Rainy Miller: Academic Interview
“Whilst music has commonly been related to place and local identity, accelerations in the pace of globalisation and increasing global connections would eradicate geographical places and differences between them.”
Traditionally, regional musical identity had been shaped by historical forces such as immigration patterns, geographic connections to outside communities, and longstanding local musical traditions. Approaching the turn of the millennium, theorists speculated about how globalisation and the internet would affect locality within music. My undergraduate dissertation, earlier this year revisited those questions in the age of hyper-connectivity, using Rainy Miller's 2025 album Joseph, What Have You Done? as a case study to examine whether local musical identity has been eroded or, perhaps counterintuitively, reinforced.
The Preston-based artist pulls from a broad palette of influences that reaches well beyond his local scene, yet channels them into a body of work that feels intrinsically tied to Preston. In doing so, he demonstrates how a greater access to global sounds can reinforce the locality of artistic identity. I put a series of theories surrounding local sound to the artist to gauge his perspective on the debate. Many of his responses echoed the ideas of theorist Joshua Meyrowitz, who predicted that an increasingly interconnected world would lead to a "renewed emphasis on the local."
The following excerpt from my dissertation incorporates transcripts from my interview with the artist, contextualising his responses within the broader research and critical discussion.
“The effects of Globalisation on Local Sound: Contemporary music production in an era of hyper-connectivity” - Excerpt
In order to analyse these theories within a contemporary context, I conducted an interview with Preston-Based artist Rainy Miller. Selecting this artist as a case study provides insight into the climate of Local sound in an era of hyperconnectivity. Rainy Miller’s geographical upbringing is crucial to this study as his work emerges from a geo-location with comparatively minimal music heritage; this is not to diminish the cultural output of the area. However, Preston, like many provincial towns in the North of England, have historically experienced fewer institutional opportunities for musical production and expression. The insurgence of the internet and processes of globalisation have enabled individuals within these regions to access a plethora of cultural influences, which can in turn inform and shape their creative output. A focus on Preston allows an analysis of how these factors have enabled the artist to develop a sound which represents this place’s distinctive yet historically under-represented cultural identity.
\Rainy Miller’s Creative output negates the common conventions of this geo-location, Producing music within Preston that intentionally reflects the socio-economic and cultural experiences of his co-inhabitants. In an interview with Pitchfork Magazine Rainy Miller cites the 2003 BBC travelogue Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus as an inspiration for his latest release titled Joseph, What Have You Done?. Journalist Louis Patterson writes, “Miller recognized something in White’s journey that chimed with his own lived experience: a landscape of nowhere towns populated by people who refuse to let their disadvantage dislodge their pride in themselves and their communities. On Joseph, What Have You Done? Miller sets out to transpose that film’s documentarian approach to his Lancastrian ends, creating an aesthetic that he calls “Northern Gothic”. (Patterson, 2025)
“Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus” follows alternative country singer Jim White on a voyage through Louisiana, visiting the small towns and their inhabitants that shaped his music. The documentary is occasionally narrated by writer and poet Harry Crews, he emphasises the importance of stories amongst the inhabitants of these towns, as he states “stories was everything and everything was stories. Everybody told stories, it was a way of saying who they were in the world” (Searching for the wrong-eyed Jesus. 2003). Despite the nearly 5,000 miles separating Preston from Louisiana, both locations sustain a strong sense of pride in storytelling traditions, a quality unwaveringly prominent in the work of Rainy Miller. His album Joseph, What Have You Done? Acts as a conduit for storytelling, immodest of heartbreakingly personal tales often told through the distorted crackle of a phone call. The tradition of storytelling within small towns remains a fundamental means of displaying identity among its inhabitants, whether intentional or not, this practice has bled into Rainy Miller’s creative process.
The impacts of globalisation on local sound from the perspective of Rainy Miller
The questions proposed to Rainy Miller during our interview were informed by a number of the theories analysed throughout the Literature review. The initial line of inquiry derives from Sara Cohen’s pessimistic perspective on the impact of globalisation on local sound. She argues, “Whilst music has commonly been related to place and local identity, accelerations in the pace of globalisation and increasing global connections would eradicate geographical places and differences between them”. In response to this claim, I asked Rainy Miller to reflect on Cohen’s theory from the standpoint of an artist producing music in the era she anticipates.
