RAEN

I am looking at your EPK and I would love to do more than just a review. We are having a special all female issue in February 2006 and we would love for you to participate in that issue with a full length interview. Also, we MUST ad your video to our site, it is very HOT!

Ken Hamlett
Publisher - Unsignedmusicmag

Rachel Donovan, Amanda Jermyn and Emily and Natalie Streat are not your typical mainstream music girl band. The four, who formed the band call raen, met at a performing arts school. The avoided reality TV music shows in a bid to better write and produce their music independently. They found a striking, edgy look through wearing one-off designes from Sydney fashion label Master/Slave. The group launched a debut EP featuring an upbeat cover version of the Maxine Nightingale 70s disco hit Right Back Where We Started From, which they called Get Right Back. The EP also contains their first song Break Me. Jermyn says the band plans to release a pop-rockand ballad inspired album by early next year, with guidance from music producer Michael Sutherland(Skunkhour). The band is keen to sing at more private parties and fashion-based charity events such as the Australian Fashion Enterprise Awards. Raens Get Rught Back is available through J B HI FI Stores around Australia. - MX Newspaper Sydney October 10, 2006

raen were selected as finalists of "Fan your Band to Fame" competiton run by Unsigned Music Magazine USA in September 2006. They have been offered a digital distrubiton in the USA from Ingrooves. - Ingrooves

It seems as if the rest of the world is going on (and on) about the girlband The Saturdays but they have nothing on the Australian act Raen. Raen appeared on Dontstopthepop in past but they're ready to put those girls of The Saturday's in their place. I love a bit of competition! Raen are launching themselves in the UK with no eighties sample or dreadful video with crowd noises layered over the soundtrack. As you can see below, the video is no usual girlband presentation. It features the planet earth, a transformer, dancing stormstroopers, helicopters and lots of rain (get it!).
As for the song itself, Drama Fanatic is both club friendly but also pert for pop radio. As their first UK single its a very strong showing from Raen. Yes, perhaps one of the strongest UK debut singles by a girlband this year. Many have pitted the girls of Red Blooded Women against the lasses of The Saturdays but personally I think Raen might have just upstaged the efforts of their British girlband 'sistas'. They've clearly upped the ante and out of the blue too. Red Blooded Women have finally met their match in the form of Raen (what! did you think The Saturday's were rivals for the glorious Red Blooded Women?-don't make me laugh!). Back to Raen! Both the song and video are better than any of the recent output by the girlgroup legends Sugababes, Monrose and Girls Aloud. Yeah I said it: Raen mean business and it shows.

The 7th Heaven Mix of Drama Fanatic (listen here) proves my point. You might be hearing it at your random dance summer festivals and certainly in your local club. Its up there with the club mix of The One by Kylie and the Freemasons. Any bridge that includes the lyrics "Acting like Shakespeare up in here; Your head is so MTV" is going to win major kudos with Dontstopthepop. So Drama Fanatic is from their first album After The Storm which should be coming out on the wonderfully camp named label Dorothy Records! Anyways, so Raen (Rachel, Amanda, Emily and Natalie) have very kindly allowed Dontstopthepop this legal download of their song Break Me which was the first song the girls worked on together when Raen first started. So its very significant. Enjoy and watch this space! PS: I highly recommend you also check out the track Honey on their myspace. It sounds AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZING! I want it now! It better be on the album! Screw that! It should be a single!

Don’t stop the pop website
- Don't stop the Pop

RAEN IS SHOWERING HITS!
RAEN are an upcoming girl group down from Sydney, Australia. The girls have been around for years, it's only just now they have started recieving more publicity. Having covered classic hit "Get Right Back" and a song of their own "Break Me", the girls are ready for world domination in new single "Drama Fanatic", a very cluby dance tune targeted a people who thrive on drama. They've also posted another brilliant song on their Myspace page called "Honey", which I love more than the lead single, the song is so catchy and sounds slightly 80's. Playzit caught up with the girls and talked music.

