Riun Garner is a musician, songwriter, actor and director living and working in Vancouver, BC.
He was on I Digress to discuss his latest release "Nice To Meet Ya" which you can listen to on Spotify.
Check it out!
Riun Garner is a musician, songwriter, actor and director living and working in Vancouver, BC.
He was on I Digress to discuss his latest release "Nice To Meet Ya" which you can listen to on Spotify.
Check it out!
Riun Garner - I Digress
Run Garner: [00:00:00] My name is Ryan Garner. It's spelled r i u n. So a little different than, you know, the typical Ryan. I'm from Vancouver, BC and I'm a singer songwriter. I make alternative folk music and I'm also an actor and director. And yeah, I'm in, I'm into a lot of different creative fields.
Pam Haasen: Yeah. Nice. A man of a man of many talents.
So where am I speaking to you from? Are you in Vancouver?
RG: Yes. Yeah, I'm well. I'm born and raised in Vancouver and I live there currently.
PH: Yeah, it's a very tidy apartment that you have as well. Try to do my
best
RG: for you today. Yeah,
PH: that's nicely done. Okay, so in your bio, you mentioned influences that you have such as Whitney and Elliot Smith, and I feel like I hear especially a lot of Elliot Smith in songs like, Summer and Smoke.
And what are the other songs on your ep? All we know and All We Forget. So what's your experience with writing truthfully [00:01:00] about human experiences such as, you know, great love and
RG: despair? Elliot Smith was obviously like a huge inspiration for me when I first started playing music and. It's been a while since I've kind of gone back and really dove into his catalog when I was first just like consuming it like crazy.
But, you know, in the beginning I, you know, I was just trying to write songs and that was always just a great sound. I really resonated with that and, and so I always wanted to explore that in my own life. And of course, I think with songwriting it's just like the more you write, the more you uncover. And I think.
It's just maybe that it's ingrained from this like earlier time of, you know, when I was really, really consuming music differently. I think like as, as we get older, we listen to music differently, but those really early influences I think stick with you and kind of form, for me anyway, this foundation of the type of music that has just come out and [00:02:00] stuff on the EP yet, it's definitely more somber.
Mm-hmm. And, and reflective and, and that was the idea anyway. You know, that was definitely more of like a, Like my, you know, intimate Elliot Smith kind of album. I mean, he has a great record, a Roman candle, his very first record that's probably my favorite. And, and that was, you know, all done on tape and it was done at home.
And there's a lot of cool stories around it about how he didn't wanna release it and then it got out there. And so, you know, I recorded that record, the first EP on onto tape to kind of have. Pull from those inspirations.
PH: Yeah. And so about using tape, I guess, and kind of doing things a little more analog, would you think that you, like, are you a producer first?
Is that kind of like where your first interest in getting into music was? Or were you a singer-songwriter first?
RG: Yeah, definitely singer-songwriter. I've not, you know, I've, I've definitely done a little bit of recording stuff, but it's really only been to get an [00:03:00] idea down. Mm-hmm. But. And I think that's what's really taken me, you know, time to be able to finally put music out there for so long.
It was about, well, how do I even record this and how do I get it to where, you know, how I want it to sound? And it hasn't been until the last, like few years that I finally found a really supportive and collaborative group of, of other creatives that. Really can help realize that. So yeah, for so long I was really just a, a songwriter and recording on my phone.
Mm-hmm. You know, having like little voice memos and then, but you know, I have a tape player and it's just nice to look, I'm looking at it right now. It's nice to look at. Nice. And
PH: we, is it like an old, is it an old Morant or something like that?
RG: It's like a, in a chi machine. It's this. Okay. Yeah. Thing.
And we did use it on, on, on my ep, but. You know, had the help from, to get going. Now it's just a nice piece of artwork or, or something. And living in the apartment.
PH: I [00:04:00] know I have a couple cameras like that where I'm like, Pam, if you're not using these, like you, like don't become a collector this young in age.
Like you gotta, like, you gotta use it. If you're gonna have it, you have to use it.
RG: Maybe one day, we'll, we'll pick. Got that camera or the, you know.