Miller’s response, “I think that her statement holds new truths, amongst a lot of negation within the black and white nature of what she had predicted. In some ways, I’ve found the digital space that the, let’s say “future” that she’d somewhat predicted has actually opened up a lot of new ways of interaction with the physical space that a lot of artists are still drawing from. It’s opened up people’s eyes to new homes, whether that be because of a found favouritism toward a select scene, or sonic that is birthed from up and coming communities (often inspired by predecessors, or an anemoia for an unexperienced nostalgia).”
The artist’s suggestion that the digital space emerging for this hyperconnected era has generated a diverse pool of inspiration, whilst developing an appreciation for other local scenes, stands in contrast to Cohen’s anticipation of cultural diminishment. Musicians like Rainy Miller are able to appreciate scenes outside of their own community and draw inspiration whilst creating music that remains informed by their own experiences.
Rainy further developed his answer by stating, “Due to the information highway that the “future” has brought us, it’s placed the opportunity to relate, to anything, in anyone’s fingertips, but that relation is still bound by the terms of creating musicality; or art in any form of its final expression. For me, for those terms there have been no changes of the actual essence at the centre of people’s expression. I still believe artists are drawing from physical feelings, anecdotally and also within the community, because that is what is always immediate to them. It’s the easiest way, to draw from the well that they have procured due to a life that they have lived, and continue living. So for that to exist, there has to be, both time in the geological, and the periodic of anecdotal reference, that will forever be used as a very pivotal incubation for the creation of any art.”
During the latter portion of Miller’s response he speaks on behalf of other musicians, stating that there has been no change in expression as people still draw from physical feelings inflicted by their community. In order to draw from feelings, which remains a key factor for musical expression, time and geography are inherently present.
Rainy Miller’s statement that “There has to be, both time in the geological, and the periodic of anecdotal reference that will forever be used as a very pivotal incubation for the creation of any art.” completely debunks Cohen’s pre-assumption of a cultural homogenisation.
The second question interrogates our opposing theory from Meyrowitz, who stated “Social theorists have noted that globalisation appears to have a renewed emphasis on the local, encouraging new quests for local identity.” I believed that this line of thinking was more suitable in relation to his musical output, I asked if he agreed.
His response “I think Meyrowitz’s theory probably falls more in line with what is answered above. In my opinion the conditions can never change for an incubation of a realistic artistic community, it will forever take locality, and physical experience for it to be engaged on every level, for it to feel like a success, or alive in the modern day. The internet has given us so much choice now, that the scale of success has become incredibly disproportionate, with the integers of it, becoming skewed. So it depends on which of those integers you personally define as a success. I think the nature of the world means that community feels like the most tangible part of that success, and that community is most easily built with what is accessible to you. A lot of the time that is immediacy or location, and shared experience. There’s a million communities of art that feel successful, because they’re still enthralling the human element of creativity, take a look at Industrial Coast up in the North East, or the Northern Gothic movement that is spread throughout the UK. Both, very small communities, but both communities that feel strong, and hold weight digitally, because of the value of the physical identities they’ve coined for themselves. There’s a strong sense of identity with both of those movements, which is a direct tie to geolocation.”
Miller ultimately agreed with Meyrowitz’s statement, suggesting that regardless of the intervening shift, creative processes such as locality and physical experience that contribute to the ultimate expression still remain. He proposes that this cultural shift bears a caveat which has led to the integers of success becoming disproportionate. Rainy elects community as a defining factor for success, drawing on Industrial Coast and Northern Gothic as case studies. Both movements emphasize a strong, place-based sense of identity, attributing their emergence and cultural resonance to their authenticity and place within their communities
Meyrowitz’s suggestion that globalisation would encourage a “renewed emphasis of the local” has become personified by the likes of Rainy Miller (Northern Gothic) and Ritchie Culver (Industrial Coast). The notion that an insurgence of influences from around the globe would promote a reinforcement of identity amongst artists signifies the growing importance of personalism within music.