PLAYZIT: Tell Playzit about RAEN?
RAEN: RAEN Our name came from our initials RACHEL, AMANDA,EMILY,NATALIE

PLAYZIT: What is you gals favourite song from the upcoming album?
RAEN: 'Something About the mUsic ' is a track on our forthcoming album we absolutely loved recording. Its a laid back rnb song we co wrote with Francesca Richard. Its all about how powerful music is and the way it can move your soul.

PLAYZIT: What do you "Drama Fanatic" highest position in the singles chart?
RAEN: ' Drama Fanatic' we hope goes to number one! Our video for it has been playing on The Music Chart and The Box in UK which we're really excited about!

PLAYZIT: Who is RAENs main music influences?
RAEN: Gwen Stefani is a great musical icon to us, The Beatles !
PLAYZIT: What music have you ladies been listening to at the moment?
RAEN: We're listening to Timbaland, Pharrell Williams, Calvin Harris at the moment.. Cut Copy, The Presets are a few aussie greats at the moment!

Drama Fanatic will be released 21st July 2008.
Honey will be on the upcoming album.

MORE ON RAEN @
http://www.myspace.com/raenmusic

http://www.ilike.com/artist/Raen

http://www.isound.com/raen/
- PLAYZIT

Introducing…Raen!!!
That may just be one of the best pop videos of the year, shot by Jesse Davey, it boasts Fantastic dance moves, very glittery-glamorous, some great visual effects and it’s just a fantastic video - What do you think?


The band is called RAEN - pronounced Rain - made up of the girls’ names (Clever idea that it worked so well!). The track is called Honey, the lead single from their forthcoming debut album “After The Storm” (Rain/Storm - Hehe..:) - Sorry…). The song is fantastic, very slinky and sexy through the mindblowing verses, before exploding into the chorus that while not as fantastic as the verses, is still pretty great and gets so stuck into your head! Do give the mixes a listen as well, they are rather fantastic!The girls also had considerable UK success with a track titled Drama Fantastic - They even got a one hour Chart Show TV special!

The girls established their own record label Dorothy Records, who are overseeing the release of “Honey” around the world! The girls also put together a “gore-fest” horror flick (i.e. Something I’m never going to see) titled Zombie - Look if you’re up for that kind of thing!. The girls Myspace is here, and their website is here.



- Photomaniacal

They’ve been mates for years (two of them are sisters), they’ve worked with some of the hottest writers and producers on the planet and they’ve achieved chart success, strangely not in their own backyard – but four piece Aussie pOp outfit Raen hopes to change all that with their slick new single ‘Honey’.
Chatting with the ‘A’ from Raen, Amanda, we find out what the band’s been up to since their 2006 Maxine Nightingale cover ‘Get Right Back’.
“We were writing an album at the time, and then we had a UK manager jump on board and he took us over to America to record and write, and then we put finishing touches on the album and then took off to the UK, so we kinda bypassed Australia”, she says, almost apologetic for the band’s local absence.
Not that she’s complaining. With their follow-up single, ‘Drama Fanatic’, they roared into the top 10 on the British club chart and performed countless shows throughout the UK.
“They love pop music over in the UK and there’s so many places to perform – in a lot of the weeks, we were performing five/six times a week and I think we counted that we’d performed to over 50,000 people by the end of the trip”, she says.
“It was refreshing because Australia has such a rock mentality and a lot of pubs, so you know it’s kinda nice to go to a pop world for a change”.
And Amanda feels it’s a combination of that Australian penchant for rock music and the power of the four major record labels that’s made it difficult for them to get a look-in with the mainstream radio stations.
“Because we don’t have the big budgets behind us that majors labels do - it is definitely harder. But on the same hand, we’re releasing songs that we’ve written ourselves and that we’ve so invested in emotionally that it’s more rewarding when you hear something on the radio that you’ve worked so hard for. There are definitely walls up there that we’re trying to break through as a pop indie act.
“We’ve had a few radio stations pick it up – JOY FM in Melbourne – they’ve always been a big supporter of us – we love them - and then 96.1 in Sydney. They’ve been playing it non-stop and even 2Day FM has been playing it in their dance shows. Hopefully we just keep going”, she says.

