Interview: Raintown

Glaswegian country duo Raintown finally return with the follow-up to the multi-award winning début Hope In Troubled Waters.

We caught up with them find out what they have been up to and what we can expect from their long-awaited sophomore release.

Five years has passed since your début album, did you consciously wait so long between records?

In absolute truth, a number of - not necessarily related - factors lead to the delay. We were close a couple of times to some major investment and so we held off, but unfortunately things changed and those opportunities changed or were put back.

After we decided to continue down our own path - we needed to find the right producer and musicians to get the sound we were looking for and all that takes time.

However on the plus side - the time we took allowed us to build an amazing team around us, we found a great Producer and musicians and co-wrote with amazing song-writers. So we take the view that all things happen at the right time.

Hope In Troubled Times saw you win several awards, is the pressure on for Writing On The Wall to do better than its predecessor?

We are so grateful for the awards that we have won and for the incredible support we receive - we never take that for granted. We also know that we never win them in isolation; it is always a team effort. So, no we really do not feel any pressure for the new album to be as successful in terms of awards - we are much more concerned that our Pledgers - who funded the album - and or fans really love the album and new material.

Can you tell us about the writing process...

For us, it always starts with an idea, an emotion or a story that really resonates with us. That is the important part. It has to resonate with us - it has to move us. That is even when work with other writers. That way when we develop the lyric we hope it connects with others.

The track 'See You Again' on the album is effectively from a diary entry that Paul made after his Gran had passed away. The emotion is very raw in both the lyric and the performance. Even when we are asked to write for another project - like we were for the song 'Forever Isn't Long Enough' - which will be used in the film 'Between Weathers' - we still need to find a means to connect. In that case we have a friend that was facing a tough time and we used that experience to create the lyric.

What is your main goal with Writing On The Wall?

Our main goal with the album is that we exceed the expectations of our fans - we truly believe they deserve an album they can be proud to own and that shows some real growth from Hope in Troubled Times. In the truest sense - without them - ie the Pledgers - this album would not be here. They deserve the very best!

Which song are you most excited for people to hear?

Ah...now there is a question. It is almost impossible to answer, because we feel really proud of these songs and this body of work. However at a push - and this may surprise some people, Shut the Front Door was the first song that came to mind. We think it shows real growth in where we are as artists, but also that we are not afraid to take risks. In terms of sound it is quite a departure, much more Country Rock, but it was so much fun to do!

The lead single is If This Was A Love Song, how did you pick it as the lead single?

There were a number of really strong contenders - however it really came down to letting people hear where the album started. We think 'If This Was a Love Song' has a strong hook, a great underlying story and the final deciding factor was it was the very first track we wrote for the new album, so it won out.

Tell us about the song itself...

It follows the narrative about a couple who started out believing they had found true love. However they find themselves at a crossroads and with some water under the bridge.

They now have to decide to take the risk to move forward and at the right moment, find the right words to say to show their feelings. Our main premise was, it's not as easy as they make it look or sound in the movies or love songs.

The UK Country scene has changed a lot since your début. How does that alter your ambitions?

Our ambitions remain resolute - we want to represent UK Country at the very highest level both here and internationally. We 100% agree that the scene has changed over the last few years with the success of C2C and the achievements of The Shires and Ward Thomas.

We believe that those successes should be celebrated - it raises the game. However, we have faith in what we can bring to the table and firmly believe that others success should only motivate us to keep improving.

Which acts have you got your eye closely on?

We have admiration for anyone out there doing their own thing. We know how hard you need to work to achieve anything in this business.

However, the truth is we really concentrate only on Raintown - it is the only thing we have any real control over. We are aware of what is going on - but as we said previously all success should be celebrated.

We keep working on improving our game, raising our standards and enjoying the journey!

You head out on tour with Dexeter later this year. Can you expect any Ward Thomas/The Shires driven collabs?

Ah we are so looking forward to getting out there on the road with the full band, Dexeter and some of our friends along the way. We have always liked that collaboration idea, in fact we have done it at a couple of gigs already - so we will see what we can come up with along the way!

What are you most excited about from your time on the road?

Playing live is everything to us - we LOVE it!

We are known for dynamic performances, so when we get on stage we want to give our fans everything we have.

That energy you get from a crowd, the game of improving your last performance and delivering every night. Honestly - that is one of the main driving forces of what we do. To connect with people through lyrics that you have created is really amazing!

Lastly, if you could record with one other act, who would it be?

Keith Urban or Zac Brown Band. Sorry we know that's two but we honestly could not make up our minds! Lol.

Thank you so much for allowing us the opportunity to have a chat.