New Music Spotlight – The Rainy Day Apparel

Photo by Leanne Doell Photography

You know what they say, there’s no rainbow without dealing with the rain. Pulling inspiration from pain, Winnipeg singer/songwriter The Rainy Day Apparel, encapsulates the vast emotional spectrum that is the human condition.

From love and loss to the feeling of being lost, he wonderfully meshes the messiness of life with a dash of heartfelt hope in his new EP, Reset.

We spoke with The Rainy Day Apparel about his influences and weaving a silver lining into each of his songs.

JA: How did you get started in music? 
TRDA: I was always around music in my house as a kid. My parents aren’t what you’d call musicians, but some of my favourite memories as a child were waking up to breakfast on a Sunday with my dad blasting music as our wake up call. They listened to everything from ABBA to ZZ Top. At 15 I dusted off an old guitar in our basement and started to teach myself songs; soon after that, I started to write my own songs. I actually still write songs on that same guitar; two from this EP were written on my dad’s guitar. That, in my mind, sums up part of why music is so important to me.

JA: Inspiration for the new EP – there seems to be a lot of heartache and the challenges of finding yourself tied into this.
TRDA: I love this question because I feel like I owe an explanation to everyone around me that listens to these songs. I am actually a very happy person. I live a happy life with three kids and my beautiful wife. You wouldn’t necessarily know that from these songs though.

For the better part of 10 years I wrote love songs. After a while, I struggled to say the same thing in different ways. In the last five years I really wanted to soak in the world around me; try to remove myself from the equation and observe. I still like to weave in my own experiences, but for the most part, I write about things that I hope are relatable, universal and tangible for a variety of listeners.

I wrote the song “Matches” after a particularly difficult start to the summer; watching people around me deal with loss and that heartache/challenges that you mentioned. I suppose it was my small way of saying to those people through song, that they will get through it. Because we’ve all felt that and I never know what to say; so I put it in a song.

“Reset” is about being willing to move on and not fixate on problems – something I’m not great at. “Thaw Me Out” is about my disdain for winter, but more specifically finding the reasons to tough it out through something you hate to reach the sunshine on the other side. “Drag” is about cutting unnecessary or fruitless relationships out of your life; a social purge. I realized I have so many amazing people around me and I barely have time for them. Why would I waste time on people that don’t deserve it?

I guess all of the songs have a silver lining and when I listen to them I feel hopeful, that’s the theme of Reset.

If someone listens to a song and finds meaning in it, that is the ultimate compliment to this whole process.

JA: Can you go into finding your sound – you’re melding some traditional singer/songwriter vibes with a bit of folk/country?
TRDA: As I mentioned earlier, I have a fairly open mind when comes to the music that I listen to or grew up listening to. That ends up spilling over into my writing. When I write I have a pretty stripped down approach: me and an acoustic guitar. Once I get the foundation for the song down that is when all the weird influences start popping in there: an organ piece here, gritty electric there, reverb-y piano, etc. Eventually, I run out of room to put instruments and that’s when I feel like the song is done. It’s definitely trial and error. I have zero training other than my obsession with music and songwriting.

JA: Tell me a bit more about the making of Reset, and what you hope listeners get out of hearing your music.
TRDA: Reset is about a year in the making. Prior to the EP, I wrote songs about my recovery from crippling back pain and subsequent surgery. Those songs were a coping mechanism. They were songs about just hanging in there. Reset is more from the mindset of being healthy, committing to self-care, and making changes on the fly when you have to. I have always said, if my music means something to even one person I am happy. If someone listens to a song and finds meaning in it, that is the ultimate compliment to this whole process. Music connects people, and I’ve really met some great people in the last year or two as a result.

JA: What are your plans for the new year?
TRDA: I have applied for a bunch of festivals in summer 2019; so I am just waiting to see how that works out. I was so lucky in 2018 to get the opportunity to open up for some great artists; I am crossing my fingers that 2019 is just an extension of that. I went in with the mindset that if it fit in my schedule, I was going to do it; it opened so many doors. Whether I was playing in front of 300 people when I opened for Faouzia or playing for mostly empty chairs at a coffee shop I loved it all.

 

Grab a copy of Reset through CDBaby or iTunes. Stream on Spotify. Stay up-to-date with The Rainy Day Apparel through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.