Photo: Contributed - rannberry.com

He is multi-talented…personable and a visionary…and he is a Kelowna son!  Ladies and Gentlemen…Mr. Rann Berry.
I had the great pleasure of interviewing Mr. Berry over the Internet. 

Bruce: Let’s begin with a brief history of Rann Berry, the musician…plus talk about “Rann Berry and The Random Act”, which is a great name by the way…obviously it alludes to a concept.

Rann:  Yeah, years ago our band was often not able to book a potential gig because one or two of the members weren’t available. I decided to recruit two or three of each player (drummer, bassist, keyboardist, horn players etc ) and changed the name of the band from “ The Corvairs “ to “The Random Act”.  These days I can book the band without checking to see who’s available.  All the players know the set list, so if one can’t do a gig, in comes another member. We’re also able to perform in a number of different line ups ranging from a lounge duo to a 4 or 5 piece rock band, and up to an 8 piece funk / R&B band with a 3 piece horn section thanks to our current roster of 15 players. Having different line ups also keeps things from getting too predictable. 

Bruce: How long have you had this outfit going?

Rann:  I played in 2 earlier bands, Wild Kingdom and The Corvairs, with four of the current band members for about the last 20 years, but the Random Act Band,  and the multiple member idea is about 4 years old.                                                                    

Bruce: Do you compose and write original material for this group?

Rann: No, not with this group, although most of us do have original side projects on the go.

Bruce: Any further ambitions with “…The Act”?  Or are you satisfied with gigging locally?

Rann:  Actually, we do travel a bit for the occasional out of town gig.  As far as other ambitions go, we are currently working on two Las Vegas style theatre shows  featuring the full 8 piece band.   We’re planning on performing the show at The Kelowna Community Theatre this coming August 10th …..The show is called; “Rann Berry and the One Hit Wonders (Songs you forgot you love )  with Diamond Jones… And a trip down the Vegas Strip”

The Visionary aspect at work! Combining his love of playing and performing with theatre style shows, something that will enrich the musical experience along the way.  Now-a-days, Rann can be seen as a ‘duo’ on certain nights, and then? A full-fledged “Showband”.  The Vegas show, upcoming at the Kelowna Community Theatre, will prove to be a fantastic musical experience…

We continued our interview talking about his other talents and business sense:

Bruce: Now, let’s move on to the business side of things:  Rann, you operate two music related businesses…Lake Audio and Ocean Recording Studios.  In regards to Lake Audio…it seems to be more related to media Advertising for all media…

Rann: Yes, Lake Audio is an advertising / marketing business which has been primarily writing and producing ads for radio and television since 1992. We also produce music for websites, video, and record narration for audio books and self help CDs.

Bruce: Being involved in copywriting, Voice-overs and music for commercials…it takes a lot of creative energy.  So, obviously you tap in to the rich musical community of Kelowna…  

Rann: Oh yeah, the studio musicians, vocalists and voice over professionals in the interior are amazing.  These people are a major part of the successes we’ve had over the years.                                                 

Bruce: Do you involve yourself and/or the Company in National and International markets? 

Rann: We currently produce ad campaigns for local, regional and national markets.  Producing an ad that airs internationally is always a goal, but there is of course major competition in landing those accounts.  We’ve been fortunate to land a few.

Bruce:  Please tell us more about your sister company: Ocean Recording Studio…is it a full fledged recording facility? Do you offer Management? How about a label?

Rann: Ocean Recording Studio is basically a side project of mine. We have a full recording facility here at Lake Audio, so I occasionally use it to help singer/songwriters record demos. We have a great group of studio musicians available to help with recording projects, but I’m not in the business of providing management or a label. 

Bruce: It seems with everything that you are involved in, you must feel very comfortable and able to fulfill your Creative needs…with that being said…do you still have any aspirations in forming a Recording and Touring entity?

Rann: Well, in a way. I’d say my main focus or aspiration right now is producing shows for theatre audiences, and hopefully touring with them as well. These shows won’t feature any original music at this point, but the ideas we’re working on are really exciting and the band is working hard to put on a very entertaining night of music and fun.

Bruce: Would you be so kind and leave us with some thoughts of the future in Kelowna, music wise?

Rann: I’ve always been amazed at the amount of talent here. There are so many great musicians and bands to enjoy.  I’d like to say a BIG thank you to the handful of Restaurants, Pubs and Clubs  that support live music.  Without these venues, there is no music scene.  I believe performing live is how modern musicians will make their living. That, and selling Swag at gigs. 

So music lovers ,  pay that cover charge, buy a t shirt and keep live music alive !

As one can see, Rann Berry has a passion for music and playing live…he also has a passion for those that make up the music community in the Kelowna area.  He supports this community and is supported by the larger community with his businesses.  As is with most musicians, everything that we put our hands and minds to is full of zeal!

Thanks Rann for taking time to converse with me, even though it was through email…the passion shone through!