Interview With 'Rain In July'

Firstly, introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about the band and how you came to be?

Hello! My name is Griffin Tobey, I sing for Rain In July. We’re an Emo/Pop band out of Boulder, CO, formed in 2016. We all met and started the band when we were in high school, forming from the remnants of previous projects and bands. Once RIJ started though, we quickly realized that this was a bit different than any project we’d ever been in, and it really created something that we all love and love to spend time on. This last year especially has been at a very high pace and we’re stoked about all the things we have coming up!

What were you all up too prior to the band, was this always the chosen path or did you have other dreams and aspirations?

We all were and still are students, and although this is now the aspired path for all of us, I don’t think it was a thought prior to the beginning of this band. While we are all extremely musical and had done a lot musically growing up, none of us had the opportunity to be put into a situation where we could truly think about pursuing music as a career. Once the shows started to grow for Rain In July, however, we all started to talk about it and talk about the best possible way to pursue that. Outside of the band, Reilly is a multi-talented instrumentalist who can play drums, guitar, bass, and just about anything else you put in front of him. Yuta is in the process of becoming a pilot, and completed his first solo flight a couple weeks ago. Ethan is pursuing an environmental science degree, and I (Griffin) am in school as well with the hope of working in the music industry.

Tell us about your latest EP and why our readers should check it out.

Our most recent EP was 2017’s 'Trying To Breathe'. It was the 4 song culmination of a year of personal experience and recovering from hard times. We really tried to do something different on this EP, not following the Pop Punk “formula” but instead, using our different musical backgrounds in a way to best put forth what we are as a band. There’s a little bit of Pop Punk, a touch of Emo, an ever distant tinge of Post Hardcore, with a Pop twist. It punches you in the mouth and then kisses you in the cheek. We wanted the EP to have an underlying message throughout the record and we felt that we did that, it’s about hope and working through a tough spell in life. We’re happy with how it turned out, and can’t wait to continue to release new music (including a new song coming this Summer).

Have you ever come face to face with someone within the music scene who has left you awestruck and why?

I’ve spent so much time around the local scene and around this music scene that I haven’t spent a lot of time becoming starstruck or awestruck. I’ve seen some of my favorite bands go from meeting every single person at the show at merch to selling thousands of tickets and selling out bigger venues, which is always cool to see. With that said, I met Dan Campbell of The Wonder Years when he was on tour with his other band Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties. I was at the show with our guitarist Yuta, and we were both very impressed by the fact that he was selling his own merch. The Wonder Years are one of my favorite bands, and I was definitely a bit awestruck talking to him for the first time, partially because of who he is, and partially because I was in no way expecting to meet him selling his own merch that night. One of my favorite memories, and a constant reminder that the grind never stops, and to always meet as many people as possible who took the time out of their day to see the show.

If we were to head out to one of your live shows what can ourselves and others expect?

A lot of sweat! We are a high energy band that really prides ourselves on our performance and our live set. We agonize over setlists to make sure they flow the way we want to and we really love performing. It’s the most rewarding part about playing in a band, in my opinion. That connection with the crowd is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, and we always make sure that we make the most of that connection. A Rain In July show is a lot of jumping, clapping, and moving around. We’ll be on tour this July supporting Chin Up, Kid and I can’t wait to perform that many nights in a row to people who haven’t heard of us!

If you had one artist/band that you could go on tour with tomorrow who would it be and why?

A band that I would love to tour with is Sundressed out of Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve followed that band for a couple years now, and I am floored by their work ethic and their commitment to the craft. Additionally, they consistently release bangers and are a killer live band that doesn’t sound all too different from us. They would be an ideal band to tour with, without a doubt!

You can spend an hour with a musical icon living or dead, who would you pick, why and what would you speak about?

Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park, no question. Linkin Park is my all time favorite band and the band that got me into Rock music, and Mike Shinoda is one of those industry geniuses who really seems to have all aspects of the music world figured out. I would love to speak with him for an hour, just to pick his brain about music and the direction that the music industry is moving in. I’m fascinated by that stuff, and to talk it through with a legend would be a phenomenal experience.

And finally and most importantly is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?

No doubt. If Die Hard isn’t a Christmas movie we’re not a real band.

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