Exploring Life, Music, And Family With Jenna Raine

With her catchy new song, "it is what it is," ringing in our ears, we had the chance to interview Jenna Raine. She tells us about her European adventure and the meaning behind her songs, Be on the lookout for her upcoming EP! 

What was the inspiration behind "it is what it is," and what does it mean to you personally? 

Jenna: The day before I had this writing session, I shrunk all of my clothes doing laundry, and I cried because I had both of my favorite pairs of jeans in there, I only owned two pairs of blue jeans, and those were the ones I shrunk. I had had them since my sophomore year of high school, so they just had a lot of memories, and I can't even wear them anymore. I cried about it, and I was so exhausted. I was a little sick from touring, and so I just felt awful. I was running on like two hours of sleep. So I walked into the studio, and they're like, Jenna, do you have anything that like you want to write about?

I was like, well, I have this one title that I really love. I don't know exactly what we do with it, but I love the title: it is what it is. They were like, oh, what does that mean for you? Like, just like a guy like hurting you. And I was like, no. I shrunk my laundry yesterday and cried about it, so that would be cool if we could somehow put that in. We literally ended up writing happy songs, um, instead of like a heartbreak song. It was just like about life and like the little things that just like kind of beat you down, and you just have to roll with the punches and smile about it and just let it go.

I love that. So since it came out, I've seen a bunch of people making TikToks to it. What has been the most heartwarming or memorable fan reaction you've received since the song's release?

Jenna: Just girls my age, being the ones that are like looking up to me and listening to my music, is just such a sweet thing to see because I totally could've used my music, like back when I was in high school. And so to be that for girls like is just the most meaningful thing in the world, honestly. So just that alone, having girls my age come up to me is the most heartfelt thing because I take that very personally, and it's kind of a full circle. 

Oh, that's so sweet. And it keeps inspiring you to keep making songs.

Jenna: Exactly, because I can't say that always happens that people come up, but when they do, it just reminds me that there are like girls out there and guys out there that wanna have more music and see me perform one day. And they always mention if you go on tour, which I definitely plan on doing. 

How do you deal with criticism or negative feedback, and how do you stay true to yourself? 

Jenna: Honestly, the hardest person on me is myself. So I have to deal with mainly taking my own punches. Other people can critique me, and I will totally take it and be like, yep, I understand that. I really try not to take it to heart and just improve rather than deconstruct and beat myself up about it. But honestly, sometimes, I'm my worst enemy. So I think the biggest lesson that I've learned is to give myself more grace and to understand that it's all part of the process and all part of God's plan. It's just what's gonna happen through every single season.

So I was just listening to some of your songs from your new EP. I know it's not finalized, but how do you know when a song is finished? 

Jenna: I mean, honestly, there's just really a feeling. When we wrote "Nights Like These," I was very passionate about it and very sappy about the friends that I had been making in LA. I'd never really had friends like that before. So when we finished writing this song. I was so passionate about it. And we didn't really have a completed song the day of. But I was so passionate about the song I told my team we have to finish the song, and I want it to come out. So I was so determined to make that song happen that we were doing everything in our power to make it feel complete. A lot of notes, a lot of changes, but you just get that feeling that a listen down for, like, it's just like a completed song listening top to bottom, and you don't feel like anything catches you off guard. Like, it just feels like a complete story.

So you were just on tour with Joshua. That must have been really exciting. Can you share any of your favorite moments or highlights from the tour?

Jenna: I mean, such a blessing, the fact that Joshua even gave me the ability to pick whichever shows I want to do was so sweet. We had one day in New Orleans, and I'd never been to New Orleans before, and it was just the one day I got to spend the most time with everybody. I got to know a lot about the team before the tour continued, and it was really sweet because I had never really gotten a chance to talk to everybody. It's always such a chaotic day, but I remember just having really sweet conversations, and there was this one moment we were hearing a street band play and sing their own songs. I remember there was this one really funny song, and we were all dancing around. It was like four of us, but we were all dancing around, and it felt like a movie. I was like, this is just like what I dreamed of.

What's your go-to karaoke song? 

Jenna: Oh my gosh, that's so funny you asked that. My go-to karaoke song is "Wake Me Up" By Wham. Yeah, it's not necessarily my favorite one, but it's the most memorable one. My cousin had a karaoke thing when we were so little, like on a tv. We would always do "Wake Me Up," and I could not even sing back then, but I genuinely thought I could, and I might have had potential at the time. I must have, but I ripped that song into shreds.

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

Jenna: Honestly, I think I would love to fly. That sounds so fun. It sounds like the government might take me in, ruin my life forever, and try to figure out why I can fly. I'm so scared of heights, so it would like literally rule out my biggest fear, which is awesome. So that'd be my superpower. 

Do you have anything you wanna add?

Jenna: Just that my team knows how badly I wanna tour, but first, I'm trying my best to get as much music out as possible. So just for people to expect me to be out on the road fairly soon, and I'm so excited to put a show together. 

Keep up with Jenna Raine on Instagram, Spotify, and TikTok.