Rainy Miller on Roger Hill’s Trainish/ Riverine theory
This question engages with Roger Hill’s Trainish/Riverine theory. I asked the interviewee to remove the Liverpool-specific context of the model and consider which category his work would align with.
Miller’s response, “I think there’s a foot in both somewhat, I feel more inclined to go with “riverine”, as that’s where a lot of my passionate work goes, but again, even Manchester would appear as somewhat “trainish”, as that isn’t my local community, due to me being from up the road in Preston. (I have lived there for the last four years.) There’s probably a scale that can be applied to both. I have also found community in London at times, but those affinities come out of a similarity of admiration for sound and sonic, as there’s still a massive portion of London that doesn’t make art for any part of “making it big”. Take the “Bermondsey triangle” , adjacent communities etc as an example. There’s also just a world that is scant for employment, resources and time at the moment, and due to investing all of my time in the last 10 years or so into having art as a career, there has to be a trade off where it does have to pay the bills, and that could appear “trainish” by nature, although that work doesn’t equate really to the “making it big time” remark. I think eventually, everything within that riverine world becomes the sonic, or the aesthetic that the major label world wants, until the cycle resets itself again anyway.”
As anticipated, Rainy demonstrated a marked inclination to identify as Riverine, ultimately stemming from the deep sense of pride he associates with his geographical upbringing; an influence that is consistently evident in both his creative process and artistic output. However, he does not fully endorse the binary nature of Hill’s theory, addressing several limitations in its underlying assumptions and scope. The theory fails to account for those adopting both Trainish and Riverine in their creative processes. Rainy, for example, has spent a significant portion of his career and his life, in Manchester, collaborating with artists such as Space Afrika and Blackhaine. These collaborations do not diminish the locality of his art, rather, they expand its scope by incorporating shared neighbourly experiences.
Rainy Miller and Space Afrika’s 2023 collaborative album “A Grisaille Wedding” doesn't dilute either party's sense of locality, it acts as a viaduct between the two, thus contradicting Hill’s theory. The implication that “Trainish” is a complete betrayal of locality and authenticity in a bid to “make it” becomes void in the modern era. Rainy views “Trainish” as community just on a much larger scale, music can appeal to those outside of your direct community through a shared appreciation of sonics and styles. Rainy added that the intentions of major labels have changed since the theory was conceived, major labels now actively seek out up and coming scenes in order to capitalise on them early. This shift has blurred the line between “riverine” and “trainish” making it harder to be confined.
Track 7 on Joseph, What Have You Done? Titled “Then Casts Shadows, From Afar (A6 - Pendleton).,” narrates a journey between Preston and Manchester from Rainy’s perspective as he sits and watches the A6 pass through the wide screen of the bus, from peel park to pendleton. Recontextualising Hill’s theory for this artist, positions Preston as Riverine and Manchester as Trainish. This track negates the connotations of Hill’s rigid categorisation, as Miller actively produces a song recounting the journey towards his “trainish” destination while simultaneously resisting the notion of “authentic betrayal” posed by Hill. This track sees our artist coming to terms with the changes in his life symbolised by the bus journey towards his new life. Rainy personifies his home in the line “You gave me so many pieces of myself I don't know what to do with them now that you are gone” suggesting that his identity is profoundly shaped by his community. The same sentiment is reinforced by the line “We accumulate lives like cats in reverse, and each and every one is etched into our skin like a patchwork quilt for better or for worse”. The confessional nature of these lyrics nullifies Hill’s suggestions of cultural diminishment as Rainy carries the cultural capital of Preston in his persona and conjunctively in his creative output regardless of his physical location. (Miller, 2025)
Track 8 and 9 signify the physical space between the rurality of Lancashire and the metropolitan nature of Manchester. “Please, Don't Walk Away too Fast.” works as a continuation from our previous track, during the first portion of this composition, Rainy utilises the fundamentals of drone music to demonstrate the psychogeographics of rural Lancashire. The spatial distance between the strings and the subdued textural synths mimics the emotions inflicted by said environment (Long. 2014). At the 1 minute 44 second mark our artist introduces a wave of considerably heavier synths and a progression amongst the strings followed by a shift in vocal styles and some occasional grating distorted guitar riffs, illustrating the psychogeographics of this industrial city (Holloway, 2022). Over the course of this 5 minute composition Rainy sonically exhibits both the spatial and emotional changes inflected by a change in location, a change that he has personally experienced.
