Ryker & The Rise - A New Season of Expression

I’ve been writing music since I was in high school and have played with many bands over the years. But for quite a few years now, I’ve been playing either solo or in a duo when performing my own music. Now, having launched Ryker & The Rise, I feel this music is taking the form it was meant to have.

I’ve always been very groove oriented in my music. When singing around the house, I am very often singing a baseline or beatboxing a drum beat. In my college years, I was often the base/vocal percussionist in a cappella groups. So, the music I write and the way I play is pretty punchy, and having a proper rhythm section feels right on these songs.

As a vocalist, I am drawn to a great melody with a good hook. And placing these songs in the context of a 4-piece band allows those melodies to float along on top of a full texture.

I try to craft a well-thought out arrangement, but Love to feel the interplay between musicians and discover the new directions a song can go each time it is played. I am primarily focused on live shows in this season, and part of what is magical about the live setting are the unexpected twists that come up in the moment. Extended solos, new grooves, and spontaneous melodies are all part of the fun, and happen more often when there are more musicians to play off of. Having highly skilled musicians in the band means we can be really flexible and follow the inspiration of the moment to new places of expression. A 4-piece band feels like just the right size for me. It’s big enough to have a very full sound, but small enough that we can still be spontaneous.

I try to compose songs that are solid regardless of the instrumentation. But even when I’m working on a song, expecting that it will be played solo, I imagine it in the context of a full band. So it has been wonderful to finish a song, bring it to a band rehearsal, and be able to hear it more fully formed. And I think this has expanded my horizon during the writing process.

In short, I’m excited about Ryker & The Rise. It feels like the right setting for these songs and my personal expression. And I feel lucky to have found highly skilled musicians who are also into the music.

The Meaning Behind 'Your Own Brand of Cool'

Last week I released the song, Your Own Brand of Cool. I thought I’d share a bit of what I was thinking as I wrote the song and what it means to me.

On the music video description, I wrote:

This song is a fun celebration of diversity and the variety of perspectives that we all have. An acknowledgment that the way we look on the outside doesn’t have to change who we are on the inside.

And that sums it up pretty well, but to go just a little deeper…

When I wrote this song I was thinking about how much of a connection there is between who we really are as a person and what we look like. Sometimes we want to communicate something to people around us by what we wear and how we style ourselves. But sometimes we just wear what we want because we like it and it’s not really a reflection of a belief or perspective. And then there are some of us who are putting on a style trying to make a statement, but it’s not really representative of who we are on the inside. And none of that even touches on the appearance of our physical bodies, over which we usually have no control.

So with all of those scenarios, does the ‘brand of cool’ we choose really matter? Not as a means to judge someone. The externals are not an accurate way of knowing a person.

So just enjoy what you enjoy and don’t waste energy judging others on what they enjoy.

The song says:

You’ve got your own brand, got your own brand of cool.

I’ve got my own brand, got my own brand of cool too.

You can lay it all out, you can put on the shell you choose.

It doesn’t change what you are, what you’ve got to lose.

By “… You can put on the shell you choose”, I’m bringing up the idea of crustaceans and how they can move to a different shell. So, who we are is not tied to our appearance.

“… What you’ve got to loose”, talks about your treasure. Like, the thing about you that is really valuable is what’s on the inside.

Near the end of the song, I change the chorus lyrics a bit and say, “You’ve got your own brand, got your own point of view.”. I’m trying to say that since we respect each other’s ‘brands of cool’ we should also respect each other’s perspectives.

So the next time you hear the song, maybe it will have just a little more meaning for you. :-)

And if you haven’t heard it yet … Well, now you’ve got more of a reason to go find it on your music service of choice!

Two New Songs Are Out Now

You can find my two newest songs on your music service of choice. I recorded both of these tracks in my own studio and even ended up mastering them myself. They are ‘Time, Time, Time’ and ‘Love Those Summer Nights’. I hope you enjoy listening.

Starting to Record Again

It’s been a long time since my last album. I’ve been focused on live music settings for the last season. But I’ve gradually been getting the itch to record again.  

Last time I made an album we rehearsed the band really well ahead of time and headed down to a nice studio in Eugene (Gung Ho Studio) with a good engineer/producer (Billy Barnet). But I’m approaching things differently this time around.

It’s time to try my hand at recording in my own studio. Actually, I’ve always recorded demos in my own space, but never tried to make music that I’d actually release. But that’s changing now. I’ve been having a lot of fun as I track, mix, and master these first two songs. Rather than waiting until I have a full album of songs recorded, I’m just going to release singles as I get them finished. I’ve got a couple of albums worth of songs written, but I’m just going to plug away at them one at a time. I think I’ll release these first two songs after Christmas. You’ll be able to play them on your digital service of choice, just not in your CD player. :-)

New Song Preview (Turns to Gold)

It’s been great in this last season to have time to focus on my own music more. I started my first new song of 2017 when my wife and I were in Hawaii and she suggested I go with an island or reggae feel. I think it feels good. Here is just an acoustic preview.

It also feels good to be finally getting around to another gig. So, if you’re catching this post before Friday (2/24/17), then come hang out at Imagine Coffee at 7PM. I’ll be playing this song as well as some other new material.

Priorities

It’s good to stop and evaluate priorities every once in a while. It’s so easy to stay busy just doing what’s in front of you. But are they the best thing to be investing in? Maybe they were the best thing in the last season, but is that still the case? Everyone’s answer will be different. We all have different interests, skills, and goals.

I recently did some reevaluating and realized there are some things that I really care about, but haven’t gotten to in a long time. So I made some steps to simplify life a bit, and have been feeling the difference this last month.

I have finally gotten the chance to play some of my own music again! I had several good practice sessions over the last couple of weeks and I’m looking forward to being able to book a show pretty soon. I’ve changed several songs to piano instead of guitar. I think they sound really good that way and will bring some more variety to sets. But it also created some technical problems with how to trigger loops and effects. I think the geeky tech stuff is behind me now and I can just focus on the music. Yay!