PH: Yeah, I know you always think you will, but also too, some of it just looks so pretty and like if it's still wor, like if the tape player works and you can plug it in, it's like the warm glow of the lights.
Like, I've got this like beautiful old tape player and it's just the prettiest thing to turn on and it feels so alive when
RG: it's on. Yeah. The little dials are moving and, oh, yeah. Yeah. No, it is, it's, it's really cool. I and we, you know, I. I think I'm straying away more from, from doing tape stuff, just cuz the logistics of it is really a pretty big undertaking.
Yeah. You know, for the ep we ran everything through the tape and so we really didn't, it was easier in that sense cuz we, you know, it was like, well, what we put through it is what we got. Right. Which, which made for more of a, a natural, [00:05:00] you know, performance and mm-hmm. How he wanted the. Songs, you know, it wasn't, we didn't want it to be too edited.
Yeah. But you know, there's obviously a way to put stuff into the tape and chop it up and still edit it, and it's just like, it's a whole other. It's a whole other headache, you know?
PH: So what do you think are some of the maybe unifying factors in your music? And I guess, I mean like sonically, like you're talking about like using tape.
I think that like if I can kind of suggest some things that I hear in it, it's that there is a real warmth to it. A lot of your music sounds like it's made in the summer. I don't know if that's true. It's just the weather I would associate with, or the season I would associate with it is summer and like end of summer.
But yeah, like thematically or collaboratively or sonically, what do you think are the unifying factors of, of your sound? Or have you figured that out yet?
RG: Well, definitely for this record, it's, and especially I think as it went on and in writing, cuz some of the songs were a older songs that I had, you know, written a few years ago and then some, some more recent and we did record it in the [00:06:00] summer.
So, you know, not wrong there, but you know, I, I think. Yeah, as it went on it, the way we, you know, I started looking at the record and then again, my other collaborators, you know, producer and everything, you know, we, it almost seemed like the record was, you know, it's kind of becoming this kind of like, almost like a mixed tape in a sense, and something you'd find like at a vinyl record store or something.
Mm-hmm. Or in an attic. And I did wanna. Make it as timeless sounding as I could and like it was an old vinyl or something. So tape was a huge thing that I. From the very beginning, you know, I wanted to work with tape again, and a lot of pieces in the record were run through tape and like the piano and guitars and stuff like that, and there's just something indescribable about it, but you feel it, you know, listening to tape.
It's just, there is that warmth, quality and, [00:07:00] and just like a nostalgic feeling, which yeah, I think worked well also with just the content of songs and, and what the songs were about. This longing and nostalgic. You know, themes and, you know, thinking about my life and, and people that are in my life or passing out of my life.
So all, all those elements kind of came together that I think worked, you know, helped support each and each and every one of them.
PH: Yeah. It's funny that you say like a mix tape, because written down on my next question was, what's your approach to making a killer playlist or, and then have slash have you ever made a mixtape, like from records to tape before?
RG: Like, like a, like an actual mix tape. Like to
PH: tape? Yeah. Like, so, so what's your approach to making killer playlist one? And then secondly, have you ever made a mix tape for someone?
RG: Yes, definitely made mix tapes, but more like tape, you know, wasn't really, I mean, I was doing more like CDs, you know, mix. Oh, you're, yeah.
PH: Burned
RG: CDs. Yeah. Big into burning CDs. [00:08:00] That was a big, big thing. Me too. You know, you put the marker on there and everything. It's so, I, yeah, I've definitely done that for friends and, you know, family and myself. I'd make a bunch and, but yeah, making music, you know, as though I'm not, I'm not listening to it.
I think the same as I was as a, as a, when I was younger. I know that when I listen to music, that's really what I think inspires me to write songs. So when I'm making playlists, you know, I'm always trying to, it, it's not that I'm looking, it's just that, you know, if, if something really catches me, I'll, I'll put that in a playlist.
Mm-hmm. And, you know, a, a playlist to me will become this kind of inspiration, mood board in a way. Yeah. And yeah, I don't make a ton of playlists. It's, but. There's usually almost like one or two songs even that I'll just keep coming back to that I'll get really stuck on for a while. Yeah, and, and like you were saying, like Whitney and Alex g mm-hmm.