But Amanda also admits that being an independent artist does have it’s upsides.
“We’ve got an amazing team around us – our manager and our publicists – all these people who are just beautiful people. Because we are independent, we can choose who we work with and the type of people we work with and I think we’ve chosen an amazing team that’s really excited for us and loves our music too and wants to work as hard as possible.

One member of that amazing team that the singer heaps praise on is the director of the band’s rather perplexing and slightly scary ‘Zombie’ film, Jesse Davies.
“He is incredible. The zombie clip was just him running around with a camera, so that kind of shows you how creative he is. It was so much fun to do though. It actually all started because we just wanted to shoot something fun with him and he was like ‘let’s shoot this’ and we were like ‘okay’ and he said ‘what’s something that you guys get asked all the time’ and we said, ‘well we always get asked if we fight’. And he asked, ‘do you?’ and we said ‘of course we do – we’re creative people, but we’re like sisters and so it doesn’t matter’. And he said, ‘then let’s do something where you rip each other apart’ and we’re like ‘yeah! That sounds great’.
Thankfully Rachel, Amanda, Emily and Natalie (their names in that order spell out the name of the band) also have a more glamorous and sexy side, as seen in the video clip for their new single ‘Honey’.
“We thought ‘let’s do the opposite to the zombie clip’ so that people can see we’re obviously not taking ourselves too seriously. We do love our glamour and our glitz and we do want to show that side of us as well”.

That said, being four very attractive young women in a vocal group also has it setbacks – with many quick to dismiss them as ‘just another manufactured girlband’ with no perceived longevity.
“Because we’ve come from friendship and knowing each other for so long, we see ourselves as a band. So we kind of see ourselves differently to how the rest of the world sees us, but we understand that girlband stigma because you tend to think of them as not having much creative input and they’re manufactured and they’re just pretty girls who dance around the stage and they can’t sing much – that’s a stigma – I’m not saying that’s true, but that’s the stigma. Which is why we love performing live, especially so people can hear our voices and see what we can do live – it’s so important to us’, the singer adding that following a number of live gigs in and around Sydney, Raen is planning to get out to explore the live scene outside of the New South Wales capital.
“We want to go to Melbourne – we’ve possibly got a show in Melbourne in May – no I think we’ve definitely got a show there, we just haven’t confirmed the date. We definitely wanna get down there and hit Melbourne a bit and do a few shows down there and then maybe Brisbane, so we definitely have the plan to start touring – we’ve got people running around trying to get us shows. We’re all excited for it”.
So, with ‘Drama Fanatic’ and ‘Honey’ now under their belts and a club tour of the country already underway, the girls’ focus is now the release of their debut album 'After The Storm', due to hit stores around the middle of the year.
“We’re really excited to get the album out ‘cause we’ve very proud of it. We’ve had some amazing people working on it so we can’t wait. We just want people to hear it. Hopefully mid-year. So kinda soon-ish! Probably another single first and then the album to follow”, Amanda chirps excitedly, as she muses about the group’s next local single.
“We’re kind of debating it at the moment ‘cause Honey’s being released in the UK very very soon – it’s already gone to clubs over there and is already going better than Drama Fanatic, so we’re very excited about that. There’s another song that we’re DYING to release in Australia as well”, careful not to divulge the possible single’s title.
With pOp music as fresh, polished and strong as 'Drama Fanatic' and 'Honey', we don't think it's going to be too long before the courageous, glamorous and talented Raen foursome and their 'Dorothy Records' will be hot-footing their way down that yellow brick road to pOp superstardom.

