Meet Echo Breen of Rainy Days in Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Echo Breen.

Echo, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I believe that everything about me is a little rough around the edges. Some people embrace that, while others are either afraid or intimidated by it. I never fit in anywhere as a kid. I stayed home a lot, and that’s when I discovered my passion and love for music. I would learn several instruments at a time. I never took any lessons, and YouTube tutorials weren’t a thing yet lol. I would pump out maybe 1 to 2 original songs a month. By the end of the year, I would compile them, record all of them by myself, and burn them on a disc with some DIY artwork. This way I was able to sell and share some of my music via physical media. I began playing shows when I was 14 years old. My parents were active in the Phoenix/Tempe bar scenes, so they were usually able to convince owners to let me play. That really built my confidence as a musician, and as a person. The rest is history!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being female in a male-dominated music scene has always come with many challenges. I’ve never had a problem keeping up, but I have had problems with the lack of respect from other male musicians that I’ve faced. I’ve played shows with my band in which other bands (all male) would come introduce themselves to us, and not even acknowledge that I’m with the band. They don’t expect a woman to be fronting a band, which is hard for me to believe. It does happen though. All I can do is take it with a grain of salt, and push forward because I know I can do anything they can do. I’ve even been actively playing shows throughout my pregnancy (now 7 months). Sometimes, when I tell the crowd: “Yeah guys, I’m pregnant so.. I probably only have a few more shows till I pop!”, people’s mouths drop. They really don’t believe that a pregnant woman with a baby in their tummy can scream their heart out in front of a packed room, but I believe this goes to show that all women are capable of doing amazing things.

Please tell us about Rainy Days.
Rainy Days has been a passion project for my guitarist DJ and I since day one. If we had to describe our sound, it would be closest to emo/gazey + grunge/alternative. We’ve always put our heart and soul into every song that comes out. By combining both of our styles into one, I believe we’ve made something truly beautiful. We’ve been a band now for a little over a year. During that time, we’ve gone on two west coast tours and played countless local shows to build our loyal fan base at home. Like every band, we’ve also gone through some hard times. We recently changed our line up to increase creativity, and to create a positive environment to write music in. With the members we have now, things have been going extremely smoothly. Without a doubt, I would call these boys my family.

Any predictions for the industry over the next few years?
Things will definitely be more challenging now that I have a baby boy on the way (due October 17th) with my drummer/Fiancé Forest, but that won’t stop the band from continuing to make music, releasing content, and touring. We’re constantly trying to better our music, our message, and ourselves through this band. Nothing and no one can take that away from us. Music is like air to all of us and keeps us alive. Our plan for the next 3 years is to release another EP, maybe follow that up with an LP, and to shop labels that fit our brand. We also plan on touring more across the US. We’ve yet to hit the east coast, so we’ll see what we can do about that! Either way, we don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon. Keep your eyes peeled for our next single.

Contact Info:

• Phone: 4802973043
• Email: rainydaysbandaz@gmail.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/rainydaysbandaz
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/rainydaysbandaz

Image Credit:
Cameron Allen
Matthew Cardinal
Alexander Thomas
Abel Magãna

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