Genre-defying. A man of mystery. Meet Allan Rayman. 
Currently residing in Toronto, the man of few words who let’s his music do the talking has begun to step out from the shadows. It’s hard to place Allan. His music is something new – something original – that many are having trouble categorizing. That may be one of the many reasons we’re all so fascinated by this guy. Allan is something we’ve never really heard before. In his exclusive interview with Billboard, he opens up about his vision and where he’s headed.
The Allan Rayman story that has been drawn up is about two years old now, it was really just for me. I pinch myself all the time because I never intended to be here. It’s surreal. Now it’s about not losing my head in all this epic stuff.
Let’s bring it back for a second. Allan Rayman released his very first music video on October 30th, 2014. “Beverly” was the world’s first interaction with Rayman along with his now ever-present, alter-ego, Mr. Roadhouse.
What soon followed was an intricate storyline consisting of additional mysterious women wearing wolf masks, moody environments, and the ability to make us viewers wanting more. It wasn’t until a full year had passed that Allan dropped his debut album, Hotel Allen. In his Billboard interview, Allan explains his overall vision and how he’s able to release his projects however he wants.This whole storyline is here and now I just release these albums in whatever kind of order I want to fulfill that. I know I had to stick to the development of these characters that I’m portraying throughout the story and show that there’s an evolution of Allan, especially with Mr. Roadhouse, this alter ego that I’ve created. Whoever has been listening, it’s giving them more to sink their teeth into, but for newer people, I want to show this torment between someone who’s trying to balance personal desires in life – even though you want to give all your time to your profession you’ve got to give yourself to the people that love you as well. It’s balancing that, and ultimately Allan can’t do that. He creates Mr. Roadhouse to kind of justify his selfish and dickish behavior in a sense – put it all on him. It’s a dark story and I don’t know if the ending is going to be dark or light yet, I haven’t figured that out. But I want people to be concerned about this guy, because it’s a heavy thing to fully invest yourself in your passion.
If that didn’t convince you to get on board with this guy, we’re not sure what will! ^ maybe that 😉 Allan’s ability to weave a good story is present throughout his entire body of work and that’s exactly why we were SO excited when he released this vid on his YouTube page:
That’s right, his sophomore album, Roadhouse 01, just dropped on Friday, Feb. 24th and it’s been on constant rotation ever since. Have a listen yourself and get lost in the narrative that Allan so expertly crafts – diving deeper into the mind of Mr. Roadhouse.Allan Rayman – Roadhouse 01
If you want to hear him try something out acoustically, check out his CBC First Play Live session here. It’s incredible how easily he can control a room with his voice. Check out Allan Rayman on Insta & Twitter for some quality aesthetic.
limited edition red roadhouse 01 vinyl available here: https://t.co/lqa0l6lcRJ pic.twitter.com/umUQg8PAye
— roadhouse (@allanrayman) March 1, 2017
Let us know what you think about Allan Rayman in the comments below, or tweet us @umusic.