Raen’s single ‘Honey’ is available on iTunes/Bigpond Music now.
The band’s debut album ‘After The Storm’ is due mid-year.
For more details on tour dates, head to RAEN'S OFFICIAL WESBITE


- AUSPOP

Sunday, July 5, 2009
RAEN - Drama Fanatic - Review
Not content with one fantastic single, and a fantastic album on the verge of being released - The girls from RAEN are releasing the fantastic Drama Fanatic in Aus! In it's Album Version, the track is a dark, electro based track complete with some amazing claps and some great vocals (as always) from the girls. Killer breakdown, great verses and just an all around fantastic piece! The 7th Heaven Radio Edit builds on the synthy aspect of the original and instead of taking the track towards the electro side of things, it manages to make it a lot more synth based - without destroying the track, and it still sounds fantastic! I love the chorus, but for some reason - I personally prefer the Album Version. The B-side track, Polka Dot Tie, is a fun, flirty r'n'b piece that is rather fantastic! I'm quite the fan! Now, If I've got you all worked up, Have a look below at the video - I hope you enjoy...:) - By the way, it's the 7th Heaven Radio Edit in the video. And, for those of you who are desperate to hear the album....It's on iTunes here :) Tonight is possibly one of the best songs I've heard in a long time!
- Fabtastic

Australia is quickly becoming one of
our biggest suppliers of unsigned and
indie artists. Every artist we’ve had
the pleasure of meeting from Australia
has been extremely talented and RAEN is no
exception. This all-female band has a blazing
hot CD and two extremely hot videos. We are
glad they are a part of our all-female issue and
after you read this interview you’ll be glad you
discovered them for yourself. Make sure you
check out the bands website at
www.raen.com.au for more info and to purchase
the CD.
Are you four young women childhood or
teenage friends? How did you meet?
We all met at MASQUE performing Arts school
as teenagers. We became very close friends
and it was suggested that we start singing
together.
You’re calling your sound a whole new genre
titled “dance fusion”. Explain to our readers
what dance fusion means and what elements
comprise this “new” genre.
The term dance fusion came from a million and
one people asking us, “How do you define your
sound”. So here it is- we are influenced by so
many different styles of music- pop, rock, soul,
funk (the list goes on), and we combined this
with our love for dance music and so was born
‘dance fusion’. Its also called fusion because
it’s four strong personalities, tastes and styles,
coming together to write and create a single
style of music- that’s what makes it the RAEN
sound.
Let’s talk about your videos. First of all they are
done very professionally and have a big budget
look to them, especially the video for Break Me.
Who comes up with the concepts for them, how
did you get such great videos done on an indie
budget and did the same director direct both
videos?
We joined forces with our director Peter Slee
and came up with the concepts together. We
wanted a haunted house theme for ‘Break
Me’ and Peter knew of a great location, so we
collaborated to create the video. Our second
clip ‘How Can I stop’ was an idea of Peters that
he wanted to do for a long time, so we worked
with him to add the RAEN touch to it.
The director and his talented crew approached
us about doing both music videos. They worked
extremely long hours and very hard on a low
budget, to help us create both music videos.
We shot both clips in three days with very little
sleep. Its not every day you get to shot a music
clip- especially as an independent artist- so
we felt very privileged to have been given the
opportunity- it was an awesome experience!
Rachel – What has been the best part of
pursuing your music career?
The live performance, and having something
extra ordinary to look forward to in life! We were
recognized by Music Oz and made it into the
top five in the top five of the Music Oz Awards
(biggest independent music awards in Australia)
in both the Listeners Choice and the Dance category.
Recognition from the independent
music scene was a highlight of last year.
Amanda – If you could have been a part of any
other band in music history, what band would
you be a part of and why?
Tough question- there are so many artists that
I would love to be sharing the stage with! The
Beatles, Michael Jackson, or even Chemical
Brothers would be great but I would love to have
been on stage with Nirvana. Like so many artist
before them- I believe they changed music for a
new generation and I would have loved to have
been a part of a music movement!
Emily - As the youngest member of RAEN, do
you get treated like the little sister of the group?
No I don’t feel like the youngest, we are all as
immature as each other (ha-ha)- except when
I’m naughty I get sent to the corner of the room,
have to face the wall and I’m not allowed to talk
to anyone. If I’m really bad then I have to wear
a dunce hat.
Natalie – if you could live in any other country
and be a part of any other music scene, where
would it be and why?
I’d like to live in Puerto Rico so I can party till
dawn and dance the night away to the sounds of
live Latin beats. I want to bring a Latin influence
to RAEN by experiencing their musical culture.
We receive a lot of inquiries from bands in
Australia. What is the indie music scene like
there and how does it compare to other places
like the U.K. and Japan?
Australia’s indie scene is extremely rock
influenced. Apart from rock you have folk and
country being the other main genres. Pop is
not generally on the indie scene but is now
starting to make its way through. We are hoping
to bring a pop influence to this scene. What’s
helping us break through is our similarities to a
band- writing our own music, getting our own
gigs and we have a massive emphasis on our
live shows, and yes we even carry our own
equipment (huge speakers all in high heels).
We don’t know much about the indie scene in
other countries but we would love to travel and
find out.
Out of all the songs you’ve recorded, what one
song has been the most difficult to record, either
technically or emotionally?
Break Me has been our hardest song to record
technically. It has so many layers and is very
complicated musically and vocally. This was
the very first song we ever wrote and recorded
together so it was a challenge, we have learnt a
lot since then. We love the message behind this
song, and its appropriate that it was the hardest
to do, as it is about not giving up and not letting
anyone hold you back!
Is the band actively pursuing a record deal
or are you happy being in full control of your
future?
We always want to be in full control of our
future, our music, and our image- whether we
are independent or not. We have an amazing
management team around us, and we feel very
lucky to be where we are.
What’s next on the horizon for RAEN?
We are currently in the studio recording more
music and we intend to release a double side
single in February. We are always doing live
shows, writing new material, and experimenting
in the studio to keep the momentum going. We
would love to tour overseas. We look forward
to the future and we will continue to do what we
love.
Any plans to make it to the U.S. soon?
We would love to- wanna help us ;) The US,
Europe, and Asia are all markets we are very
interested in pursing.
What would you like our readers to know about
the group?
We are not a manufactured pop group! We
write own music, we create our own shows, we
are very close friends- no bullshit here.
To find out more about RAEN and to see the
groups dynamite videos, visit them on the web
at www.raen.com.au, also make sure you pick
up the CD while you’re visiting.
RAEN
- Unsignedmusicmag.com

