Allan Rayman is Letting the Music Speak for Itself
Music

Allan Rayman is Letting the Music Speak for Itself

By Latecia Joiner

Believe you us, songwriter and powerhouse vocalist Allan Rayman is on the verge of shaking the music industry to its core. Since his debut in 2016 with Hotel Allan, the Toronto-based Wyoming-native has been steadily making his mark, recently wrapping a 30-date world tour and hitting every live session in town.

Now, Rayman is back again with a double visual release for "Word of Mouth" and "Go My Way," the objective bangers from his recent EP,Courtney. The former reads like a hyperrealistic documentation of his time on tour, while "Go My Way" sees the singer search out a lost love. PAPER sat down with the soft-spoke rocker to talk inspiration, adventures abroad and why the center of attention is overrated.

I heard that this is the first real conversation you've chosen to have with a publication. Why is that?

I think it's important to let my music do the talking, give people that creative room to come up with their own stories, if that makes sense. For me most of the people I endear in the industry were musicians. You don't get to meet them so you kind of develop your own theories and opinions. I think by having very little out there allows people to shape their own opinions around me. In their minds I'm whoever they want Allan to be but at the same time I can't live up to what their expectations are.

You aren't concerned you might be holding too much back?

I think naturally that worry does come into play. I think from outside sources, when they ask you what you really want from all of this, playing the game, and giving out more and more about yourself is an important thing. To me it doesn't really matter. I just want to make music and have fun doing it. I think all that other stuff is just extra but does get you to where you want to go faster. I'm in no rush. If I don't have to do it I choose not to. I think its about allowing people to give that creative space. Allan Rayman can be so many different people to so many different people. Why take that away from somebody by starting to completely define characteristics of this person in the public. Why ruin that?

You just wrapped your tour, how was that experience for you?

It was great. One of the main things as an artist is to get out there and expose yourself. For me that's always been the most important aspect of my music. If you can't do this on a stage then don't try to do it in a studio. So if you don't hit that note then just leave it because you can't hit it onstage. That's where I have the most fun doing what I'm doing. For me it's the best part.

How was Europe?

We were in Paris for a longer amount of time so we got to walk around there. We went to this cemetery where a bunch of different creatives have been buried. Jim Morrison, who is obviously is a huge inspiration for me, he was buried there. It was great. We walked around this old gothic cemetery.

That's so fucking cool.

Yeah there were a lot of different artists there but I think the most sought after one is his [Morrison's.] People leave bottles of liquor, and roses, and stuff. It's pretty crazy.

I know for Courtney you went in a totally different direction in comparison to past work you've done, expand on that for me.

I think it goes back to keeping people on their toes and being knowledgeable to jump in and out of different genres. It's an experiment. At the end of the day I think that as an artist you should always try to push limits and explore. Things like that keep you evolving and keeps it fresh.

Was that also your approach to these new videos?

Exactly. I just wanted this whole project to have that feel. "Go My Way" was high contrast and a green screen and looked almost cocky and played out. I think it's good to poke fun and not be taken too seriously. At the end of the day you get to do what you love to do so you should have fun with it.

What's can we expect next from Allan Rayman?

Continuing to build, continuing to put out good projects, content, marketing campaigns, touring, just continuing to build off of what we have already built. I just have to keep it fresh. I'm working on a couple of projects right now and I'm really excited about those. For me it's just about finding my place in all of this, taking my time with it, and making sure the people that I keep close to me also enjoy it. Thee story that started with Courtney isn't finished.

Check out "Go My Way" and "Word of Mouth" below.

All images supplied