Submitted Photo From left to right, members of the band Raynes are Mark Race, from Durham, England; Mat Charley, from Minot, and Joe Berger, from Mandan.

Mat Charley, a 2009 Bishop Ryan Catholic School graduate and Minot native, is a member of a band that is on its way up.

He and other members of the transatlantic trio Raynes – Mark Race, the lead singer, from Durham, England, and Joe Berger, from Mandan, just signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV. Charley said it is a substantial deal and Sony/ATV is the largest and most influential music publisher in the world.

“It’s really exciting,” said Charley, who said the band is aiming high. “The Sony thing is really just a dream come true. They’re just a massive publisher.”

Sony/ATV also has worked with other well-known artists like Taylor Swift.

The trio Raynes first met with Sony representatives last year, after also meeting with several other music publishers. The publishing deal will enable them to release music under their own name, to write for other artists or for TV ads.

Now they’re in the process of finding a producer, figuring out the best way to release their music.

“We’re just writing all the time, which is what is really important,” said Charley.

The writing process is somewhat complicated since Race is still working to obtain a visa that will enable him to live and work in the United States. But Charley said they have been able to write songs together whether they are in person or communicating across the Atlantic.

“We kind of just send ideas back and forth,” said Charley.

The band blends pop music with folk-style instrumentation. They describe some of their favorite artists as Coldplay, Mumford & Sons, John Mayer, Paul Simon, and Peter Gabriel.

Their general manager is Girlfriend Management, based in L.A.

Charley, one of a family of nine children, has been playing in various bands since he was about 13. He lived in Los Angeles for a time and then returned to Bismarck to attend the University of Mary, where he met Berger, who was also attending school there, about three years ago. They began playing together, performing some of the songs that Charley had written. They wanted a third member of the band and put out a call on the internet for a lead vocalist.

“We ended up finding Mark on Instagram” after an extensive search, said Charley.

After reviewing videos of his performances online, Charley and Berger reached out to Race in England and asked him if he wanted to be part of a band in Los Angeles. They weren’t sure if he would be interested, given the distance, but Race got back to them right away and said he would love to be part of the band.

In recent months they have been in Los Angeles, Nashville, New York and just got back from England a couple of weeks ago. They performed in Race’s hometown of Durham, England. North Dakotans might be familiar with the group since they performed at different venues in North Dakota last year as well.

Charley said they have performed mainly in intimate settings like clubs and bars, but he can imagine one day performing in grander settings.

“We’re really shooting for as high as we possibly can,” said Charley. “It would be great to sell out stadiums and get No. 1s.”

More information about the group can be found on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/raynesmusic or their website at https://www.raynesmusic.com.

(Prairie Profile is a weekly feature profiling interesting people in our region. We welcome suggestions from our readers. Call Editor Mike Sasser at 857-1959 or Regional Editor Eloise Ogden at 857-1944. Either can be reached at 1-800-735-3229. You also can send email suggestions to msasser@minotdailynews.com.)