Don Ryan is a singer/songwriter whose compositions are delectable cocktails of ageless beauty and gritty discord — a hypnotizing blend of classic Americana and gypsy jazz with a more modern, psychedelic-folk sound. This is a brand new spin on old music. Ryan’s landscape of jagged sound stands out against the airier tones of the NYC/NJ folk scene in which he thrives; but as dark as his jumbled and oft-foreboding lyrics can be, his melodies are every bit as resonant. Pre-Pandemic Ryan had planned to release his 3 part epic ‘Warwalking’ consecutively months apart but as we all know, plans change. The epic three part trilogy will conclude with ‘Warwalking, Pt. 3’ on August 4th, 2023 and we can tell you it was worth the wait.
How did the band form and what does the band name mean?
Well, these days I'm pretty much entirely a solo artist. But for this current release, I had a great backing band called The Blank Canvas Movement, which featured some of the best musicians I've ever played with.
The band name can actually be taken a few different ways. On the one hand, it's a cynical joke. I, like many others, had noticed that the world of visual art is so totally full of shit. I went to the MOMA and saw literal, actual blank (or mostly blank) canvases being hyped up as some of the greatest works of art the world has ever known. It was such a joke. So I thought of naming the band The Blank Canvas Movement out of sheer tongue-in-cheek irony, especially when I saw more than a few very popular bands in the world of music who kind of had that same style-over-substance thing going on.
But on the other hand, The Blank Canvas Movement could be seen in a very positive light. I look at my songwriting as a completely open experiment at any given time, and I don't view it through the lens of "rules", like "My solo music has to sound precisely this way or that way". So in that respect, I really do approach my art as a blank canvas.
So the interpretation of the band name is really just a matter of perspective on any given day.
Previous musical projects? How'd you first get into music?
I actually started out as a metal guitarist when I was 12 years old. After seeing my teacher, Dennis Kimak, play for the first time, I was just hooked. And that feeling is still really strong within me to this very day.
I've had a ton of musical projects over the years. I'd say my two favorites from the past are a metal band called Sellout that I formed in the early aughts, and then I took a total 180 turn in the late aughts with a psychedelic group called A Color Engine.
It's great to be able to express myself on multiple different levels. Recently, I've even begun a metal project that's separate from my solo music, and it's an amazing feeling. Kind of like rekindling an old love affair.
First concert that you ever went to?
Ok. Well, I have two answers to the question of what my first show was. The slightly reluctant but totally honest answer was that I saw Debbie Gibson on her Electric Youth tour when I was 7 years old. But after all the laughter that the true story elicits, I usually tell people about my first official show, which was Aerosmith on the Get a Grip tour. In all seriousness, I do really consider that one my first real show. I was much older and able to appreciate the musicianship, and I can vividly recall being absolutely blown away. That was around the time that I started attending shows regularly.
What's your writing process like?
My writing is usually a bit strange, especially when it comes to writing lyrics. As far as the chords or riffs or melodies are concerned, I'll usually just grab my guitar and play around until something catches my ear, and then fine-tune it by recording it into my phone and listening for bits that I think could be improved.
Now, that's the normal part of my process. I think many, if not most, songwriters do something along those lines.
Where things get odd for me is that I consider myself a lyrical collage artist. My lyrics are very unconventional, and often quite trippy. My lyrical process is basically this: I keep a note on my phone wherein I write down anything interesting that I hear or read. Sometimes it's just a word, but most often it's just a little phrase. It could be something I overhear on a bus or on the street, or it could be something a friend happens to say, something I hear on a tv show, or it could just be a quick phrase or two that I've read in a book.
And then what I do is just piece together these little phrases in a way that fits the melody and vibe of the song I'm working on. If the song feels like it needs trippy lyrics, I'll kind of scour my notes for more psychedelic-sounding phrases. If a song needs lyrics that are extremely dark, I'll look around for the darker lyrics.
One would think that this would just lead to pure lyrical chaos, but what actually happens almost all of the time is that there's a lot of meaning conveyed in cobbling lyrics together in this way like a collage. I'm often shocked when I read back my finished lyrics, because they almost always convey what is actually, truly on my mind better than if I had said, "Ok, I'm going to write a song about subject x or subject y." It's very strange and satisfying.
I also just love the art of collage in general. Always have. For the past few years I've actually been doing tons of collage art as a hobby. So I guess my oddball approach to lyricism was just meant to be.
What other artists or songs inspire your music?
Wow. This is always such a tough question, because there are just so many to choose from. Oddly enough, a lot of the artists that have the greatest influence on my solo music is stuff that sounds nothing like my actual music. Stuff like Pantera or Alice in Chains, which are two of my all-time favorites. Lyrically, there's a shocking degree of overlap between my lyrics and some very extreme metal bands. But because I'm usually singing more sweet, smoother melodies, almost no one ever picks up on those influences. It's really pretty hilarious the looks I get when people will see me play an acoustic show and I tell them that the impetus for a given song is some insanely brutal Pantera tune.
What's the live experience like and your philosophy on playing live? Do you think the music live should be identical to the recorded version or should it be it's own thing?
Well, at the moment I'm actually taking a hiatus from playing live and just concentrating on making albums. I'm looking to get into music production as a career, and I figure what better way to really learn the craft than to produce a ton of your own music, as well as the songs of clients.
At some point, I'll definitely make a return to the stage, but for now I'm looking at all my music as more like a Beatles kind of thing. Solely studio projects.
As far as the second question about the philosophy of playing live, that's a really tough one. I think it really depends. Sometimes things need to be extraordinarily tight. Not necessarily identical to the recording, but really, really tight. If I go to see Meshuggah and it's not airtight, it's just going to sound weird and probably awful. But if I'm going to see Queens of the Stone Age, and there's a looser, stonier vibe, then that can be perfect.
Some of the best shows ever have sounded nothing like the recordings. Very late Elliott Smith performances come to mind. He was creating these extraordinarily baroque, layered albums, but was playing them acoustically live. And he was also slowly killing himself with heroin, which is very sad, of course. But in a strange way, the fact that he was falling apart physically and mentally while also singing these songs about falling apart physically and mentally made for some of the best, most heartbreaking and haunting performances I've ever seen.
Has the band toured? What has the touring experience been, best shows?
I've toured a bunch of times, mostly just in the tri-state area. I'd take a week where I'll play shows from New Jersey to New York to Connecticut and back.
The only time I did a more national tour was a few years back when I played South By Southwest. That was an absolute blast! There were some shows that didn't go over incredibly well along the way down there, just because I was playing down south as a "New Yorker". Apparently everyone from the Northeast is a New Yorker to a lot of Southerners! But even those tough audiences could be won over relatively easily by hitting them with a country tune or two. I love David Allan Coe, and boy do they love David Allan Coe down south!
As far as the best shows I've ever played, there are so many fun ones it's hard to choose. The first show I ever sang in public was at CBGB's, just before it closed. That was a trip! I only played Maxwell's once, just before that closed as well. That was such a great night, but it's occurring to me that I may be the kiss of death. Attention all club owners: don't let me play at your venue because I'm probably going to close the place down!
What's up next for the band?
Well, right now I'm putting out Warwalking Part 3, which feels great to finally get out there! I'll be releasing some singles for that record.
And I have another solo record in the works. It'll be a very stripped down, exceedingly depressing record. I was in the darkest place possible when I wrote it, so it'll feel incredible to finally get that one out of my system as well. And then I have some plans for another solo record that's quite different from anything else I've done, so hopefully that'll work out as well as I hope!
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