Rising from the heat of Texas, new act Kady Rain is ready to cool us down with a sweet pop treat. The rising hitmaker made her debut on the scene earlier this year with an enviable pop sound and a rainbow-hued aesthetic. 

Since her debut, Kady Rain has released a 

handful of singles, and she’s established herself as a true force to be reckoned with!

The bubbly artist made her debut with the sweet confection that is “All I Ever Wanted.” The love drunk number sees Kady Rain begging a crush for some clarification about their relationship. “Tell me what you want / baby say my name / I don’t have the time to play all these games” she boldly demands on the chorus. Rain’s voice resonates with youthful optimism, and the track was a delectable debut for the Texan hitmaker.

Earlier this month Rain released her second single, “R.A.D. Moves,” and it proved to be another highly carbonated pop bop. Armed with an earworm-worthy chorus, the bright midtempo sees the rising talent delivering a flirty vocal performance. The songstress is over her childhood crush from her debut, and now she’s enamored by a potential lover’s smooth moves. “You can kiss me under streetlights / we can stay up all night / on nothing but our two feet, dancing till our heart beat’s pounding in our chest / we are alive” she croons over the pristine production. 

The endearing number is a yet another impressive release from the pop hitmaker, and it’s definitely proof that she’s someone to keep an eye on in the coming months. 

Luckily enough, more music is on the way! “All I Ever Wanted” and “R.A.D. Moves” were both taken off Rain’s debut EP All I Ever Wanted, and we have the full setlist below!

1. Can’t Save Us
2. All I Ever Wanted

3. R.A.D. Moves

4. The City

5. Rue The Day

We at PopWrapped had the opportunity to chat with Kady Rain about her debut with “All I Ever Wanted,” her creative process for both covers and original material, inspirations, and much more! Check out our exclusive interview below!

PopWrapped: “All I Ever Wanted” is such a bright and poppy song. Would you say that is your ideal sound?

Kady Rain: Well, first, I want to take a quick second to thank you for having me! But, yes, I think “AIEW” falls under what I consider our ideal sound. What we’re writing at the moment leans a little closer to “R.A.D. Moves,” which came out August 3rd. I’m always aiming to make music that’s dancey, fun, and feels like summer.

PW: Can you take us through the process of how you created the song?

KR:  Great question! “AIEW” is the first song that Ben and I ever wrote with Shannon Brielle, our amazing co-writer. We met Shannon at the Austin Songwriter’s Group Symposium in 2015. On the last day, at the last event, she sat next to us in a song circle. I remember being jealous of her song because it was so good, so I thought, “I’ve got to write with her!” She came over to our place about a month later and we ended up writing “AIEW” in just under two hours. The other important thing about writing that song is that at some point during the writing process all of my hats fell off their stand so instead of putting them up we all just took one from the pile. I’m pretty sure I ended up wearing a sombrero!

PW: The imagery that you used for “All I Ever Wanted” is so bright and candy coated. If you were to create a music video for the single do you think it would follow a similar aesthetic? What would you want to happen?

KR: We actually at one point had written up a treatment and were storyboarding for the music video but it never came to pass. It was going to follow closely the storyline of the song, that being there’s two people who like each other A LOT but are too chicken to make a move, and so all of their friends organize a surprise party for the both of them to try to get them to hook up! There was gonna be a big blowout coordinated group dance scene, some cute/romantic montages, and we wanted to do a similar thing to what Fallout Boy did in their video for “Dance, Dance” where we were part of the performing band as well as characters within the storyline of the video. It was going to be awesome. But it didn’t happen. But it could happen, who knows!

PW: Who are you biggest musical inspirations?

KR: FKA Twigs, David Bowie of course, Katy Perry, The Sex Pistols, Grimes, Grouplove, Outkast… I am inspired by unique ideas, boldness, and creativity. And of course I can’t help but inject a little Avril Lavigne into everything I do, because I definitely wore a tie to school every day in 7th grade.

PW: Do you have any dreams collaborations?

KR: I’d love to write a song with Years & Years or Clean Bandit! As for someone a little closer to what I’m doing, I love Carly Rae Jepsen. Carly! If you’re reading this, I love you and the Young Bombs remix of “Your Type” is flawless!  

PW: What inspires you to write or create content?

KR: NEW MUSIC! The feeling you get when you hear a new song for the first time is real magic, and it helps remind me how high the bar is for great music. Outside of that, I think I’m more inspired by something inside me that compels me to write than anything else.  I can’t not write, I feel so stifled and frustrated if I don’t have some form of self-expression.

PW: On your YouTube channel you have some pretty awesome covers, most notably your acoustic take on Selena Gomez’s “Hands To Myself.” If you could cover any song right now what would you select?

KR: Oh, thank you so much!  I’m glad you like our covers, hearing that makes my day!  Weirdly, I think it’s a tie between “Believe” by Cher (because obviously) and “King” by Years & Years. Although, I’m always prepared to sing any song by the Beatles at a moment’s notice.  Faster than that if it’s “Girl.” 

PW: Once you’ve selected a song to cover how do you make it your own?

KR: It’s hard to explain the process. Mostly it just involves vibing on it, playing it on an acoustic guitar over and over again. Playing a really stripped down version of any song with big production means you have to create the excitement of a full arrangement with the dynamics and rhythm of just an acoustic guitar. Usually we play it a bunch and talk about what isn’t working, but honestly, it sort of just works itself out nonverbally. Ben and I just understand each other that way.

PW: What is your favorite part about what you do?

KR: Music is the universal language. It changes our brains, it influences our emotions, it inspires and uplifts. Music means so much to so many people and to be able to have my music that came from my little heart make someone else’s day and change their world is such an incredible and unexplainable feeling, and that’s why I make music.

PW: When did you start singing and writing, and when did you realize that it was what you wanted to do professionally?

KR: I’ve been singing and performing since I was a 2 years old!  But from a more realistic viewpoint, I started playing in bands when I was 14.  I got distracted with school and boys so it took a while for me to get real with my music career. After a near-death experience involving domestic violence, I realized that music is a part of me that I have no choice but to express. So, just over 2 years ago, this little pop project was born when I practically accosted Ben at his work and demanded that we make music together. Now I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.

PW: What do you have planned for the rest of the year? Should fans expect any more music or possibly a performance of sorts?

KR: Well, I’m releasing a five song EP on the 26th, which will have two songs that haven’t been released yet! I want to release a follow up full-length in a little under a year from now, which is ambitious, so we’ve already started writing for it. In fact, we’re going to go out to L.A. this October to write more with Sameer Bhattacharya, who we co-wrote “R.A.D. Moves” with, and other established writers.  And for general horseplay.  We’re performing at Pecan Street Festival here in Austin, which happens in September, and I’m sure I’ll be playing scattered dates throughout the year. 

PW: Do you have any parting words for your fans?

KR: Don’t ever let anyone dull your sparkle, babe. Plus, the training wheels have come off and the full-length we’re working on is going to be really special.  The whole team is putting in so much effort to make our first album one for the books. XOXO

Keep up to date with future releases from Kady Rain by following her on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, SoundCloud, Instagram, and at her website. We’re expecting big things from the saccharine hitmaker, so you don’t want to miss out!