And some of like, these, those guys like, I, I've just [00:09:00] been so obsessed, especially for this record, but even looking at, like, of course I was looking at Elliot Smith again and yeah, like some older stuff as well, but. Phoebe bridges like a little bit, even though it's not like really like that. But there's definitely things in those songs that are so captivating and songwriting is so good.
And there's elements like trying to pull little bits and pieces and inspiration from a lot of places, you know? Mm-hmm. And then trying to make it my own.
PH: When do you feel like you're in the mood to write music? Like night or day? Like do you have like a time, like do you feel like there's a time where like you feel the most creative or you feel the most kind of like focused?
RG: I think generally with anything creative, nighttime for me is time. You know, I, I think I, it's, I've definitely heard this before from other people, but I totally agree that it's like there's no distractions and you know, it's so calm and even like living in Vancouver and I live close to downtown, [00:10:00] and so during the day there's traffic, you know, it's heard.
Yeah. At night it's just totally quiet and I'm able to kind of get into, The zone. I guess that's where I find ideas can come to me. I'm not, again, not thinking too much about it, just picking up a guitar and, and seeing what comes from that. I also like being alone personally. Yeah. You know, I live with my girlfriend, so sometimes like just being on my own again, I don't feel like too self-conscious.
Because usually when I'm playing, like I'll usually start by humming and then maybe the humming will turn into words and then all of a sudden a few words will turn into a sentence and I go, oh, I don't know where that came from. But that actually, then it might connect with something and then that ends up turning into something.
It's very like weird. I remember, you know, when I, I would try to like write a song and that just has never worked for me. Yeah. And so I've never tried to put pressure on myself about. You know, oh my God, I haven't written a song in [00:11:00] months. Or I gotta write
a
PH: solid gold hit like tonight. Yeah.
RG: And I, you know, it's incredible.
Like if, for people that can write every day and you know, right. There's a thing to that someone who just sits down and writes every day and, but for me, that's, it's just too much pressure for me. It's, it's music is, is not that, that for me it's, it's, it's something that I, I want to keep doing and, and, and do it as a career, but it's something that, I think that part puts like a weird like business thing on it for me.
Yeah. And I still want it to be super authentic and just like if I, if a song comes out, it comes out and so I'm not sitting on like so many songs like Chris Martin or something. I think he like writes hundreds and hundreds of songs and then pairs it down to like, you know what a Coldplay album would be.
Yeah. Just like I write a few songs and those songs. Typically are actually very meaningful and special to me. And then I, I just end up taking those and, and, and then working with, [00:12:00] you know, a guitar player and, and my producer and we, you know, form those into, into what is on this record and kind of what I'm working on now.
And yeah.
PH: So what is your band mean? Like, who are you collaborating with and what, who's in your band?
RG: So the, yeah, the last year has been building the band, but the record. It's, it's my band's not playing on the record. Okay. Yeah,
PH: that's what I
RG: was gonna, okay. Yeah. More of a live thing. But, but Tyler Patterson, he is my guitar player and, and collaborator.
And we've been also writing a lot now too, so. And, and he also worked on the ep. So when there's like two guitars going, it's him and and me playing at the same time. And cuz we recorded that all live. And then, and he plays a lot of, you know, he plays piano. So on, on the record, he, there are some songs where he plays piano, but then we also got another piano player in there, Andrew.
And then our, my producer David Vertesi, who's in Ha. [00:13:00] Ocean. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. And he's also a singer songwriter, incredible songwriter. Mm-hmm. Just going under his own name, but he, he produced the record and mixed it. And then, yeah, we, we had another drummer, different drummer, Johnny Andrews. He's fantastic.
He's like, Incredible. And plays on every, like, so many different people's
PH: thing. I was just gonna ask you, so how many like albums and bands does he play in? Because I know that with drummers, they're like instantly they can never just be in one
RG: band. No, no. He's like, he's like a, a session guy, you know? Oh, that's cool.
