Jenna Raine’s Spring Season Of Growing, Good Grief, and her EP

Over the past six months, Jenna Raine has been busy splitting her time between the studio and the stage, fresh off opening for David Kushner on his UK and Ireland tour and now gearing up for her headlining run.

With over 2.1 million Spotify streams, Jenna’s heartfelt songs ‘Roses,’ ‘It Is What It Is,’ and ‘Hypothetically’ have resonated with fans and even caught the attention of celebrities. In this intimate interview, United By Pop sat down with the rising solo artist to talk about her love of nature, her new EP Only Started Growing, and how she is adjusting to life at home after touring.

Hi Jenna, congratulations on an incredible tour with David Kushner! How are you feeling now that so much travel time is off your shoulders?

Oh, gosh. It was nice. I have not been home in a long time. So, having home-cooked meals, sleeping in my bed, and relaxing for a second has been awesome. I do miss the road, I’m not going to lie. It was fun and I got to experience a lot of different towns and cities. Performing for the first time in years was an absolute blast!

Your song ‘Good Grief ’ is a new fan favorite! And ‘Roses’ has over 50 million streams. Which one of the two is your favorite to sing?

I find ‘Roses’ more fun to sing. It is a little low for me, which makes me hesitant, but lyrically, it is such a fun song

Is there a reason why some of your music videos and visuals have nature, fake leaves, and flowers but other videos are set in a bedroom?

Yeah, I do not know why they are set in a bedroom, to be honest. I just love the flowers and the outside. I play a lot of sports, and I am into anything active. I love nature, being outside, and the theme of growth. Growing as a person, finding more about yourself, and digging deeper into the roots of who you are. I think that is why I have leaned toward the flowers and outside of those sorts of themes.

Speaking of growth, you have grown a large following on social media. Can you talk about how you balance your social media use—from interacting with your fan base to handling celebrities who have listened to your music?

The people who are continuously commenting or DMing me are very much in each other’s lives. I talk to all of my fans all of the time. The ones that are extremely present I talk to daily. So it is hard not to miss them and not see their messages when I’m just so aware that they are there. I have the best time talking to them. I really care about their feedback and their excitement about the upcoming music. So, I am always in their DMs.

But when it comes to celebrities and people finding my music, it is always a shocker. I’m like, there’s no way! I am just a little person living in California. There is no way that people like or care about my music. It always shocks me when someone of any importance shows interest in my music.

On the topic of growth, your new EP, Only Started Growing, is more about self-reflection, while your older music is about growth in romantic relationships. Can you discuss what’s different about this EP and your new sound?

I have become an adult over the past 365 days. My life has changed a ton. I think with this EP it is the first time I have experimented writing sadder music from my perspective. One thing that I wanted to get across from my listeners and any person who looks up to me or sees me as a role model in their life is that I still go through difficult seasons. I still have hard days, hard times, and hard months.

My past releases have been joyful, which represents who I am and my character. But at the same time, I didn’t want to shy away or keep that part of me from my listeners because they need to know that I am still a human being. I still feel things, and I am sad. It is true, all of the emotions we go through as human beings. That is something that I felt was really important to share from this EP, especially talking about growth and finding more about yourself. Just sticking to who you are but also going through hard situations. So that is why this EP is a bit sadder [than my older music.]

You’ve previously collaborated with Joshua Bassett, In Real Life, and Max & Harvey, appearing on their tours and albums. With your highly anticipated solo tour you have been teasing, do you have plans to collaborate in the studio or on stage in the future?

Oh, 100%! I have written some songs that intended to be a feature that would have another voice. I have yet to find the right collaboration, and maybe that will take a little more time. It is not something that I am avoiding or something that I am waiting on. I just have not found the right project or voice that it would make sense to collaborate.

I love a team effort. I love working with someone else and not just running solo. So I am very much looking forward to that point in my career when I am collaborating with more artists.

Based on your experience with the girl group L2M, performing alongside other artists, and collaborating with writers in the studio, you seem to enjoy being a solo artist the most. What can you share about the upcoming solo tour that you have been teasing for months?

It is insane. This has been a long time coming. I have announced my headline tour on Monday. The headline tour is going to be such a fun time. It is one week of performances with four shows in total. And even though it is a little run it is very much a season of the beginning of where I am going to be on the road, and I cannot wait to meet people and sing for them.

I find so much joy in performing, being on stage, singing on stage, and singing live. So, I am looking forward to it. It is also something that I have yet to experience as a signed artist.

While we are on the topic of growth, what’s the best advice you have received from someone either in or outside the music industry before you turned 21’? (Jenna also has a single titled ‘21’)

The main thing that I was told was to be my boss, and that no one else is going to care as much as I do about my career and music. Also, the fact that I need to trust my own instincts, what I think is right, what I need to write about, and sonically where I am headed. Just trusting my instincts has been a crucial bit of information that I did not fully understand at 17 years old. You kind of look to your peers for advice and mentorship. Which is great, and you should do that. I love team effort and working with people. It is the best thing ever but I think I got to the point where I was relying on other people’s opinions rather than trusting my own. That is something that I have finally gotten used to and comfortable with. I have found it crucial to share my opinions and ideas about my music.

I am very much looking forward to having this EP out, and to having people listen to a project that is very near and dear to my heart. It speaks from real experiences. And I hope that it brings people as much comfort as it brings me because the fact that I am releasing music that I feel excited and proud of is overwhelmingly awesome.

Is there anything you can tease about the EP without spoiling too much?

I will be posting a few easter eggs within this next week before I announce the song titles or post audios. However, I can say that EP is about growth, finding more about yourself, going through hard times, not giving up on yourself, not giving up on your future and what you have in store for yourself, and looking on the brighter side even though times can be tough.

I think that is the most I can give right now. There is one song that I am looking forward to releasing that is sad. It is one of my favorite songs that I have written in a long time. Also, these songs were written very recently. I wrote them all less than six months ago. That is a quick turnaround for a project. I am super excited about the project because the songs are not old.

Tickets for her tour and dates: Jennas’s Website
Pre-save her EP: on Spotify now.