Allan Rayman photographed by Steph Verschuren
Allan Rayman is an enigmatic character. He rarely speaks about his music with much detail or fanfare, preferring to keep his audience guessing. Exploring the audio-visual stratosphere Rayman built with his two albums and accompanying music videos may be the closest anyone can get to infiltrating his ironclad psyche. With little to glean from his sparse social media presence, the most concrete information we have is that he is a “singer/songwriter and Juno award-nominee based in Toronto, Ontario.”
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His new single, “Rose” dropped on November 16th and is a part of a larger EP called, “Harry Hard-On”. Produced by Andrew Dawson (Daytona \[Pusha T\], My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy \[Kanye West\]) via Universal Music Canada/ Polydor UK/ Republic Records/ KIDindaKorner, the album marks Rayman’s first material out on Alex da Kid’s label imprint KIDinaKorner. I had the unique opportunity to speak with cryptic Rayman himself, and discuss song titles, dead artists, and his personal creative process.
**Can you tell me the story behind the title, ‘Harry Hard-On?’**
I’m a fan of this movie and there’s a character in it, goes by the name of ‘Harry Hard-On.’ I can relate to that character.
**What can you tell me about the new direction of this EP?**
I just continue to build off whats inspiring me at the time. I was listening to a lot of 80’s rock and 90’s grunge for the last little while, and I figured it’d be fun to take a stab at writing music like that. I think it’s important to always challenge yourself like that; it’s a good way to keep it fun. I have this story, an overview I guess you could call it, in which all these things or these albums take place. Without speaking too much more on that I’ll say this; there is more if you want it… or it could just be music. You can really sink your teeth into it if you’d like.
**You said this album explores sounds inspired by 80’s rock and 90’s grunge, and I can definitely hear that, do you have any specific influences?**
Sure. Most of them are dead. It’s a dangerous sport.
**How do you hope people feel when they listen to it? Or is there anything specific you hope your audience takes away from listening to your new work?**
I try not to think of anyone else when making these things. They’ve got to be true so they’ve got to be personal. Someone’s always going to smell the shit. Now I like to think I’m that guy. So what does that have to do with anyone other than me.
**Ha, well put! Now that this exciting new single is out, do you have any plans for your future music? Can you tell me anything about it?**
Ya, we’ve got a lot of things going right now. There is always more here then we let on.
[_Harry Hard-On_](https://allanrayman.lnk.to/harryhardon) is available online along with [tickets to Rayman’s upcoming headlining European tour](https://www.allanrayman.com/tickets).
**Upcoming Tour Dates:**
November 26 – Oslo, Norway – John Dee
November 28 – Stockholm, Sweden – Nalen Club
November 29 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega Small Hall
December 1 – Hamburg, Germany – Kaiserkeller
December 3 – Berlin, Germany – Musik & Frieden
December 7 – Wien, Austria – Flex Cafe
December 9 – Zurich, Switzerland – Mascotte
December 10 – Cologne, Germany – Yuca
December 11 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso Noord
December 13 – Manchester, United Kingdom – Academy 3
December 14 – London, United Kingdom – Scala
December 15 – Dublin, Ireland – Worksman Club
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