Like recently, I know he's, he's been working with Haley Blaze, who's fantastic, who's out of Vancouver, and, and also Dave has been working with her and he's worked with, oh my gosh. Who, who else? I dunno, the names are escaping me right now, but mm-hmm. It, it's a lot, a lot of different, a lot of, he travels a lot too, but we were lucky to have you played on the record and, and then yeah, David played bass and everything.
But anyway, it's, it's getting, yeah, [00:14:00] there's, there's a small crew that, you know, worked on the, the record, but as we've been playing live, I think I have like, there's like five of us that are kind of like the, the core and Tyler is one of those people and Yeah. And others, so, Yeah. I don't, I, I think I strayed away from the question, but
PH: No, that's okay.
And in fact, I, I don't totally remember what my que Oh, I think it was who you're playing Yeah. Who you're playing with and, and, and yada yada. But I guess I just wanna kind of talk about like, so this is gonna Aaron Smithers, but it's so cool when people know like, Our radio station here, we do just like to, especially provincially, like celebrate as many BC artists as possible.
So, nice to meet you. Your album, you're having a release party for it on June 22nd. So I guess could you just kind of, just walk some people through just like, I guess the ma like the making of the album and, and also too just kind of what you feel you've actually, what you feel that you've encapsulated with this, with this album.
RG: Yeah. Well, [00:15:00] yeah, so my album Nice to meet you. It's, it's gonna come out on, on June 23rd. And yeah, I'm doing a, an album release party where we'll playing the, the whole record live at the Fox Cabaret in Vancouver, which is gonna be so fun. And David Vertesi, my producer, he's also playing the show. And cool.
We're gonna have Kylie v, who's incredible musician. They just opened for men I trust. Oh, really insane. I love men. I trust, I love them. Yes. So good. And I mean, this record is like, it's been years of wanting to make a record and it's hard to make music, not only just writing songs, but also just to physically get it made.
Yeah. And, and for me, it, it was always hard to find. People to help me make it. You know, as I was saying you know, I, I wasn't able to record it myself and then I, you know, I've tried to record with other people and it just didn't feel right or didn't, you know, sound exactly how I wanted to, and I. Since I really started playing [00:16:00] music, which was like probably 10 years ago.
Mm-hmm. I've always wanted to make a record and it was really nice to make an ep. But yeah, and I don't know, you know, people aren't really listening necessarily to records. I feel like anymore, like I've had so many conversations about that and, but there's something I think to be said about making a record and, and I wanted, it's always been like a, you know, bucket list thing for me.
Oh, so
PH: you have like a, you have like, you have vinyl records. Oh, no.
RG: That okay. I saw. But even just the making of a full length record, you know. Yeah. Now is like, people just wanna listen to singles. Mm-hmm. And but you know, so there was a question of, well, should I just really, really singles or a couple of eps, but making the album was really special and something that I, you know, I really wanted to do.
And yeah, I mean, it would be amazing to get vinyls at some point. But again, just. It's been, it's been, it's been challenging enough just to get Yeah. Record made. The vinyls will be down the road. I'll, but, you know, just to get the [00:17:00] actual vinyl or the, the record made and, and, you know, to have it out on social, you know, streaming platforms that's, you know, will be a, it'll just feel like a big relief to finally get it done.
Yeah. And, It's, you know, yeah. Because some of the songs are older, like I was saying, that, you know, three or four years old and, and some are new and the record in a way because of that. I think it's, it's, there's so much history for me in it, and, and it, it tells a story for me and you know about, about my last.
Five or so years of my life in a way, you know, these little moments. And, and so there's, you know, that it is just, I feel fortunate to be able to have made the record, I guess is what I'm saying. And, and I, I hope people, you know, can resonate with it. And, and I think for me, I've always tried to write really, honestly and [00:18:00] specifically about myself, but I think sometimes those things is what really can connect with people.
Yeah. And. And even though some of the songs might seem, I don't know, sad at times, hopefully, that people can find hope in it and give people strength and, you know, music is, is so much about like connecting with, with people and, and my focus obviously lately has been playing a lot of live shows cuz I hadn't done that in so long.
