Interview with STEVE S.R. of RAIN OR SHINE

Rain Or shine is hard rock at its melodic finest. Steve S.R. and Andy R. McCormack are incredibly talented musicians whose combined talent explodes on this release. Fans of good, hard rock with attention to melody should pick this release up. Below is the interview with Steve S.R. himself.

First and fore most who came up with the name:

I had come up with a list of names that sounded cool by the time we had finished recording our debut album, but ‘Rain Or Shine’ seemed to fit this particular project the most, so eventually we chose that.

How would you describe your music?

Although, I am not particularly fond of putting labels on music, I consider Rain Or Shine a melodic hard rock project. Our first album “Seize The Night” had a more old-school feel in both composition and sound, but the new album is modern and kinda versatile.

Take us through the writing process. Does everyone contribute?

I started this project in order to write and share my songs with the people that have the same passion about melodic rock music as me. However, to this day, lots of great musicians and sound engineers worked with me to make that happen. Concerning the composition part, I am usually on my own. Every idea starts from a nice riff, a catchy melody or an interesting concept working its way to a whole song. Next comes the arrangement. In that part, I try every idea that comes on the table from every person that is somehow involved in the song. The last part is the recording. In the new album, I worked with even more people than the first one in the recording process and I would like to thank all of them for doing an amazing job, especially Aurora for the duet in “New Love” and Tasos for the duet in “We All Back Down”. In our future work, I am planning on working with much more musicians and engineers, since that worked absolutely fine in this one. If you guys read this, you all rock!

Something in your personal music collections that fans might not expect?

Hmm I don’t know. Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys? Hahahaha! I am a 90s kid and I always liked pop music, especially in the past, when less crap was released. Even today there are some awesome pop acts that I love, like Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars or Ed Sheeran. Surprised, yet? Regarding pop music, as long as it’s melodic, fun, catchy, requires some kind of talent and is not as shallow as singing about your “private parts”, it is fine by me.

What has been the most challenging aspect of being a musician

Infinite patience. Personally speaking, having to compose, arrange, record and mix a song requires listening to it thousands of times, to the point that you get sick of the repetition. That definitely requires patience on my part. But, in the end, if I still like what I hear, it means I’ve actually written a great song.

What makes a perfect song for you? What are the elements for your ears?

The perfect song is the one that makes your heart beat faster or gives you the chills. I am not sure, if there are specific elements for writing a perfect song. If that was the case, we would have known by now, the recipe would have leaked and everybody would be able to write the perfect song. I think it all comes down to the correct combination of elements, instead of the combination of the correct elements, if that makes any sense.

Favorite local club to perform in?

Performing live is not the priority of this project. The core of Rain Or Shine is me and Andy, since we play in all of the songs. People that collaborated with us also belong to the Rain Or Shine family. But, Rain Or Shine is not a live band. We haven’t crossed out the scenario of a live performance in the future with guest performers, though. Personally, I have performed in Eightball Club and Live Stage in Thessaloniki, which was an awesome experience. I would also love to perform in Gagarin205 in Athens.

Name one band that you would love to tour with?

H.E.A.T. Amazing musicians, young and energetic, flawless live performances. I would be honored.

Strangest thing that ever happened at a gig

In the past, when I was in a glam band, a member of the band tried to style his hair using an air freshener instead of a hairspray, just before getting on stage. It was an honest mistake, considering, he wasn’t aware of the brand. Still, the result was weird, sad and funny altogether.

Is social media a positive or negative impact on your music?

Definitely positive. It is a great way to communicate with the fans, to announce stuff and attract more people. Since we do not perform live, most people got to know about Rain Or Shine through social networking. Also, it is the only way to promote our new work on our own.

Any subject matter you will not write about?

Anything that won’t inspire me to write music about. Also, there are lots of things I do like, but are not much of an inspiration for new music, but this could change, I guess.

Anything you would like to say to your fans?

First of all, I would like to thank you all for the support. It’s really amazing to see people care about what you create. Keep spreading the word about Rain Or Shine and if you haven’t already, go and get the CD of our new album ‘The Darkest Part Of Me’. It keeps us going and gives us the ability make more stuff for you. Keep rockin’!

WebLinks:

ORDER ALBUM

USA - PERRIS RECORDS: http://www.perrisrecords.com/new_releases/rain_or_shine___the_darkest_part_of_me/

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DENMARK: https://www.wowhd.dk/darkest-part-of-me/670573056720

FRANCE: https://www.wowhd.fr/darkest-part-of-me/670573056720

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IRELAND: https://www.ie.wowhd.com/darkest-part-of-me/670573056720