Published
Name: Kyle Ryan aka Junior Pro
Nationality: American
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Junior Pro's new album, Cool, is out via Easy Does It.
Hometown Recommendations for Nashville, USA: It would probably mostly just be food recs. Burger at ice house, Weak Coffee at Nelson Drumshop, SEC Bagel at Mr Aaron’s. Oops 3 things!
Things I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: I’ve been playing a ton of tennis, but I’m not good enough to talk about it!
If you enjoyed this Junior Pro interview and would like to know more about his music and upcoming live dates, visit him on Instagram.
Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?
I will take notes, words, concepts that sound interesting. But they only panout sometimes. I normally have to let the song tell me what it’s about.
For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?
I had 1 song that I intended to write. But normally I prefer to explore and see what unfolds.
The initial spark can be very delicate, the best of times, a tiny fragment comes all at once, one melody line with some words that are fun to say. I normally don’t understand what they mean, but I can tell they have something behind them, like seeing 20 seconds of movie. I then I just stab in the dark til I figure out the plot.
Once I have a target, it’s normally the home stretch.
Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?
It also comes at the most in opportune time, while I’m with family or about to leave for something. More and more in my old age it normal comes in the morning.
And yes, so many early versions. I am a perpetual rewriter/editor. I have to write the shitty version first.
Most of the songs on the record have a shitty version, that no-one will ever hear.
Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?
Maybe it’s coffee, since ideas normally hit in the morning.
For Cool, what did you start with? If there were conceptual considerations, what were they?
I wanted to think less. My “job” as a producer is normally facilitate someone finding the best version of themselves. It was interesting to apply that to myself.
Step one was to listen without an opinion. If I sang a melody, or said a word. I had to practice listening. No judgement. Why did that word come to mind? Do I also play that chord progression?
Maybe that’s ok, maybe that’s just my voice trying to be heard by me.
Tell me a bit about the way the new material developed and gradually took its final form, please.
I wandered through writing and recording the first, maybe, 5 over the course a year. Bad versions and false starts. Then I started to find some tones and world building that made sense to me and the last few I wrote, "Coq au vin," "Two of us," "SPORTS!," and "Synesthesia" felt smoother.
I was a little gentler on myself in the process..
What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?
I think lyrics can serve a lot functions.
It’s nice to be pulled through a story, but things really get interesting when lyrics take you somewhere, and leave you. I like lines that are unexpected or opaque, where you have to fill-in the gaps. It makes the listener part of the experience.
I also love John Prine cause he’s funny. I really love trying to mix lightness and humor with sadness and honesty. It feels like the most human thing to do.
What are areas/themes/topics that you keep returning to in your lyrics?
Well I wrote a couple that felt self analytical.
"Queen of Never" is definitely a mirror. "Synesthesia" was a crazy experience. That song flowed out in code and I didn’t realize what it was about til I listened back.
When I was more in control I found myself trying to point some of the hilarious shortcomings we all have as humans.
Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?
I suppose I’ve mentioned this already, but it normally starts with flow til I have a direction.
When I’m pointed in the right direction, I can usually find the words. By luck or by force, ha ha.
There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?
I’ve had enough unrealized ideas end up in the world via someone else to believe in the collective consciousness.
The other stuff does appear from somewhere magical, you just hope your not too thick to notice it.
Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece?
Constant refinement. I fixed lyrics of many songs I’ve written after they came out.
I’m pretty proud that hasn’t come up much for Cool. I really combed through it and trusted my own it’s-finished-o-meter.
How do you think the meaning, or effect of an individual piece is enhanced, clarified or possibly contrasted by the EPs, or albums it is part of? Does each piece, for example, need to be consistent with the larger whole?
Hmm, subject matter I suppose, the more perspectives that are spared, the more you feel connected with an artist.
And vibe wise, my favorite records are journeys. Ok computer, the White Album, The Love Below ... just chaos.
I want each song to be its full self.
In terms of what they contribute to a song, what is the balance between the composition and the arrangement (including production, mixing and mastering)?
Technically the song should live on it’s own. I love the flavor of a recording.
And a good instrumental melody is a piece of music too, as much as the trad songwriting community would like to say it doesn’t count.
Music and the accompanying artwork are often closely related. Can you talk about this a little bit for your current project and the relationship that images and sounds have for you in general?
A good music process always leads to a visual for me. So they feel very connected and important.
My dear friend Emory Brown took amazing photos and my wife Mackenzie Moore did the design for my record and singles, she is a genius. I’m very lucky.
After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?
It has been entirely the opposite for me. I feel fuller than ever! I never allowed myself to be myself before this.
I’m already almost done with another record.
I would love to know a little about the feedback you've received from listeners or critics about what they thought some of your songs are about or the impact it had on them – have there been “misunderstandings” or did you perhaps even gain new “insights?”
I haven’t received much analysis or any critiques but I would love to hear them!
People in general have been incredibly sweet and supportive
Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?
I have had some amazing cups of coffee from some very caring people, so I don’t know if one art is above another.
But I know music for me has been a lifelong obsession and an endless curiosity.