Yeah. So, I found, especially when playing live, it's, it's even more impactful about how music can, can reach people. And it's, it's just been really, really sweet to do that. And I'm, I'm glad it's, it's been resonating with people and I'm happy to see it getting played. And hopefully this is just the beginning, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's about just like, Trying to keep riding this momentum of mm-hmm.
Of, of things, you know, it's, and yeah. Without burning out. Right? [00:19:00] Yeah, that too. And, and again, like. It, it's funny, like once you start doing it, it's like again, like not thinking about it like it's a business now. Mm-hmm. Still trying to keep it exciting for myself and also personal and, and, and still just sitting down and, and putting on my phone and recording voice memos like I, I did when I first started and yeah.
And, but I think this record is, is, is so true to, to who I am and, and really what I wanted to put out there. So. Every song on the record is, is, is very personal and, and I hope that people can hear that in the, in, in the recordings and in the songwriting and yeah, it'll be really, really fun to play on the, on the 22nd.
Okay. Yeah. I hope I can come to Smithers sometimes.
PH: Yeah. Oh yeah, we'd love to. Yeah, we'd love to have you here.
RG: But definitely. Yeah, that's fine. Even just doing, you know, talking to you today, I, I do really appreciate it because, oh yeah, it's, it is really hard to get the music heard and it's, it's crazy that, you know, I've heard this so many [00:20:00] times and I was talking to my girlfriend about this yesterday too, you know, so many industry people have told me.
It's like, well, you know, if you were just popular on TikTok then, you know, things would be different, I guess. And it's like, It's come down to this like popularity thing. Yeah. Not about having a good song or, or the music or whatever. It's like, so I, these moments are such is, is just, I really appreciate it because all these little moments means a lot to try to get the music out there because again, wanting to make this record for five to 10 years and then Yep.
Feeling like, are people even gonna hear this thing? Yeah. And you know, but I feel like it is really something that people would enjoy if they, if they got a chance to hear it. So, yeah, thanks for talking to me and, and allowing me to share it,
PH: you know? For sure. I mean, I think too, what's cool is that you are, you're also kind of finding, you're also finding audiences in new ways.
Like should have known your music video was just nominated for a LEO award. [00:21:00] So like, It's just another way, like it's just another avenue for people to find you. But I like it how even that still feels kind of old fashioned, like you're doing these like concept music videos, which I love. So I guess, yeah.
How are you and your video collaborators? Like, how are you guys feeling about that nomination?
RG: We are beyond excited here, let me, I wanna answer this question. I just, I don't know why, but my thing just closed. Okay. And I don't know where you are, so I'm just, There you are. Okay. Oh, okay.
PH: I live in your phone.
RG: No, we're, we're so excited. The Leo's is, it is a great event in Vancouver and being a a film director, I've directed other people's music videos. I was lucky to be nominated and have won Lio Award for another music video I did for someone else. Oh, cool. Yeah, it was for this song, vessel by Royals. Okay.
And yeah. I'm, it, it's, it's again, yeah, like you're saying, it's, it's another chance to hopefully [00:22:00] for more people to, to hear the music, to check it out. It's, it's wild to be nominated across from like bb, no Money. Yeah. And I was like watching that, his video, and it's insane. Like it's, it's definitely like a, you know, who knows like $50,000 I know or something.
I, I'm sure you know, or. You know, it's like he's, there's a budget. There's a budget there. He's with a big label. It's these, he's like, the video has like 13 million plays or something, and I feel like, you know, mine's, mine's, my video is like this, the little music video that could kind of thing where it's, it was on me with no budget.
Yep. But, but, You know, it's, I've made, I've made music videos for $50,000. I've, I've had that opportunity, so I know how to make a video and you don't need that all the time to make a, a vi music videos. So it's nice to be recognized for the idea. Yeah. Because that's a, that's like a, you know, [00:23:00] that's for, it's really nice, you know, and it'll be, you know, the little indie project.
Yeah. Versus that.
PH: Okay. So for those who haven't seen it, can you describe the mu, like, can you just kinda like give, like the concept of the music video? It's so funny.