Thursday, May 7, 2009
RAEN - After The Storm - Advance Review!
After The Storm At A Glance:
FABTASTIC!: Drama Fanatic, Something 'Bout The Music, Honey, Hey Beautiful, Tonight, Pieces, Drama Fanatic (7th Heaven Radio Edit)
Great: Polka Dot Tie, Best Of Me, Cosmic Dancer, Let Her Know, Honey (7th Heaven Radio Edit), Honey (Nick Galea Mix),
OK: A New Day
Below Average:
What Were They Thinking?:


This is worth an interruption in the normal posting sequence! Why? Well, I've been extremely lucky! Why? I've been privileged enough to be able to get my hands on an advance copy of RAEN"s upcoming album "After The Storm" and I am here to share my thought with you! (Also, I'd like to thank who gave it to me - I really appreciate your support - I think you know who you are ;P) The album is due for release later this year - to the best of my knowledge, and I'll say now - POUNCE ON IT! The album is a fantastic pop/dance/r'n'b fusion set - that works really well. These girls are the best Australian girl band for quite a while! Anyways, On with the review! Also, I'm only reviewing in order of the disc I was sent (excluding the 5+ minute mixes, like normal) and this may or may not be the tracklisting - songs may get added/removed etc - I'm not making any claims! One last thing, their track "Get Right Back" isn't included on the CD I have, which would have been a nice inclusion as a bonus track on the album - Their iTunes page is here!