Track 9 titled “Chrome, Hallowed be.” however flirts between these two geographically inflicted sonic styles, layering the drone and ambient compositions from the previous track, this time with a more structured rhythmic counterpart thus signifying the nightlife culture of Manchester, potentially a not to The White Hotel. A culture that has accepted Rainy through a shared appreciation of sonic styles. This track seems to signify an acceptance towards his “new life” outside of Preston, whilst the tracks prior (7 & 8) appear as a mental battle towards this acceptance with worries of authentic betrayal as a central theme.
In conjunction with this question I asked Miller if he believed there was an element of revolution in mind when intentionally adhering to local sound (creating Riverine music). He responded “I think the revolutionary element comes in the early stages, or in the ways of building more infrastructure that didn’t exist for you at local level before, that’s the only real revolutionary part, the community part, because you have to remember everything happens to scale, and a local revolution for a community of 20 people in a town, might be a bedroom studio, or the beginnings of a music venue for example, even just a feeling of non isolation and friendship etc, to then form revelatory experiences, like finding partners, or friends that share your interests etc. That’s truly how set back some of the towns and lesser remembered metropolises are in the UK. I speak this from experience personally, and seeing first hand in Middlesbrough with industrial coast etc. There’s a reason these places never had a local sound, and that’s because they didn’t have the infrastructure for people to even connect; let alone create. The revolution is to come, I think there’s still a lot of building to do, to give it a fighting chance for the future generations etc.”
When I posed this question to our artist I was suggesting that opting for authenticity informed by locality as opposed to creation with commercial gain as a leading factor involves an element of revolution. Rainy ultimately agreed with my proposition and proceeded to break down how this theory works in practice for him specifically.
The process of building a community through authenticity and relatability can open doors for other artists within the community, creating opportunities for peers. Provincial towns such as Preston lack the financial and institutional backing necessary to build a stable creative sector. Rainy Miller believes that cultivating a creative community with locality at the centre can make a change.
Rainy Miller on Mobility and Fixation in music
The concluding question revolved around Gibson and Connell’s theory that describes “the relationship between music and place in terms of mobility and ‘fluidity’, whilst emphasising ways in which music is nevertheless attached or fixed to a place”. I was interested in hearing Rainy Miller’s thoughts on this theory with his music in mind.
Rainy’s thoughts on the statement, “It depends on the artist and how much attachment they have to the music they make personally and physically. How anecdotal has the music been made, even if the person hasn’t been in that town during the production. My last record every single song was recorded in Preston, and tied to a memory. That memory was held in locality, physically, or emotionally. So for me, I’d probably disagree with the sentiment, but that’s not to say that’s the case for everyone who still holds that sense of physical place at the heart of creation. Let’s say someone has, for example, sampled the sound of the moors. Then written fictionally on top of the music, you’d have physicality at the centre of the creation, but in an entirely different context. It’s tough because everyone is completely different. If someone turned Blackburn into a centre hub for UK Jazz in 30 years time, because their parents only ever played Jazz in the house, it would still have that sense of location, tied to the town, because that’s the place they learnt it. In a lot of ways it’s fluid, but, in a lot of ways it’s not, because everything comes from yourself, and you have to come from somewhere physically.”
Rainy provides a critical insight into how this theory operates in the modern era, since the conception of this theory the landscape of music production has faced many changes. When applied to this case study, the theory ultimately proves pertinent in the work of our artist, particularly in Joseph, What Have You Done? Which was written and recorded entirely in Preston. This translates to the album being fixed in both time and location, Rainy stated that every single song was tied to a memory of either locality, physicality or emotion inflected by Preston. However, the sonics and sentiment of the project ultimately speak to the human experience, exceeding the fixed locality of production. Listeners from around the world can repurpose the artist’s personal experiences to suit their lives thus making the album fluid.
Gibson and Connell's ideology seems to hold less weight two decades on since its conception; the plethora of influences available to musicians appear to have diluted the original intention of their statement.