RG: Yeah, yeah, for sure. Well, it's, it's basically a guy who's trying his hardest to, to drive his little truck. And, and by little and little, I mean like really little like tv.
Like, like, like think Stewart little driving his little sports car. Yeah. Around Vancouver.
And, you know, is there's a dog involved,
PH: there's a giant, I knew there was gonna be a dog. I was like, there's, he's gonna get shot by something.
RG: I, no, not dog. You know, it, it, it was, it's very cute. Like, you know, I, I wanted to be really cute and, and it's summary Yep. Song summary. Yep. And yeah. I just remember I was walking down the street and, and I saw someone that had this little car.
It's like this Japanese Suzuki truck. Okay. And [00:24:00] they're really cute.
PH: I, I know exact, I feel like, I think I know exactly the trucks you're talking
RG: about, but, but I saw someone that had the little motorized one and I immediately, I was like, that ha. That has to be a video like this. Yeah. You know, this little truck driving around, sorry, I'm getting more bings and.
Computer technology.
PH: Bing, bongs. No, that's okay. Don't.
RG: But anyway. Yeah, there's another one. Sorry. But anyway. Yeah. Very cute video. I, I Please check it out. Yeah. Should have known. It's for my, my song. Should have known. Yeah. We'll see. Does he make it? Does he make it? Does
PH: he make it? Yeah, exactly. You'll have to watch to find out.
Okay, so I guess I wanted to ask you something. Oh yeah. I guess what are some, you've kind of already mentioned some, but what are some Vancouver bands that like you want people to know about that are, that you're really excited about and Yeah, maybe ones that could probably just use the extra hits on like Spotify and
RG: whatever too.
I mean, I love this. I, I was actually just watching [00:25:00] or, or. I've been following this artist. He's really big, but he, I won't say his name cuz he already has too much traction,
PH: so fuck that guy.
RG: But he is been giving an opportunity to other artists to open for his shows. Okay. And I think that's really cool.
And, and, and yeah, we have to support each other. That is a huge thing and I've been lucky that people have supported me and, and to I wouldn't be doing what, what I'm doing if someone else hadn't. Helped me along the way. And so, yeah, Vancouver has so many incredible artists. Kylie V is one that I discovered recently.
Mm-hmm. And I'm happy that they're, I'm, I've hon honored and happy that they're playing at my album release. Hey, ocean's a pretty big band, but I don't know if everyone knows that. David Esi, my producer, he's got many records out and he's incredible and he is, got new music on the way. My guitarist also Tyler Wu, he goes by Tyler Wu for his music, but he's got like two full records out.
Incredible musicians, songwriter, singer. [00:26:00] Oh man. Who else? There's, there's, there's a lot in Vancouver I've been listening to. Who else? Well, obviously there's like Hailey Blaze who's killing it. Mm-hmm. And. There's also Dawson Goul, who's a Vancouver artist. Really good Goul,
PH: like ghosts and ghouls.
RG: Yeah.
Okay. G o l, Dawson, Goul. And, but I mean, there's, there's so many other people that I'm just, there's so many good Canadian artists out there, just like, yeah. It, it, it's, it's, but it's interesting. I think recently, I've definitely noticed that in the indie scene, I feel like there's less, there's less indie music.
In, in, in Vancouver then like pop or, or r and b. That's, I feel like that was, was almost a new thing. But when I first started playing music in Vancouver, it was all indie music. Yeah. So, off the top of my head, those are my, those are the indie, kind of indie darlings, you know, in Vancouver that are coming out, but in my [00:27:00] mind I can think of, but mm-hmm.
Yeah, there's a lot of r and b now. Yeah. And yeah. But a lot, a lot of music. I'm, I'm playing at Music Waste. Okay. Which is a. More of an alternative music festival in Vancouver. Ooh. And I'm excited for that cause I'm excited to check out. There's like so many people on the list that I actually don't know. I
PH: love that actually.
I love going and not know, like there's a few people I know I really wanna see because I've listened to their music already. But I love just not knowing who I'm gonna
RG: see. Yeah, it's really great. And I, I've been also lucky to play so far. Sounds a lot of, so far sounds. Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah. Those are so cool too, because I'll show up and no one knows who's gonna play that night.
