Jared Gaines of Rat Park: Why Authenticity And Honesty Trump Following The Rules In The Modern Music Industry

As a part of our interview series with leaders, stars, and rising stars in the music industry, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Jared Gaines of Rat Park.

Hailing from a small town in upstate New York, multi-instrumentalist Jared Gaines moved to LA to pursue his music career and distance himself from his family’s troubled history with drugs and prison. With music as an outlet and inspiration, he signed a record deal as Vaines, initially honing in on a pop sound. With Rat Park, Gaines doesn’t want to follow the rules or fit in: he’s doing things his way. Rat Park, named after an experiment done in the 1970s which tested the effects of opiates on rats, is an opportunity for Gaines’ creativity to run wild and unfiltered.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about your “origin story”. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I grew up in a small town in northern New York on the border of Canada. My parents struggled with substance abuse and my brothers and sister ended up getting into a lot of trouble as a result. Luckily, I got away from all of it when I was 15 and started pursuing music.

What inspired you to pursue a career in music, and how did your journey begin?

Music was an escape for me. Dealing with a custody battle and bouncing from one house to another, I would bury my head into my music, spending hours alone practicing to get away from real life.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I have too many stories to pick the most interesting so here’s the short version of a few! I once dressed up as Lil Pump and crashed the Grammys, I interviewed Danny Elfman and got him on Tiktok, and I got paid to play a show on a rock themed cruise ship to Mexico.

It has been said that sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I would say the funniest mistake I made was smoking at one of my first writing sessions and spending the next 4 hours texting my friends and family that I was freaking out. I don’t even smoke. I don’t know why I did it in the first place, but somewhere during the session I ended up writing a decent song. No lessons there, just stupidity.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

So many people have helped me along my path, but the main person I think of is my buddy Billy. He’s been a part of my success for 6 years now and I wouldn’t be where I am without him. Actually a funny story, one time I was in a pretty serious car accident on my way to help him write a country song about his fiancé. I called him, he picked me up, got my car towed, and we went and wrote that country song 20 minutes later.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I’m currently releasing music with my project Rat Park but I also make music as Vaines and write and produce for bands like Not My Weekend and Scary Kids Scaring Kids.

We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in music, film, and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

It’s important to have perspective. For a long time, only one point of view was seen and it takes people from different cultures and backgrounds to tell new stories and expand that view. I think we see America as a melting pot, but if we deny other walks of life their time in the spotlight, we only keep ourselves from actually becoming that melting pot. Also, unfortunately right now there are people who fear other cultures due to a lack of understanding and it’s important to shine a light on those cultures and celebrate them for everyone to see.

As a successful music star, you’ve likely faced challenges along the way. How do you stay motivated? How do you overcome obstacles in your career?

It takes practice, but you can motivate yourself to do anything. Obstacles are not walls. Success isn’t a goal post. You make the best decisions you can every day and you will be in a better position tomorrow. It’s a game of inches.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why?

1 . Be yourself. Be authentic to who you are and people will gravitate naturally to that.

2 . Don’t sell yourself short. Set a high ceiling for success and don’t be tempted to take shortcuts for quick gains.

3 . This is a fun job, have fun.

4 . Take care of the people who take care of you. It’s important to give time and energy back to the people in your life that push you forward.

5 . Have the audacity to do something different. People like settling into a comfortable routine. Genres get stale, routines get boring. Do something that nobody expected even if it seems stupid.

Can you share some insights into your creative process? How do you approach songwriting? How do you approach musical collaborations?

I spent a long time learning production, instruments, songwriting, etc. and the benefit of that is that an idea can come from anywhere. Maybe it’s a guitar line, maybe it’s a chorus, maybe it’s just a sound. Once I get that initial idea it’s all about putting one piece at a time together until the song is made. With collaboration I tend to let the other person/people take the reins so I can get a glimpse into their process and then I’ll start filling in the blanks.

Your music has resonated with so many fans worldwide. What do you believe sets your music apart?

I think it’s honesty. So many people have a hard time finding their voice and just being themselves but that’s something I’ve never struggled with. I get very personal in my songs and I think people resonate with that.

How do you connect with your audience?

I just make my music and post it. I have a slow grind approach where I’m just trying to make the coolest stuff possible and let it speak for itself.

With your busy schedule and demanding performances, how do you prioritize self-care and maintain a balance between your personal life and career in the music industry?

I famously do not prioritize self-care, it’s my achilles heel. I commit so much of myself to the pursuit of success in music that I tend to let things like that slide. I think finding that balance is extremely important and I work towards that every day, but I also have to give my life to this thing and that demands a lot.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

​​It’s obviously close to home for me, but I would love to change the way we look at drug addiction and addicts themselves. There’s a whole lot of people out there struggling and dying and due to misinformation and old philosophy we just leave them by the wayside. I would love to educate the world about drug addiction and start helping these people who need it.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

I’d kill to have a conversation/one on one pickup basketball game with Jon Bellion. He’s such an inspiration and I think I’d smoke him.

How can our readers continue to follow your work online?

Follow @ratparkk and @vaineswastaken for everything I’m doing.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!

About the interviewer: Guernslye Honoré, affectionately known as “Gee-Gee”, is an amalgamation of creativity, vision, and endless enthusiasm. She has elegantly twined the worlds of writing, acting, and digital marketing into an inspiring tapestry of achievement. As the creative genius at the heart of Esma Marketing & Publishing, she leads her team to unprecedented heights with her comprehensive understanding of the industry and her innate flair for innovation. Her boundless passion and sense of purpose radiate from every endeavor she undertakes, turning ideas into reality and creating a realm of infinite possibilities. A true dynamo, Gee-Gee’s name has become synonymous with inspirational leadership and the art of creating success.