Matthew Ryan

“I'm going for my Phd., so to speak. I plan on doing this as long as I'm breathing,” said songwriter Matthew Ryan when the interviewer (me) noted his heavy baggage of 12 albums in 13 years. “I honestly feel like I'm just getting started.,” he continued. “I believe through every stage in my growth I've done some really good work. I'm always shooting for the stars, and that's made for some swings and misses. But that's how it goes ya know? You gotta be willing to fail in order to succeed.” 

For Ryan’s latest record, Dear Lover, for which he’ll stop in Fort Wayne to play a show in support of, he took a different approach. Not quite the mad genius/outcast-locked-in-the-basement vibe of say, a 70s Todd Rundgren, but something in that ballpark.

“There were many moments while making Dear Lover that felt more like making Moby Dick than it did making music,” Ryan explained when asked about this, his first sans band record. “I was determined to make the purest music I could without compromising the record sonically because I was making it at home. I wanted it to be intimate, honest and cinematic.”

All songwriters seem to get to this point. Maybe it’s the groupies and nagging journalists and road fatigue or maybe it’s just the simple need to make the work as personal as possible. Ryan, despite missing his mates and the shared energy element that goes along with the full-band recording approach he’s used to, found much success in his new approach.

“I love the process of making a record with friends and musicians - the gang tackle approach to music,” he explained. “But driving the process solo was something I always wanted to do as long as the end result felt special. I persevered and feel strongly that I accomplished my goals with Dear Lover. The process was like being a photographer with the ability to move the landscapes and sunlight to what the scene needed. It required a lot of patience and as much objectivity as I could gather.”

One could easily argue that the self-editing approach, while noble in art terms, is a pocked road to travel. But, listening to Dear Love, one will learn that, for Ryan, this is just another moment of artistic growth. Dear Lover is a great record. As great of a Ryan album as this writer has heard and surely one the artist seems content with. A triumph that’s both personal and universal in its effect.

“The minute I say what the circumstances were that inspired this record, I make the record specifically about me,” Ryan said when asked about the purposefully vague press release his label sends out with promo packages. “Nothing that I've experienced is unique, I just have the ability to put words, music and a melody to it. I don't make confessional music, I'm trying to find the beauty in those struggles of being men and women that often daunt us.”

Groundedness, a good trait to have when writing songs. But oh yes, there’s more …

“It's my feeling that one of the most important jobs of the arts is to vividly describe the struggles in the dark and light of our humanity. Hopefully there's some truth, redemption, comfort, beauty and encouragement in there. By having these conversations with ourselves that the arts offer, we have the ability to avoid some of the real darkness that living can bring. Dear Lover is a true love story that tries to close the chasm that often develops between us. The themes on the album are for everyone, the plot is for anyone. My voice, or my choices in chords or production may not be for everyone. But the stories are.”

Solid. Thoughtful. Rational. Such is Ryan. And not just in things art. In business, too.

“My publicist Monica [Hopman] and I have worked together for years. Both of us, in different ways, have often found ourselves and our careers at the mercy of what a label was willing or not willing to do. With the way the music business is headed, we felt it was time to try and design a more stealthy, agile and equitable approach for all involved,” Ryan explained when asked about his new approach to releasing his music.

“Our mode is to respect the traditional means of reaching listeners, but to also fully engage the social aspects of music online and encourage listeners to be our most meaningful advocates. We're ambitious, and our goal is to grow our careers, but be smart about how and where we spend money. In it's simplest terms, our goal is to allow each album at least a year of meaningful, hard earned awareness building. We're not anti-marketing, but ideally everyone who is introduced to Dear Lover will feel welcomed rather than sold. We strongly believe that, beyond offering great music, genuine advocacy is possibly the second most important element to music's relevance in people's lives.”

And, if the attendance at his shows are any indication, Ryan’s work is finding much influence in people’s lives these days.

“I love touring. Even much more these days because more and more people are actually coming out to my shows,” Ryan, who will take the CS3 stage on February 5, said. “The travel can get a bit rough at times, but I take pretty good care of myself so it's alright. There's nothing in the world quite like those nights where there's just an energy about the room and we all start floating. It's this growing relationship with listeners that's part of what continues to pull me forward.”

In addition to touring, Ryan finds other ways to reach out to fans, even posting on his own message board, interacting with fans. Most recently he, along with Hopman, put together a music video involving fans. “Monica and I were talking about Flat Stanley [a character from a children's book] for some reason. Probably having to do with her daughter. And one thing led to another and we started laughing about Flat Matt because I get so many requests to play shows nearly everywhere in the world. And honestly, it's just not always possible.”

Hopman and Ryan then decided to send out a Flat Stanley version of Ryan to fans, asking them to take photos around their town with paper cut-out.

“Monica assembled the pictures from listeners then made the video. I think it's charming and funny. It's important not to take one's self too seriously in anything we do. And believe me, that's something I've had to work on because the nature of my work is pretty serious. We really just hoped people would like it as much as we did and that seems to be the case.”

And they did. Two local Fort Wayne music scene figures in particular appreciated it. Sean Smith, working with Little Brother Radio’s Rich Lee, apparently loved the new record so much that he and Lee decided to bring Ryan back to town - the second time the duo have booked the songwriter.

“I remember almost everything about that first Fort Wayne show. It was one of my favorite shows on that Midwest tour,” Ryan recalled when asked about his most recent trip to the Fort. “I remember being struck by how welcome we all felt and how nice the Fort Wayne people were that we met.

“I'll be solo this time,” he continued. “Which I love doing because it offers a unique intimacy with an audience.”

Fitting, considering the nature of the record he’ll be here to promote … nay, celebrate.

Written by G. William Locke