And I, I try not to look. So it's more of a surprise for me too. And yeah. And I've, I've found a lot of really cool music that, you know, that's new to me. And yeah, I mean, festivals are great for that though, you know. Yeah, for sure. And I'm, yeah, there's other festivals coming up that I can't talk about yet, but I'm excited that, Ooh, more festivals hopefully soon to be,[00:28:00]
PH: Okay, so I've got four minutes left on this zoom call. Okay. We could go on cuz I feel like it's really easy to talk to. But two, one question, is that a half heart best friend's
RG: necklace? Yes. I actually wear this necklace on pretty much all of my photos. Okay. Least. And my girlfriend and I share this. So do you
PH: have the B fry or the St Ends side?
RG: No, it's actually, it says te Yamo. So mine says T. Oh. Yeah. So my love that's very cute. Yeah. Best friends. Best friends loves. Do you guys speak Spanish? Both of you? No, not at all? No.
PH: Okay. No, not at all. This is it. What that Spanish,
RG: this is as far as I know.
PH: Yeah, no, that's good. Okay. Tell people before, cause I wanna give you a tour of our radio station cuz I'm in a train.
We
RG: can chat more. I mean, I'm, I'm, I have time anyway, so it's, yeah. Yeah. That's
PH: cool. So tell, can you tell people how to follow you online, find your music, all that sort of stuff? Can you run, run [00:29:00] through the
RG: gamut? I would love that. I think the the most important thing again, is just to know how to spell my name.
R i u n, Ryan. It's pronounced Ryan, but r i u n Garner, g a r n e r, if you Google that. But I'm on, I'm on Instagram, obviously. Spotify, you can go to ryan garner.com. I, I try to keep that updated with everything and, mm-hmm. Those are the main ones. I'll be getting into TikTok soon. You know, I think that's, like I was mentioned, it's it's, it is a, it is a nice tool that's available, but yeah, I have, I've been, it's
PH: also just another thing.
Sometimes I feel, but I, I totally get it.
RG: It's like one thing, it's like, well, you know, you just can't do Instagram then if you're gonna do TikTok. For me, it's like, yeah, there's only so much time in a day. It's like, where are you gonna put your time? Yeah.
PH: And how much are you gonna spend on your, on your phone creating.
RG: Yeah, I already do spend, exactly.
PH: Yeah. Okay. So Instagram, and you're on YouTube as well. [00:30:00] There's a lot of you on YouTube cuz there's lots of videos of you performing too, which is really cool. Yeah,
RG: we, I, I when we, well last summer we had a crazy day and I'm really good friend Casey Qual Chuck, who was a DP and a few friends of mine, Tyler as well.
We did like a. Crazy long day and we shot five live videos, five songs. Awesome. All live. It was crazy. Oh, because otherwise it's like, I don't even know. It's just, it's so much to do multiple days and like that's the thing is
PH: you do all the work for what one song like Yeah.
RG: So, you know, I put on like my little producer hat and I was just like, If you guys are down, let's do a full day.
And I, you know, I planned all the locations we shot in like a limo. And then there's like one by a tree and one, you know, by the beach. One in a old camper trailer. Really nice. You know, locations.
PH: So what have you acted in?
RG: Well, one thing I'm really excited about, I got a, a movie coming out in this summer, has, the date hasn't been released yet, but the film [00:31:00] has in the sense of, you know, the title and, and who's involved.
But I'm, I'm the lead on this feature film. It's a romcom coming out for nbc, what it's gonna be the E network. And I love romcoms. They're so fun and hilarious. And you know, obviously if you, if you've, if you do check out my music now, or you, you've, you've listened to it. I, I do love, love and all that stuff.
It's, it's all, you know, fits, fits the quota, but yeah, it It's called Mismatch. The movie's called Mismatch and yeah, I'm excited. It'll be out this summer. They just, we're waiting. We're all waiting. Director, oh my God. Talking about it. And other cast members were like, when is it coming out?
