on, and then all of the stuff on social media separately, like Bedroom Sessions and solo stuff. Did you plan that when this all started or did you just dive right in?
Raynes: So, Come My Way was scheduled for release before the pandemic hit, for April. It seemed weird to release right at the beginning, but we kept with the original plan and by the time it came out it was good! I would say for the three of us, we were so used to the way we’ve had to work for the last year, because even when we met Mark back in 2017 we were all over the place. We didn’t want to be wasting time, though, we didn’t want to stop doing anything. All the covers and stuff we’ve been doing have been cool, but they’re all placeholders for new, original and exciting stuff. So it’ll probably all be archived or something, and there’ll be a load of new stuff on the way.
MH: I’m so excited for new stuff! But the people you’ve covered have been so diverse, and you describe your own music as your own genre of “expensive folk.” Do you each bring your own influences to the work, or is it a mishmash at this point?
Raynes: I think we’ve all got our own separate influences, which I think is what has created this amalgamation of what we do. We’re not trying to sound “cool,” or whatever, but at this point genre is kind of dead. It’s very limiting to restrict yourself in that way, and our separate music tastes lend itself to that. I (Mark) love John Mayer and Mumford and Sons, Mat loves Paul Simon and Dolly Parton, and Joe loves country and hip hop and that all comes through in the covers we decide to do, but also in our own songs when we’re bringing different stuff to the table.
But Raynes doesn’t just work together musically. Their friendship can be heard in their music, seen in their music videos, and how much they love and trust each other has been both evident and helpful since day one.
Raynes: When Mark flew out to meet us, after we found him on Instagram, we clicked immediately and in every way. Joe and (Mat) had a sound already, and we had no idea if this guy was gonna want to do that or go in that direction. But it worked out, other than his phenomenal voice, Mark brought stuff that we wouldn’t have found on our own, and it works the other way around as well.
MH: Yeah, on that note, you guys have been separated for so long. Have you developed a way of writing desperately as opposed to together? Do you prefer one over the other? Basically, it’s Room vs. Zoom!
Raynes: We’d rather be together, 100%. It’s way more fun being in the studio and hashing something out, mainly because it’s just more fun. That’s the fun of being in a band, is getting to figure all of this out as mates. We have had to do this since the beginning though, we’ll write separately or apart. Mat is the main songwriter, he’ll come to us with a full song and we’ll tweak it, but recently we’re all bringing things in. We’d prefer to be together, and it works more efficiently, but we’ve managed to find ways to do good work while being apart.
MH: Are there pros and cons to being intercontinental?
Raynes: Some of the best stuff we do is when we’re all together in a room. And that’s the way everyone writes normally, so the biggest con is not being able to ride the vibe and see where it takes us. That’s where the best ideas come from. It hasn’t been at all impossible to do to send tracks back and forth, but the energy is definitely missing. I’m trying to think of pros.
Mark managed to find a pro, however.
Raynes: Although it’s frustrating, part of our charm is that we are this kind of transatlantic mix, and because of our different musical backgrounds and our life backgrounds, we all have a hand in both the U.S. and U.K. fanbases, so it’s a pretty even split. That’s something that’s definitely a pro.
But over the course of our conversation, Raynes managed to make a tricky situation sound pretty ideal. They always go to a pub right from the airport for whiskey to beat the jet lag, and they get to travel to different countries around the world right away, no need to sign on to a world tour. They’ve met and joked around with Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen. They have friends all over the world, know and love each other's friends and families, and do, in fact, have fanbases in both the U.S. and the U.K. As I write this article, I am living proof.
They couldn’t tell me at the time, but since this interview Raynes has announced and released a mini album, “Set Fire to the Foxes,” which is now available on all streaming platforms.
“I’ve never been writing and said ‘oh I wish Mark and Joe weren’t here,’” Mat, who does most of the lyric writing, says. “It’s always better when we’re in a room together and can feel the energy and bounce ideas off of each other. That’s always the best stuff.”