Exposed Vocals Interviews Lainey Dionne

Lainey Dionne is a Providence based indie artist and singer/songwriter. Her poetic lyrics and acoustic sound creates a calming atmosphere that captivates listeners. Lainey’s songs “Can’t Refuse” and “Even If” have been featured in the Berklee Singer/Songwriter Showcase ’14 and an independent film from Harvard University. As a performing artist, Lainey has been invited to play at the Newport Film Festival, private benefit concerts, and various venues in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. She graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2015, receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Business with a minor in Music Production and Engineering. While attending, she had the pleasure of learning from industry professionals such as Grammy Award wining Producer, Jason Stokes and Grammy-nominated hit songwriter, producer, and Warner Brothers Records executive, Kara DioGuardi. Lainey’s music is inspired by the lyrics and compositions of Coldplay and Ed Sheeran. From her notable education and musical inspirations, Lainey has acquired her own unique sense of artistry. Her EP will be released in the Summer of 2016.

 

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

 

Lainey: I grew up in a small town in the smallest state- Smithfield, Rhode Island! It wasn’t until my sophomore year at Smithfield High School that I really got into performing music. We had an event called Fallfest where students could go up and perform three songs. That was my first time in front of an audience, let alone an audience filled with my class peers, and I picked a song that I knew all my friends were super into called If It Means A Lot To You by A Day To Remember. To my surprise, on the last chorus the whole audience joined in singing the refrain and it was the most amazing feeling. That experience lit a fire in me; I had all of the confidence in the world that performing music is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. During my senior year, I decided to go the Rhode Island College to complete my general education at an affordable price and transfer those credits to my dream college, Berklee College of Music. I auditioned for Berklee with two Coldplay songs and was accepted into the piano and voice program. From then on, I focused on voice being my principal instrument and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Business with a minor in Music Production in just two years. I want to be a well rounded musician; I want to understand the in’s and out’s of the industry as well as how music is recorded. My educational background helped me understand my personal stylistic approach to produce my own music.

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

Lainey: Lainey is actually my full name. People ask me all the time if it’s a nickname or short for Elaine, but it’s my birth name. It actually means “bright light”. My middle name Marissa means “by the sea” so together my family interprets my name as “star by the sea”.

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

Lainey: I believe streaming is a great platform for promoting an artists’ music. However, I do not necessarily think the economics of streaming is fair. I think the industry needs to credit artists with a fair royalty rate for streaming services. On the other hand, artists like Radiohead (one of my favorite bands) have given out full albums for free. By posting my songs to Youtube/Soundcloud, anyone could easily pirate them and I understand that. I have used social media platforms to promote downloading my music for free because I believe it’s a great marketing strategy to get more listeners. I hope one day that I, and any artist, can get a fair royalty rate for the songs we produce and stream so that we can support ourselves and at the same time be able to entice listeners with free downloads.

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

Lainey: I’m not too far from the “start-ups”! I’d say educate yourself on DIY practices. Understand how to manage, book, and promote yourself in an efficient and unique way. Right now I have a demo along with a printed set list and my business card in a CD jacket that I give to potential venues I want to play at. I usually get a call within that week to set up a date- sometimes that’s all it takes! Other times you have to constantly be in touch with places to remind them you exist. Every venue is different! Get confident with your sound and make a plan to get yourself to the next level. I have a music video and photo shoot coming up that I am going to promote on all of my social media platforms and use in all of my promotional material (posters/business cards). My next step is to get my single on Pandora. If you make a plan and set a date to accomplish it, you’ll get there, just don’t give up! After you get a following from all of your completed steps, the gigs and airplay will come to you as well, just put in the work!

 

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

Lainey: I gather inspiration from life experiences, my surroundings, or another artist. Sometimes just listening to Coldplay or Ed Sheeran will make me want to write a song. I’ll usually take out my phone, press record, and start playing chords on my acoustic and then a melody will just burst out of me. From that melody, sometimes words that do not make ANY sense will spill out of my mouth. I’ll go back to the recording and listen to my nonsense and some words will stick out. Then I’ll write the whole song based off that phrase. It’s super weird but that’s usually how I do it.

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

 

Lainey: I use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Soundcloud and YouTube to share my music. My music is on all of the platforms, however, I use Facebook to mostly promote my gigs, Twitter to promote anything related to music, Instagram for personal use to learn some more about me along with short clips of me singing covers, and Soundcloud/YouTube strictly for my music.

https://soundcloud.com/lainey-dionne/cant-refuse

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwIAVW3DYR3FtVkMz4eaVNw

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

 

Lainey: Tour! I would tour everywhere. I’d try to get a signed deal and bang out a couple of albums, then literally tour everywhere. I love traveling; to mix traveling with my music would be amazing.

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

 

Lainey: Social media, social media, social media! At all of my shows, people usually ask where they can find my music and I always have a card on me with all of my links. Digital marketing changed the game for the music industry. If you have a strong social media following, your songs/performances have the potential to go viral and then you could get Usher calling you asking to work with you- look at Justin Bieber!

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

 

Lainey: Other then the music video and photo shoot I have coming up, I plan on becoming an ASCAP artist and sharing my current music with the world on Pandora. New music is on the horizon! I’m already in the studio working on my EP which should be done by the end of summer! I’m really excited for it- a lot of great tracks!

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

 

Lainey: That’s a tough one! I’m a super creative person, so maybe interior design? I feel like that’s a curve ball. There’s many different parts to who I am. I feel like I could take any avenue if I put my mind to it, however, music just took over. If I didn’t have that undeniable passion, I would probably go for another passion of mine. I really love animals and the environment. When I was little, I always thought I would be a zoologist or a marine biologist. I am also a HUGE history buff. I’d love to do something in the field of history or anthropology.

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

Lainey: Graduating college is rough because you have loans and your dreams and somehow you have to make it all happen. Post graduation, I ended up getting a part time job along with working at a studio and teaching music, gigging, and doing an internship with a music A&R company in NYC. You just have to hustle. You need to be able to support yourself and go after what you want in life. If you really want it, you’ll do whatever it takes.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?

Lainey: My EP! True Music Studios has been incredible in letting me have complete creative control over my music, and I even get my own production groove on with my tracks! This EP is completely me- written, arranged, performed, and co-produced. I can’t tell you enough how excited I am for you guys to be able to hear it soon! Until then, I’m playing out everywhere in Rhode Island three nights a week! Come out to see me in person; I love meeting fans. 2016 is going to be a great year!