Have you ever been the type to be Jealous when in a relationship? That is the feeling that can cause anger to explode out of an otherwise sane person and devastate the trust between two people. Feel the somber emotions that Jasmine’s heart was feeling as this song poured out through her guitar and lungs…
Jealousy is an earthy acoustic alternative rock song paired with Jasmine Wietzke’s beautiful and haunting vocals. The song is powerful and tenacious, yet soothing and emotionally vulnerable. Craving Rain will surely guide you into a state of hypnotic bliss.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Jasmine and Tyrell of Craving Rain about their latest release, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
Jasmine: I was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and moved to Victoria, BC when I was 23. I’ve been living there for the last 10 years and I absolutely love it! It is Canada’s hidden gem…Tyrell is from a smaller town on Vancouver Island called Qualicum but moved down here not too long ago. He’s lucky he was raised on this beautiful island. Jealous…
I would describe our sound as acoustic alternative rock + haunting vocals, mixed with a little bit of the singer-songwriter vibe. That’s the best I got so far! I’m always looking to define my style of music so I’m sure I’ll come up with something different next year…
Tyrell: I’d say so far this thing is like an acoustic sort of dark alt rock thing haha. You can tell we both listened to a lot of sad rock from the late 90s/early 2000s but I think it venture’s out a little bit as well in some songs. Moving forward, I think we’ll be experimenting a little more with different sounds for sure as well.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
Jasmine: My two aunts on my dads’ side of the family were a huge influence on me when I was young. They both sang to and with me and were performers themselves. My aunt Linda also played guitar and she was the first to expose me to that instrument. Also, my parents, Kim and Wilf, have always been huge music fans and cranked music at home and in the car ALL THE TIME!
When I started singing lessons and had already been playing guitar for a little bit, at 14 years old, my mom suggested that I try to write a song. I rebelled against anything my mom said, so obviously I said “no” to her silly idea. She told one of my best friends, Kristie, to convince me to write a song with her, and I happily went along with it (little did I know about my moms influence on my friend…). Songwriting with Kristie Graves (Thompson) turned into an all girl rock band after we recruited our mutual best friend Megan Kloster (Syvret). There were a couple band member changes throughout the short time we had the band that included another mutual best friend, Jenn Kathrens (Storey) and Lisa Wagner.
Once I graduated high school, the girl band (named “Fake This Moment,” if you were curious…) had ended and I had the desire to seek out another band to join. I ended up finding a band full of guys and we ended up calling ourselves “Cool In The Waterway,” which was influenced by one of the lines in a Soundgarden song. After a year or so in that band, I started a different one with a different group of guys and we called ourselves “Before The Storm.” I had to leave that band because I decided to move to BC. Within 6 months of living there I found another group of dudes and we morphed into “This Day Burns.” I was in that band the longest (almost 7 years) and we released two 7-song EP’s. When that band was on its way out, I decided to start my dream acoustic band, which is now “Craving Rain.”
Ever since I started writing music, it’s always been something that has kept calling me…to continue to do, even if it was in another project. I’ve tried to quit music at one point and I just can’t stay away! It’s my calling and I can’t ignore that.
Right now is such an amazing time in music even though most people think it’s kind of the end of music because of the decline of how much power the big labels have. The internet has made it easier for smaller more independent musicians to be heard all over the world and I’ve learned that with the right skills, it’s actually possible to make a living off of making music without being signed to a major label!
Tyrell: Writing music simply brings me more joy than anything else I’ve ever done to put it simply. After band practice or a good writing session, I’m so high on life and then that feeling can inspire you to make more music or practice more and then you can just get on this snowball effect that I personally just never want to end. It’s been building momentum for me lately and I don’t see it stopping any time soon!
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
Jasmine: This is the first release for Craving Rain but it has been different than releases with my previous band, “This Day Burns,” in that I have learned a little bit more about how to strategize the release. For example, in terms of planning out when to schedule events, having a pre-sale (which actually just started on Thursday, March 5, 2020) which will continue through until the launch of the EP on Thursday, March 19, 2020, and using Facebook ads to build awareness to people all over the world who have never heard of us before.
Tyrell: This is our first release. I think some of these ideas have been cooking in Jasmine’s head for some time though so she’s the one to ask on that one. This project is certainly different from her previous works though!
