Matthew Ryan

Matthew Ryan’s concerned with the “unprecedented static” we all face. The invasive technology and media that currently shape (or even dictate) our lives. Of course, he’s actually embracing some of that technology for his latest electronic-infused record – Dear Lover – but the subject matter and the purpose behind his art is actually hoping to find meaning in the middle of the digital mess.

Thus the Nashville songwriter continues to create album after album of meaningful music, this one on the coattails of perhaps his best yet, Matthew Ryan Vs. The Silver State. After such a triumphant, emotional full-band record, it’s interesting his next move was to completely isolate himself creatively and develop textures never before heard on a Ryan record. Yet as he tells us, it’s about getting better at your craft, staying true and honest, and hoping the world catches on a few at a time.

In some pre-interview banter, Ryan speaks of how busy he is and it’s that jumping off point that our latest conversation with the songwriter begins.

SSv: You say you’re really busy lately so what’s comprising most of that?

Matthew Ryan: Monica and I have started this company. I’m self-releasing, but it’s an ambitious self-release. We’re doing a lot of work and it just takes a lot of work to get people to give your music a chance. It’s not where I’d like to be and it’s not where I dreamed I would be, but it’s where I am. I still believe in my work, but I just have to work five times harder.

SSv: Did it get easier after Silver State?

Matthew: You know, I have a strange career developing. [Laughs] I’m in a weird headspace right now, so I don’t want to be cryptic. Every record has made it easier, but I still haven’t reached my goals. I don’t know what it will look like when I reach my goals, but I do know what they are. So I find myself in a perpetual state of work to try and make the life that I’m dreaming about real. I mean, I’m better off than I was but there’s still so much work to do.

SSv: The life you’re dreaming about – can you define that?

Matthew: Oh, man, I saw an interview with Bob Dylan recently and he said it’s best to keep those types of things to yourself. [Laughs]

SSv: Is that a way to quote Dylan and get out of answering that question? [Laughs]

Matthew: Yeah. [Laughs] No, in the past, I’ve always been very verbal and would verbalize what I have in mind. But all I can say is that I haven’t reached the places I want to reach and it’s my life’s work to reach them. That plays out in a lot of ways in our lives from the ethereal to the brick and mortar parts.

SSv: Can you tell us about this new company?

Matthew: It’s called the Dear Future collective. Monica is my publicist and we’ve worked together for a bunch of years. We finally decided it was time to just… it’s not a label per se, but it’s more a collaborative effort to define how we make a living from the work that we do. We’re committed to each other intellectually and financially to do this. My goal would be to find a deal for myself that actually works in my best interest and also the best interest of the company, where the realities of living for both Monica and I are both respected and taken care of, but also to reach the goals that I won’t discuss as an artist.

My goal as far as the company goes would be to define how it can work for an artist today and then to be in a position to welcome other artists into it. That’s going to be a process. In other words, I want to engage other artists with what we’re doing. It takes a particular kind of work ethic and artist to do what we’re doing.

SSv: Do you have artists in mind for that sort of thing?

Matthew: No, not really. I mean, I’d have to like it. I think it’s important that you only commit yourself to things that you love. In some ways, capitalism has had an effect on the arts. When I say an effect, I think it’s implied that it’s a negative effect. [Laughs] Not to say that people shouldn’t make a living, you know? But I do think there is a danger in the system. It’s harder to market things that are complex or emotionally intelligent. I don’t know why that is, but it tends to be the case.

I think only one success of real art every year is a crime. Essentially that’s what we get, one success story a year where something meaningful really breaks through in competition with entertainment – and there is a difference.

SSv: Do you feel that Silver State was successful?

Matthew: Well, it definitely wasn’t a fall back. I love that record. I think it was successful. People responded to it. It grew my audience and I think it reestablished what some people thought. Above all, I just think it was a pure and honest record. You hope that by doing work like I do that it will attract people to you because it’s hard to market something pure and honest in a market that requires hyperbole and fashion. The exact moment that white sunglasses and tight neon t-shirts…

I’ve just never been able to operate based on those standards. I just want to attract people with each record and I’ve been able to do that, which MRVSS being one of the most successful ones to do that. Hopefully Dear Lover will do that as well.

SSv: Did the response to Silver State feed into Dear Lover at all?

Matthew: I wish I could say that it did. I look at records like making a film; I’m documenting a lifetime through my records. Because I look at it that way, the themes dictate the air. So that question is a strange one. To me it means, ‘If I were to take the successes of MRVSS and make another record, would it sound like MRVSS or something?’ That’s how I take that question. But I never want to do that. I want to grow and don’t want to do the same thing. I measure myself by the songs that I’m writing. If they’re good and useful songs. Then you have to also honor the songs and what they want to be.

So I would say rather than a response to MRVSS, the question should be about whether or not I’m growing. And I feel that I am.

SSv: The songs tell you what they want to be, so was it weird to have songs beckoning for drum programming and electronic backdrops?

Matthew: Well, two things there. First it was functional because my decision was to make this record alone. I didn’t want to fall back on just the stripped down folk record. These songs were acoustic at first and I will release that at some point. These songs are strongest at their most elemental. But man, there’s a part of you that wants to be excited by what you’re doing and I think the underlying theme of this record is as humans and loverss, we’re moving through unprecedented static. So thematically, the static is always present in these songs.

Those sounds – the icy sounds and static high hats – act out the environment that I believe we currently live in. Hopefully, it’s beautiful. Hopefully, it adds meaning to these things for people. That’s what these songs are about. “We Are Snowmen” could be performed solo acoustic, but I wanted to add meaning to try to tell a better story, to set the table for the whole cinematic experience, for better or worse.

SSv: Are you more excited about these songs because they are so different?

Matthew: I’m always excited about songs that I write, to be honest. There’s a tremendous amount of hope that comes with that communication. I wouldn’t say that I’m more excited about this record than any other except that I do feel that I’m getting better at saying my case.

SSv: You mean lyrically?

Matthew: Yeah, lyrically. I think it’s important. There’s plenty of entertainment out there – maybe too much – but there’s something about trying to take the conflict of living and the times that we live in and trying to make it useful or beautiful. I don’t care what anybody says, we’re living in unprecedented static. For instance, last night I’m watching the YouTube simulcast of U2 at the Rose Bowl and half the people are documenting the show with camera phones. The minute you’re trying to capture it in a picture, you lose the moment – as if the moment will mean more four hours from then. We need to get more engaged in the moment, is what it sounds like to me.

Tagged as: electropop, Nashville, singer/songwriter

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