A Dirty Dozen with PAIGE KALENIAN from RAUE – February 2023

Photo credit: Gary Copeland

According to a recent press release: “Up-and-coming punk duo Raue is excited to announce their forthcoming EP KARMA!!, set to be released on February 2nd. Featuring two brand new tracks, KARMA!! pulls inspiration from the 90’s grunge scene. Raue is a two-piece band reviving the 90’s alternative rock grunge sound with the performance and high energy of a punk band. Out of Santa Cruz, California, the band includes Paige Kalenian (18) and Jax Huckle (17). Paige writes and plays everything melodic for the songs, and Jax fills in with drums, resulting in a sound equivalent to a 5-piece band.”  We get Paige to discuss new music, influences, and more.

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

KARMA!! is a very special release for so many reasons. This is our first release with our team at 1+1 MGMT, and also a release we’re doing in partnership with our friends at The World According To Volcom Entertainment. So many memories have been made along the way- I couldn’t be more grateful for the connections we’ve made while creating this project.  Jax and I have been anxious to hand off these songs to our music family for a while. We didn’t skip any corners while making these tracks and I seriously couldn’t be more proud of them. Even though the lyrics tell different stories, these two songs were written specifically for our audience. These songs were made to be moshed to –  thrashed to, and they match the energy we aim to continue to give our songs and performance throughout our career. I hope our fans (our family) can hear the growth in these tracks and are as excited as we are for the future we are all building together.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

I can’t really remember a specific moment where I was like, “this is it” with music. It’s always been there and has always been something I’ve loved. I got introduced to songwriting in a friend’s home studio. I was 12ish and spent many late nights after school playing guitar and recording ideas at the studio. I’m very much self-taught and being in an environment catered specifically to creating songs so early on flourished what felt like endless possibilities. I think it’s important to be somewhat aimless in art, especially in the early stages when you’re establishing who you are in a relationship with what you’re creating. It’s like a second chance at being a little kid, un-jaded and doing whatever feels right in the moment because there are no rules. It was a great way to get a start, and I’m very grateful for that experience.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

My first love was The Beatles. I was 7 or 8 and heavily obsessed with the Fab 4, which is hilarious looking on it now that I’m a bit older and doing what I do. I was a weird kid haha, and I still love The Beatles, so there you go! I have Green Day to credit for setting me out on a road paved by punk rock. So many moments in my past when I fell in love with music were because of Green Day. I wanted to be Billie Joe Armstrong – the ” Jesus of Suburbia” music video pretty much defined my aesthetic. I don’t even know where to start with how much bliss their music gave me and how much those guys really mean to me. Needless to say, I would be a very different person without them and their art. They’re still one of my favorites, I geek out whenever someone catches the taint of their influence in our sound.  Twenty One Pilots has been my recent all time favorite. Their dedication, thoughtfulness, and love for their fans and art is hugely inspiring to me. They take their music so much further than I’ve experience with any other band- they’re beyond intentional with everything they do. When you listen to an artist talk and you can tell they live and breathe for their craft, that’s what I see in them, ten-fold. And I adore that, hope to one day do the same.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

That’s a tricky question – I’ve only been asked this once so far. That’s such a hard thing just to say because writing songs is such a personal experience. As we continue to plant our feet in this industry, I’m sure we will meet people that we connect with and can potentially (and naturally) transition into working with in that way. It’s really hard to say without knowing a person beforehand; writing songs is a very intimate experience.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

Haha playing guitar! Honestly, the busier we get, the more I realize that that instrument is my safe space. Jamming with Jax and playing/writing songs genuinely recharges my soul.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

I’d like to think we’re a new era of rock, influenced by 90s era of music (grunge & punk rock). One thing that I love about our sound is that no one can really seem to place it. And it’s not like our sound doesn’t have a niche, because it does, but we get compared to so many different artists and get called so many different labels & genres. The general consensus though is that we fall under the umbrella of rock. Post-grunge and alternative rock have felt the most fitting recently, but that’s up for discussion. I don’t really want to be the one who defines that about us; that’s for our audience to decide.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Neither of us really cooks haha. We both are lucky to have parents that make AMAZING home-cooked meals. Jax is the creative one, though when it comes to food and drinks. He’s always trying new things, combining new flavors. Mixing leftovers and finding every sauce that you forgot lived in your fridge to complete his meal. There was one month where he’d come in almost every day with a new brand or flavor of energy drink in hand. It’s really quite inspiring, actually!

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

I was able to attend Taylor Hawkin’s tribute concert at the Kia Forum back in September. That show was pure 6 hours of starstruck-ness for me. So many legends of musicians came together to make that night happen; it was a beautiful celebration of life.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

The connections you make, the family you build- that’s my favorite part of being a musician. There is definitely divine magic behind the way music brings people together.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

That is a really good question. I’m not sure yet, still pretty new to all of this. I think I need a bit more interviewing experience to properly answer these two; come back to me on this in a year or so.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

No. I’ve learned a lot and I’m a strong believer that those circumstances happen for a reason. They’re beyond valuable.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

If I could be a fly on the wall or a ghost in the room, my answer would be Foo Fighters’ There Is Nothing Left To Lose. It was already one of my favorite records – I recently read Dave Grohl’s book and found an even deeper appreciation for it. He talks about the transition of making “The Colour And The Shape;” going from cranking out this record to perfection, then coming back to their roots and making There Is Nothing Left To Lose in a home studio. You can tell that record is really special to them, and you can feel the relaxed playfulness in its sound. I also learned that Taylor Hawkins’s favorite song is on that record. I wouldn’t want to disrupt anything, though, so I say it lightly.

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Category: Interviews