#FiveOnFriday with Stephanie Rainey

Stephanie Rainey is a singer-songwriter from Cork who built her career on independent ambition, with the help of social media to spread the word. Her debut single ‘Please Don’t Go’ rocked up over one million views within the first 24 hours of it being uploaded online. The song deals with the loss of her one-year-old nephew who died from meningitis.   As part of this year’s First Fortnight Festival Stephanie is a guest music curator for ‘Therapy Sessions’ which will take place in Cork on January 12 We caught up with Stephanie ahead of the event for this weeks #FiveOnFriday.       Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your track ‘100 Like Me’ which was used as part of the Hot Press ’Now We’re Talking Mental Health Campaign’?100 Like Me is about realising that you’re not always the only person that’s going through something tough. It’s so easy when you’re struggling to think that you’re on your own but that’s never really true. I think it’s a really empowering song.  2. How has speaking about your personal mental health helped you deal with difficult times?It’s such a cliche but talking about any sort of problem helps. I don’t know that you can always do it straight away – it’s hard to take that step – especially if you’re not that kind of person but getting it out just relieves some of the pressure. 3. How do you take extra care in looking after your mental health whilst touring and on the road?   Well firstly I don’t drink after every gig. It’s so easy to fall into that habit so I’ve never done it. It’s actually harder to keep you’re mental health in check in between tours when you’re not as busy because when you’re touring or doing promo it’s constantly busy. Generally I try to exercise and make sure I have a routine. 4. Can you tell me a bit about what we can expect from your curation of ‘Therapy Sessions’ in Cork as part of First Fortnight I’ve chosen acts (Tim Chadwick and Fangclub) that I like on a musical and personal level so I think it’ll be a really relaxed and informal night with some great music. This will be my first ‘First Fortnight’ so I’m excited to see what it’s like on the night because I’ve heard great things about the previous events. 5. Is there any particular song or album that you listen to when you’re feeling down?Not really. There’s songs that always make me feel something like We Don’t Eat by James Vincent McMorrow or Fix You by Coldplay. They always make me cry. Music has so much power to change how you feel in an instant whether that’s making you feel happy or making you sad. As a songwriter, I naturally write when I feel any sort of extreme emotion so that would be what I would do if I was feeling bad.