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this over saturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
Jasmine: Facebook has been a super useful tool in terms of using Facebook ads to get our videos/ads in front of people who would actually be interested in checking our music out. This ends up saving us a lot of money for advertising (Facebook actually gives a really good deal compared to the rest of the world of marketing).
I think the challenges of being an indie musician right now with the plethora of music in the world today, would be just standing out and finding something novel about the music that we can run with and expand on…something to peak peoples interest enough to make them check out our song or video… but it really just makes me work harder on finding my micro-niche and what makes us unique. I’m also really driven to understand human psychology and what makes people curious enough to want to read an email or check out a video.
Tyrell: It’s a full-time job to promote your band let alone actually being in a band or maybe working another job that actually pays your bills haha It’s fantastic that it IS possible to reach people all over the world with your music through the internet but it also adds a lot of work. Fortunately, Jaz has been all over the promo with this project, I’ve actually been learning a lot from her! She works her ass off for this band! It’s super cool to be a part of.
What was the last song you listened to?
Jasmine: The new White Buffalo song called “The Rapture,” I think, or it might have been the new Spiritbox song called “Blessed Be.” They both came up on my Spotify discover weekly playlist and they picked right!
Tyrell: Descending by Tool
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Jasmine: If I could afford it, vinyl! It sounds the best. I like the convenience of mp3’s though, although the quality isn’t as great technically. Realistically I can’t really hear the difference between WAV and mp3’s files, at least on my stereo – ha!. Maybe that’s a sign that I need a new stereo.
Tyrell: I love listening to records but I can’t play them in my car haha I recently started playing CDs in my ride a lot more but streaming music on my phone is obviously super convenient. I like having physical content though! I hope I’m not an endangered breed of music consumer for that because I want to make cool physical content with this project and my other one as well! Buy CDs and/or vinyl people! It’s cool!
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Jasmine: I like Spotify because of the algorithms and how it allows me to find so many new badass artists. I don’t really have a lot of experience with Apple Music or Bandcamp. I really hate iPhones (from many bad experiences using their phones), so that kind of gives Apple a bad rep in my eyes and makes me want to stay away from any product under that brand. Sorry, Apple!
Tyrell: I use Apple Music just because I bought the trial way back and then just let them keep charging my card as I started using the service. Spotify seems like the better streaming service though at least from a consumer standpoint. I like the way it suggests things to people and it massively promotes people listening to and discovering bands they’ve never heard of… The only thing I’m not a fan of is how little both Apple Music and Spotify pay artists. Hopefully one day somebody comes up with something that is best of both worlds.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
Jasmine: I’m very active on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/cravingrainmusic) so that is a great way to contact us. We also have a website (www.cravingrain.com) that has a contact page and/or you could use contact@cravingrain.com. You can also find a blog on the website in which you can leave comments if that’s more your style!
Tyrell: I think probably on our Facebook page. We post on there a lot and you can find our music from there quite easily. That’s where we post the latest news on the project first.
Anything else before we sign off?
Jasmine: To catch the pre-sale for our debut EP that runs until 11:59pm on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, check out: https://cravingrain.com/pre-launch-merch-page/. There will be special items available (exclusive access to song meaning and guitar tutorial videos, handwritten lyrics, autographed items) only during the pre-sale AND a discount on all everything we have! So, if you don’t like to miss out on a good time, check it out before our official EP launch day, March 19, 2020 (which is the spring equinox – so thankful summer is right around the corner!). We will still have physical CD’s, 3 different styles of shirts and stickers available after launch day, but no discount! Since we are an independent band, every purchase means a lot and goes a long way. It also brings us closer to recording our next EP, which I’m SUPER excited for!
I’m super grateful to have been interviewed by you guys! We really appreciate you taking the time to ask us a buttload of questions. We hope you enjoy the new EP and keep your eyes out for the next EP that will include our new band member, Tyrell.
Tyrell: Shameless self-promotion I guess. If you’re curious about me and my music outside of Craving Rain, check out my YouTube channel. I’ve got a couple of cool acoustic covers on there. It’s just Tyrell Beal. And if you wanna check out my main band and you like heavier music, check out Sonderous on whatever streaming service you use. We’re on there.
