Formed in 2023, Christchurch rock three-piece The Rainfall identify Blink-182 and Foo Fighters among inspirations for their evolving pop punk sound, delivering on the promise with high energy live performances and music videos. Frontman Matt Clark answers NZM’s questions about No Good, their latest single which NZ On Air Music included on the November NewTracks compilation.

Who are The Rainfall members and what instruments do you play?

Matt Clark – vocals and guitar; Makka Freedom – vocals and bass; Nick Wilkinson – drums.

Any other projects that we might know any of you from?

No.

What’s the background story of how The Rainfall came to be?

The band was born out of boredom, more than anything. I wrote a few songs that I was really excited about (that would end up being on our first album) and recorded them in full. Once the final masters came back, the songs sounded great, and felt like it needed to be part of something bigger. Makka was the first member to join, followed by Nick. The rest is history!

How did you come up with the band name?

As fun as it is to make up stories about this, the actual truth is that we’re named after a character from Red Dead Redemption 2. IYKYK.

How has your musical output evolved from the band beginnings to now?

On our first studio album, we really went in and tried to make a great pop punk / emo album. For our new record, which features No Good, we’ve tried to mature the songwriting – and bring in more influences from outside of the pop punk world. On the new album we just focused on writing great songs, regardless of whether they fit our genre or not.

Aside from this release, what’s been the big highlight to date? 

Honestly, the biggest highlight for the band, beyond the gigs/radio play etc.., is just the fact that we’ve kept the band going for almost three years, while also managing our own personal lives. Keeping a band together is super hard, and we’ve been in heaps of bands that lose steam after 6/12 months – so to stay in the band, and remain somewhat focused on making music and playing shows feels amazing.

Where do you mostly get to perform live? Which of your songs is the live gig highlight?

We’ll play anywhere and everywhere, we’ve been all over the country this year. We’ve taken a little bit of a break in the last few months while we get ready for our next round of shows. So we’re all itching to get back onstage. As far as live highlights, for me personally, I love playing our song Guts.

What made No Good stand out for you as a single choice?

The chorus melody.

What is the story behind No Good?

I had the melody, instrumentation, and lyrics for the first verse for years and years – as early as 2020. I would occasionally come back to it and try to work out the rest of the track, but I could never figure it out. Fast forward to late 2024, our first album had been released – and we started working on the follow up. This song came back up in the mix, and then seemingly out of nowhere, the rest of the song arrived.

What’s your favourite moment, musical or lyrical, of the track?

For me personally, the background vocals on the last chorus. Super fun to record that part and it always make me smile when I hear them.

Who did you record/produce the single with and where?

We recorded this track at my house, and engineered / produced it ourselves. This particular song was recorded in the hottest part of summer 2024/2025 – with no air conditioning! Even answering this question right now makes me feel sweaty.

What would you like listeners to take away from this song?

More than taking away any message, we just want to make people bop their heads and hum all along.

Who else is in your team?

Shout out to The Rainfall dream team – Sam Meni (artwork, videos, unofficial fourth member), Chazz Valentine (mixing engineer, unofficial fifth member) and Mike Kalajian (mastering engineer).

What were some of the main things the band learned from the process of releasing your self-titled album in 2024?

I think the most important lesson learned from the first album is that the option of making music as a business even exists for us. We’ve been playing and releasing music (in our own bands before The Rainfall) to no one, for years. This was the first time for any of us that it felt like people were actually listening to it, and getting behind it. Which to be totally honest, is still something we’re trying to wrap our heads around.

Can you please name three other local tunes that would fit well on a playlist alongside your song. 

Grip-Tape – Desiderium
Not Exact – On a Roll
Blindr – Money & Fame

Have any of your previous single releases been included on NewTracks?

Yes. Guts, in August 2024

Are there any musical blogs, Youtube channels or podcasts you’re into?

My favourite two music YouTubers right now are Adam Neely, and Scott Uhl!

How can we find you on social media?

Spotify/Apple Music
Bandcamp
Instagram
Facebook

Who did you make the video with? 

The No Good video was shot over three separate days, with our friend Sam directing and editing. We found that all of our previous videos were on the serious side, so we wanted to make something that was a little more fun and light hearted.

Any last words?

Music is awesome. Thanks for listening!