Part 1
Name: Ryan Crosson
Nationality: American
Occupation: Producer, DJ, label founder at Visionquest
Current release: Ryan Crosson's new single "Night Train" is out via Frontier. A full-length album, We Can Only Ever Be Who We Are, will follow on October 27th 2023.
If this Ryan Crosson interview piqued your interest, visit him on Instagram, Facebook, and Soundcloud.
The views of society towards technology are subject to constant change. How would you describe yours?
Technology has never been more present and I think it’s absolutely exciting and interesting.
I will admit since I’ve started a family I’ve become a bit limited in my experimentation with new technology or gear but I think we’re going to see some wild things happen in the next few years. Hopefully that benefits mankind and not only the music industry.
With AI being all the rage at the moment and finding its way into every facet of life it’s going to be interesting how that is leveraged both in a good and bad way.
What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist/ producer?
Without counting a brief dabble with the saxophone in my early teenage years, my first steps came as a DJ. Buying records, listening to DJs and DJ mixes, and going to parties. Seeing how people were DJing first and then picking apart tracks and asking others how it was done.
When I first started making music I wasn’t working with anyone, I was just trying to figure things out on my own. But as I was around more people who were far ahead of my skill set and knowledge, I was able to grow at a faster pace. I was also going to more parties. Hearing music on a loud sound system was so important as it gave me an understanding of the environment where the music might be played.
I still think it’s extremely important to go out and hear music in a live setting and listening to others play in any shape or form is key to development and for reference when something is a work in progress.
One can definitely train or learn to become a producer, you’ve seen it for years, people can learn every technique in the book or just sit on YouTube and go through tutorials. But I think surrounding yourself with others, either one-on-one settings, going out to gigs or having people to at least bounce ideas or mixes off of is pretty crucial to having fun with your passion which will help you grow and have a more rewarding experience.
I’m not saying being a studio rat on your own doesn’t provide fun and focus. But witnessing live music in some sort of fashion keeps you plugged in and always seems to recharge the batteries and motivation.
Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and then becomes increasingly professionalised. How important is playfulness for you today and if it is important, how do, concretely, you retain it?
I think it’s extremely important to not take yourself or your music too seriously at first but even more importantly as you get older in life. Especially if you have zero training and make zero to very little money from your work.
This whole thing is supposed to be fun and the best of you comes out when you’re having fun and when you don’t know the gear inside and out. People will definitely dispute me on this but I think better ideas come from just playing around while better execution comes from knowing your gear inside and out (if that makes sense).
If you’re not having fun and being playful, you’re just reproducing cookie cutter nonsense through a series of techniques. I guess if that’s your idea of fun, each to their own. But maybe one would make a lot of the same music if they just stick to a formula.
When it comes to retaining that playfulness, I think a lot has to do with having tangible machines or instruments to mess around with even if just midi controllers. Even though I do a ton of work on my computer … A TON!
The playfulness, experimentation and best results come out when I start messing around with gear. Even if in the end, I don’t use whatever came out of that gear or instrument. Playing with the gear gets my wheels turning, brings about experimentation, and ultimately gets me excited to be in the studio again which then leads to a result of some kind.
Whether the end result is good or not at that moment is irrelevant. The juices are flowing at that point and something I’m happy with will come eventually as long as I stick with it.
Which other producers were important for your development and what did you learn from them?
I’d say Brian Kage, Lee Curtiss, and Seth Troxler were very important to me early on. Cesar Merveille a bit later down the road.
Brian is one of the creators of Beretta Music in Detroit and I met him when I started hanging out with Seth. Brian was a great mentor who was helping me to learn Ableton at the time and helping me to learn all about the different ways to try and improve my overall sound.
Seth and Lee were my closest friends a few years after I started producing more regularly. Being with them helped things “click” for me so to speak. We lived about 1/2 mile from each other just North of Detroit and we were constantly bouncing ideas off one of another, working together and going out to parties/clubs together.
The most important though was probably Cesar Merveille. My work with Cesar on our DRM and Cerulean albums really taught me how to experiment across genres and bring what was in my mind into being. The DRM project was particularly special because I was going through a difficult time and working with Cesar helped me get my centre back, and focus on what I really wanted to be at that time which was a DJ and music producer.
With Cesar we were never trying to do anything except bring everything we loved about into some form of a track or album. Genres were out the window. Formulas are out the window. Making Cerulean with him and the artists that contributed to the project was one of my favourite experiences when it comes to working in the studio.
How and for what reasons has your music set-up evolved over the years and what are currently some of the most important pieces of gear and software for you?
I’ve always been a gear swapping M.F. If I’m not using it, I tend to want to swap it for something I want to try. While you may lose money here and there if you end up buying something back (only did that once), I’ve never really held on to anything I’m not putting through the paces regularly. I also don’t have a ton of space or a big pocket book to set up and store more and more gear.
I started with a Sony Vaio and Reason back in 2003 and would slowly add pieces here and there. My first piece of hardware was a Roland MC-303, then a Dave Smith MonoEvolver. I eventually sold both of these for a Juno 106 and picked up an SE1X. Those two pieces have been with me the longest.
[Read our feature on the Juno 106]
The SE1X was very present in my music from 2006 - 2011. On my EP with Guti and on my Birds & Souls EP it’s very obvious. From there it was adding this and swapping that.
I’m actually going to swap some gear in the near future to take myself out of the computer again. I haven’t had a “day job” for a long time and for the past few years I’ve been doing the 9-5 at a computer all day and when the day is over the last thing I want to do is sit in front of a screen again (ick). My eyes are not happy with me right now. I think may need glasses soon! Where am I going with this?
Like anyone, I think you get into phases where certain pieces of gear are tickling your fancy more than others and you ride a wave of exploration within that piece of gear. I don’t have a specific piece I feel is more important than the next. My moods change.
Have there been technologies which have profoundly influenced, changed or questioned the way you make music?
Ableton for sure. It’s easy to use, it’s very, very playful and it’s a great gateway drug so to speak when you start out producing music.
It’s a DAW that continues to grow and become even more versatile. It may not sound as great as Logic or PT out of the box but you can move fast and get nice results quickly.
