Rawr is Real: Gawen Head-Allain’s Story of Choosing to Create for a Living
Originally posted on Jot with Jase for a journalism class.
“Sit in the front seat,” Monique instructed her son, Gawen Head-Allain, an up-and-coming music producer. “This isn’t Driving Miss Daisy.” Her colorful interjections punctuated the stream of excited outbursts flowing from Allain about his career changing trip to Atlanta, Georgia. A return to Atlanta, Allain’s hometown, could bring him opportunities in the commercial and film music production industry, but put his DJ dreams on pause. For Allain, choosing creative living was easy, but finding success has proven hard. How does he continue to love his craft when rejection waits at every corner?
Allain’s love for music began with a simple beat. At the age of 9, his mom enrolled him in drum lessons at Firehouse, “the little corner store.” Drumming channeled the restless energy that still characterizes his speech and mannerisms. Shortly after beginning lessons, his family pitched in to buy him his first drum set, which he broke in by aggressively playing Nirvana. Electronic dance music (EDM) did not become part of his repertoire until he moved to France.
After moving from Atlanta to France at age ten, the EDM scene sparked his DJ daydreams. Attracted to the carefree movement and community unified by EDM’s distinctive rhythm, Allain began playing with FL Studio, a digital audio workstation and the first of many production programs. His interest in DJ programs followed him to California where he started making and performing his first mixes at Westmont High School.
Having a nomadic upbringing created a deep bond between Allain and music. He finds solace in music when his constant motion leaves him feeling out of touch. In fact, music has helped him adapt, especially when he relocated to France. “My mom forced me into a soccer summer camp. Kids teased me because I couldn’t speak French. I was noticeably American, and when the cool kid approached me because we both liked Justin Timberlake, I was instantly accepted,” Allain said. Music holds a special place in his heart for the connections it’s fostered, but he struggled with making it his career path.
Moving to California clouded his future with doubt and practicality, temporarily sidelining his love for DJing during his high school years; however with incredible effort by Allain, the acclaimed Berklee College of Music accepted him into their school and he joined the program for Electronic Production and Design. His acceptance made him determined to pursue music as a reality.
Currently Allain DJs under the moniker Rawr. He describes his sound as rooted in ethnic rhythms, which seeks to bring together elements of the present and the past, civilization and nature. His next track, “Animal Kingdom,” featuring underground rapper DEO debuts in the near future. The date remains a mystery due to an additional documentary project on the making of the song presently in production.
While Allain has always loved to DJ, he encountered film sound design by chance. He started to work on films when asked by his roommate turned best friend, Adam Weiss, for assistance on scoring projects. When feeling discouraged in the EDM industry, he explored film deeply, even working as a music intern at Paramount Pictures. Currently he and Weiss are working together on an undisclosed documentary’s score.
Their synergy as collaborators comes from a deep bond as friends. Weiss has seen Allain’s evolution as an artist from freshman year of college to now. “Gawen has not only become more prolific and knowledgeable as a writer and producer, but has explored diverse worlds of sound design, commercials, and film. These ventures show in his style and techniques as an artist. “Gawen has developed a confidence in his music and has discovered his sound, synonymous with his electronic music alias, Rawr,” Weiss said.
Allain reconciles these two passions, DJ-ing and film scoring, by pursuing the bigger picture. With a diverse range of production ability, he dreams of owning his own label. He envisions this label expanding past the, “EDM bubble” he currently strives to break into, to mesh more styles together and to feature them in film and television.
When asked how Allain remains on his path despite the risk and rejection of creating for a living he said, “ I learned and realized I have to write for me. Not for others. Not for fame. Not for a record deal. But first and foremost for me. Because there is always someone out there who will not like your music or [will] critique it. But for every one person on this planet that doesn’t love it. There is someone else waiting to find that next song and they absolutely love my music. That’s why I continue to write.”