The disc kicks off with the extremely fun and flirty Polka Dot Tie. The song has some great banter between the girls, and the beat is surprisingly danceable - It's a really catchy track, and while it does get a little too synth drowned and a little slow - and the song is just a fun, rather different way to open the album! Then the girls really get into things with Drama Fantatic, uptempo electro-pop, with a fantastic beat - complete with synths and some nice sharp notes - the track is amazing. It really should have been a huge hit! The girls sound amazing through the whole song, particularly the first verse, but the whole thing works really well. Dark, dancey, sexy, sassy and slinky - a great combo! Best Of Me is up next, and it's very R'n'B - I'm not a big fan of the beat, but the girls sound fantastic and the vocals and slightly different delivery does save the song for me. The chorus is great and the girls sound perfect as always. I LOVE the part after the chorus! It's a bit slower, and darker, so not my favourite - but still a decent track! Then comes Something 'Bout The Music, which opens as a soft, sexy R'n'B track - but the track is just a really pretty, melodic, softer, more mellow track - The almost whispered vocals sound great but then everything changes when the amazingly sunny chorus comes it - The whole song just lifts, and it's only really a backing beat and a piano that comes along - The whole song is fantastic, It's a very sophisticated, elegant track - Highly recommended!

Then comes Honey. Now, this isn't the version that I showcased a little while ago - That's the 7th Heaven Radio Edit. This one is a lot more synthy, and a lot more "Pop" and less "Dance". It's a different take on the song - A lot more retro inspired, and I think I almost prefer this version of the track. Again, fantastic vocals, great song - There's not more you can ask from a song!. The great music keeps on coming with Hey Beautiful. While I do think this song and the next one could have been swapped - The softness of the track, based around an unimaginably pretty piano sound, really does balance the album out. It's a different sound, and the girls sound AMAZING - as always. They have SO much talent! It's a really pretty ballad track, and while I'm not fond of the all out part in the middle of the song, it sounds a little out of place - The song is beautiful! Cosmic Dancer is up next, a cover, and it's a synthy, ethereal track that's really beautiful. The girls have a fantastic sound to their voices, and the song just builds and builds. The girls vocals sound amazing together - A very pretty track that I do tend to overlook a little. Then comes what is, by far, my favourite track on the album! Tonight is probably best described as a hybrid of Drama Fanatic and Honey - It's got the more Pop leanings of Honey, with the edginess and great dance beat of Drama Fanatic - thrown together with enough to make it stand alone as a fantastic, individual track!. AMAZING Vocals, the chorus is soaring - I love the sound of the first verse. The girls just nail it here - it's sexy, dancey, sassy, frantic, laid-back, uptempo, classy, sophisticated, fun - I could go on for days! - Another Early contender for song of the year?

Then comes the only track that could almost be classed as a mis-step on the album - A New Day. I want to go on the record as saying - I like the song. But something just doesn't feel quite right - The vocals are nice, but I'm not too keen on the chorus. I think the beat is a little off, I don't even know why - The verses are my favourite part. I like the Electronic swooshes and sounds, but I'm not too keen on the rest of the track - Which is a shame. Listenable, but not the best. And Then, in comes the amazingly catchy beat of Let Her Know. The beat is sexy and sassy - The verses aren't my favourite, and the higher notes before the chorus don't sit well either - but the beat is just too fantastic to give up! The vocals do grow on you though and it does almost work - Again, Nice, but not my favourite!. Next Up, Pieces! It's frantic, vaguely Latin reminiscent, the piano sounds remind me of another track - but I'm glad the girls get it spot on for the track. It's sassy and sexy, flirty and fun - The whole thing is a soaring track, the girls sound FANTASTIC, and it all just falls into place! I'm not really sure what more to say - The song definitely showcases the girls to their full potential (particularly vocally) - give it a listen! Then comes the mix that I mentioned above, the one you're probably familiar with, Honey (7th Heaven Radio Edit). The song is nice with the video - and it's got a dancier sound than the other version - I like the track, it's slightly more "now" - but something just doesn't quite sit right with me and the chorus.....Fantastic track though! Next up, the slightly more electro Honey (Nick Galea Mix). It's another take on the song, and another that works really well - I like the clubbier sound to the track, the electro elements are nice and the girls vocals sound fantastic here - If you want a mix for the dancefloor! - This could be it! Lastly, the Drama Fanatic (7th Heaven Radio Edit). Which is still clubby dance, but it's slightly more swooshy than the original - I don't know how to describe it!. It's a great track, different to the original, but works just as well - Give it a look on iTunes to work out what I mean - again, another fantastic one - I love pretty much everything! - Fabtasticmusic.com