5 questions for Rain Man from Krewella
/Rain Man is one third Krewella and has played a major role in their meteoric rise through the electronic dance music world. If you think Krewella has had it easy, think again, because this trio took a long time to get where they are now as I learned in this 5 question interview with the production mind behind the group. Kris Trindl, aka Rain Man, was a guitarist in a metal band for 6 years before switching it up to be a full time producer and become a part of Krewella with singers/sisters Jahan and Yasmine. Read on as Rain Man talks about his role in Krewella, his journey to get where Krewella is today, the Volcano stage, and even what he finds most annoying about travelling on tour with Jahan and Jasmine. Enjoy:
1. What's your role in Krewella?
Rain Man: My role in Krewella is to basically do the brunt of the production work as far as all of the programming, engineering, recording, stuff like that. And then the other thing I do, or try as much as I can, is listen to the songs that the girls have written and maybe do some really small tweaks on melody. So most of it is recording, engineering vocals, and doing all of the tracks.
2. When you guys create a track in a studio – do the vocals come first or do the beats/melodies do, or both? What's the creative process like for Krewella and the making of your album “Get Wet”?
I always keep my studio in my room, or wherever I am living, and so the girls will come over and I'll ask what they have written, and they'll send me songs. Sometimes we'll record songs they have written and then I'll have a crap load of acapellas on my computer. So I'll just surf through those and if I'm feeling inspired by one I'll just go and start a new track around it. Others times I'll just be sitting around and make a beat or sound that is inspiring, then I'll send it to the girls and they'll write to that. So basically it goes both ways. “Alive”, for example, came with the vocals first.
The way we create tracks is really between vocals first or having the beat first. Sometimes I'll write a sick beat and we'll try to write to it but sometimes we don't get what we want. Or vice versa, where the girls have this sick acapella and I just try and try to match a beat to it. Like with “Live For The Night”, we had to do 4 or 5 different beats to it before it was right. And in my opinion, it's still not really right.
3. You had a massive 2012-2013 which vaulted Krewella into the limelight – how difficult a journey was it to get where you are now?
It was intense to say the least. It's 2013 now so we've been making music together for over 6 years. From my first year in college when Yasmine was still a freshman in high school – there was something that happened in College where I decided I just wanted to be a music producer, and Jahan and I were really good friends back then and we were like: okay you be the singer. We brought Yasmine on eventually and.... we sucked. We were horrible – we didn't know what we were doing - I didn't know how to produce, the girls didn't know how to write. So we spent a solid 5 years and I'd be just working on my production, listening to other people, trying to learn tricks on blogs and Youtube or anything I can get my hands on. And same with the girls, where we would sit down together and they would give me their ideas on how I could get better while I'd give them ideas on how they could get better. This was all before we really did any songs. It was in 2011 where we put out the first stuff and then it moved pretty fast after that because we put out our first single in January 2012, and by summer we put the Play Hard EP out. It was definitely tough and a lot work. We are still working when we're on the bus, where I'm basically starting to work on album two, and where the girls are writing everyday. So it's been a product of how much we put into it, and also we've got great management and a good booking agency, so our team is very solid.
4. What's the best and worst thing having to tour with Jahan and Yasmine?
Two good things: we get to hang out because they're the two most entertaining people I know, more than everybody else really. Sometimes when we're in L.A. - I live a solid 25 minutes from them, and especially with traffic - it will be harder to meet up with them and go over ideas because you want to do that in person. So I'm looking forward to this tour to be able to throw ideas back and forth in person and get stuff done like that.
Now let's see about the worst thing......The worst thing.... [Long Pause]... They eat too healthy, that's the one thing. I'm trying to drink Red Bull and eat Taco Bell and they're eating like, flax and chia seeds. I don't even know the kind of stuff they eat. Our bus is stocked with produce and flax wraps, which I don't even know what that is. I didn't even know that it existed. They criticize the men's tour diet. But yeah I've been drinking almond milk.
5. For those that haven't seen the Volcano stage, describe what fans can expect in Ottawa and Montreal for your “Get Wet” tour later on this month?
It's really special. The first time I saw it after V-Squared had been working on it, I was wide eyed - like holy shit! We had the idea such a long time ago and seeing it actually come to fruition and having it come out so well... We have a whole 90 minute performance now with the live vocals and full stage production. Every night we do this kind of unveiling, and the crowd starts screaming before we are even on the stage. They see the production and the volcano and they lose their shit. When we first started making music 6 years ago we were dreaming about having this awesome show and now that it has finally come to fruition, it is just so awesome.
My thanks to Rain Man for the interview. You can catch Krewella as they make their way back to Canada this week for their "Get Wet" album tour with Candyland and Seven Lions. They will be in London for a sold out show on Wed, Oct 23rd, and then on Thursday, Oct 24th they will be playing in Montreal for another sold out show. On Friday, Oct 25th they will be in Ottawa at the Ernst & Young Centre where less than 100 tickets remain. Click here to purchase now. They will wrap up their Canadian adventure on Sat, Oct 26th in Toronto at the Guvernment complex for Thriller.