When you take two talented friends from North Dakota and pluck the perfect front man from across the pond, you get Raynes—a folksy British-American trio that Spotify once labelled as “North Dakota Indie.” The band just released an EP called ’49 that features hauntingly beautiful melodies and a strong thematic link to the 1849 California Gold Rush. Listen closely to the layered lyrics, and you’ll find comparisons between the quest to strike it rich in California in the 1840s and 1850s and the quest to make it big in modern-day Los Angeles. Listen closely to the background music and you’ll hear layers of sound, too—including a snake’s rattle, a hawk’s screech, and a wolf’s howl.
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I had a chance to preview the five-song EP before it was released, and then I sat down with Raynes at a recent show in Anaheim, California to learn more about the band, how the outdoors has influenced them, and their inspiration for ’49.
The Making of Raynes
Mat Charley, Joe Berger, and Mark Race make up Raynes, a band name the three came up with together after brainstorming over 1,000 ideas. Charley and Berger are college pals who started playing songs together, eventually even recording some demos. The pair realized they were on to something, but they didn’t feel complete as a band. In 2017, they started shopping around for a front man—a lead singer who, ideally, had both the voice and the look that fit with their vibe.
That’s when they discovered Mark Race, who was living in Durham, a small town in England. Charley found Race on social media and messaged him. Race responded right away (he says he probably responded a little too quickly), and Charley feared maybe it was too good to be true. It was meant to be, though. Race flew over to give it a try, and the trio just clicked. Race even got a tattoo of the flight number from that fateful plane ride to the States.
Raynes signed with Sony Music Publishing shortly after formation, and in the past handful of years, the band has been releasing singles, along with two EPs (including ’49), plus doing some touring with the LA-based yacht-rock band Yachtley Crew.
Outdoor Ties
As artists, Raynes band members feel strong ties with the outdoors, and it shows in their music. All three hail from rural areas, and Race says they were each fortunate to grow up in places “where nature and the outdoors are a part of life.”
Berger, who grew up helping his dad with his cattle operation, says North Dakota is a fantastic place to create and record music. “North Dakota is primarily an expansive plain with rolling hills, with the exception of the far west, where there is the badlands,” he says. “Even though it’s a bit mundane, it’s absolutely gorgeous.”
Charley says the natural world inspires themes the band continues to explore lyrically. “There are multiple references throughout our body of work to the sun, the moon, the stars, the rain, and the sky, as well as flowers, birds, and butterflies,” he explains. “This grows readily from the instrumentation and arrangements, which we have always described as ‘organic’—that is, ‘real’ and natural sounds rather than heavily processed and synthesized sounds. There is also a decent amount of found sound or Foley design in many of our songs, such as bird calls and ambient outdoor textures.”
Race adds that staying rooted is especially important in the music business, and the outdoors can help them do this. “I think there is something about the outdoors that makes you feel almost insignificant, which can be a really healthy sensation,” he says. “We are part of something much larger than ourselves, and that sense of humility and humbleness is something that is a vital component in every walk of life and, one could argue, especially in the career we have chosen.”
’49 and Beyond
The new EP, ‘49, is thematically saturated with the outdoors. The songs “American Waters” and “Animal Skulls” in particular evoke the American West, thanks to lyrics that call out things like rivers, rainbows, and the desert.
Charley says with these two songs, they tried to create a sense of “open space and expanse that would be evocative of the outdoors.” In fact, “Animal Skulls” even integrates a handful of animal sounds that add depth and set the tone without being too obvious.
What’s next for Raynes? The band is currently playing live shows, mostly with Yachtley Crew, and they’re also working on their own headlining tour. They say they have a ton of music in the hopper and lots of big plans for 2025 and beyond.
