Quick-fire Questions: 10 minutes with Eden Rain
Growing up, Eden Rain remembers long road trips and her wholesome relationship with music blossoming with family sing-alongs and harmonies with her siblings. Her connection with music and the emotion it yields turned towards something more inevitable when she sang a cover of Carole King‘s ‘You’ve Got A Friend’ at age 13 during a talent show, and soon, she was writing her own music.
However, Rain didn’t enter the same trajectory to fame and success as most artists. Unlike many others, she took her time to figure herself out, deliberating over her own sound and making sure that what she was putting out into the world meant something to both her and others who might stumble across her music.
“The artist I want to be is a bit rough around the edges, hopefully in a good way,” she explains. “Who I am as a person is a bit of a patchwork quilt of different things. I used to polish myself up for people, but then I looked around and the things that my friends like about me are that I’m a bit frazzled and slightly chaotic; I wanted to lean into that a bit more because that’s more genuinely who I am.”
Leaning into her own whirlwind of perfect messiness meant that her music could be executed with reckless abandon, and the words she would likely once deem too personal or intimate to share are now ones she wears like a badge of honour. Her latest single, ‘Figure it out’, came together on the last day of a writing trip when she started “throwing out stupid lyrics and ideas we hadn’t been brave enough to use”.
Despite the obvious risks, the single became the ultimate ode to laying yourself bare and sharing your deepest inner thoughts and emotions in the moment, despite the possibility of regretting them later. As Rain explained, it “captures that feeling of being in a fight and saying things just to hurt the other person, even if you don’t mean them”.
To understand what makes her tick, what informs her artistry, and how much she values The Beatles, we sat down with the musician herself to ask the all-important questions.
Quick-fire Questions with Eden Rain:
What’s your favourite album of 2024 so far?
“It’s got to be Bright Future by Adrianne Lenker.”
What song would you want played at your funeral?
“‘Death With Dignity’ by Sufjan Stevens, or any song from his Carrie and Lowell album. Or ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ by Sinéad O’Connor.”
Do you believe in ghosts?
“Only when I run up the stairs at night after I’ve turned off the lights and when I close my eyes in the shower. I want to believe my cat became a ghost.”
With an hour to kill and no plans, what are you doing?
“First, I’m doing some horizontal time. Then, I’m trying to find the nearest place that sells mango sticky rice. I used to always go and sit in the Reading Room at the Wellcome Collection when I had nothing else to do, so hopefully, I will also do that more one day when I live closer.”
What song are you the most proud of?
“A silly love song that I wrote that isn’t out in the world because it’s too mushy.”
Who is your biggest influence?
“Barbara Streisand, my parents, Yorkshire…”
What is the ultimate comfort movie?
“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile.”
What would be your fantasy concert?
“Lil Kim, Lily Allen, Flyte, Frank Ocean, Carol King…”
What movie makes you laugh the most?
“The Shaggy D.A. Genius piece of filmmaking.”
Are there any conspiracy theories that you sort of believe in?
“That Lea Michele can’t read!”
What are you the most looking forward to?
“Whatever comes next.”
Who is the greatest songwriter of all time?
“Leonard Cohen and Lily Allen.”
What was the first artist you remember falling in love with?
“Eminem when I was 11.”
Are The Beatles overrated?
“Absolutely not! Beatles stan till I die.”