It'll be, it'll be fun. And another really cool thing about it is the director, Lucy Guest who's incredible. This is my second time working with her name. Sounds familiar. She also nominated multiple times for the LEO Awards as well. Okay. But [00:32:00] she was such a sweetheart and she put three of my songs in the movie, which is amazing.
So three from the record that's coming out this June Will, will be in the movie, which is really, really cool. It's probably my f I wanna say my first like proper sink placement. Yep. And again, like that is a, you know, like everything we're talking about, all the hard stuff, a hard, you know, Things of trying to break in the gate keeping mm-hmm.
Stuff like that's a huge win to have something like that. I'm excited to watch, you know, the film, but even just more so where, where's the music gonna
PH: be. Yeah. That's, that's great too because for me, like, I don't know if I'm actually like a music like nerd or anything. I listen to a lot of music and, but Playlists all, no, sorry, not playlists.
Soundtracks two movies are the reason I like a lot of the music that I like. Like I don't know if you've ever seen the movie, cause you're a bit, you're a bit younger, but if you've ever seen the movie called Gross Point [00:33:00] Blank with Mar with John Cusk and Minnie Driver, in my opinion, it's one of the best romantic comedies that's ever existed.
RG: Okay, I'm just Googling it right
PH: now. Yeah, it's gross. I think Gross has an e, it's like Michigan. It's a place called Gross Point in Michigan. And that movie has, and it's like cla you know, it's like classic songs cuz it takes, it's supposed to, I have to check it out. Do check it out. It's so
RG: good. I so good too.
And John Cusack, they're
PH: both so good. They like, they're at their height of like, perfection. Their chemistry is so good in that movie and she's the reason cuz she plays a radio dj. She's actually the reason I'm working radio. That is
RG: sick. Yeah. Okay. I'll have check that out. No, there's, there's definitely so many movies that yeah, definitely been huge inspirations.
I mean Elliot Smith is, you know is one, he's a what? Well, it also
PH: the Royal 10 bombs,
RG: like Yeah. But then I, you know, there's obviously the one, what's the other movie? It's blank in my mind right now with [00:34:00] Ben Affleck and, and Robin, Robin Williams. And
PH: is it, oh oh yeah. Goodwill Hunting, right?
That, or Yeah. Actually that's a lot of his music isn't, isn't his, a lot of his
RG: music in that. It's like a big part of that movie. Yeah.
PH: Which mini driver is also in.
RG: That's, yeah, I'm mini driver. That's why I
PH: thought of that. Oh, you already made that connection. Gotcha.
RG: Yeah. That's, that's what made me think about it.
And then, yeah, I mean, I love eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Yeah. That, that, that soundtrack is amazing. That's like actual soundtrack, you know?
PH: Yeah. Is it Michelle? Is Michelle Gore doing the music in that?
RG: No, it's a, it's a guy named, I always wanna say it differently, but I think it's just John Bryan,
PH: that's his name.
Oh, yeah, yeah, that's right.
RG: Yeah. Yeah, he's incredible. He's done so many great soundtracks. He's also, he also did a, again, circling back to Elliot Smith, he was gonna have a show. John Bryan is like almost like a live music show. Mm-hmm. And it got canceled, I think after like one [00:35:00] episode. That one episode they did was with Elliot Smith and it's on YouTube.
PH: Yeah. And I also think. Too, like just to kinda go back to it, but I also think too, that like having your music on a movie and having a way to kinda like sneakily access people who might not know to like, look you up by your name because like, you know what I mean?
It's like if people don't know you and there's not the word of mouth in those circles, that's a way, that's like a whole new way to be exposed to
RG: people. Yeah. There's only so much you can, you know, know, call on your friends and family for I know. And like, come to my show, I'm playing again. Do you wanna come to my show?
How do you meet other people? You know, I used to like busk and stuff. Yeah. But I feel like little, like, I dunno. We, you know, I don't know people, I don't know if they're really listening to buskers as much anymore, but it's a, that's, it's a grind. It's, you, there's other options out there, but it's like, it's a grind.
But having things like that for sure. It's like, maybe they'll shazam it or something and
PH: check it. Yeah. I should say I'm stuff all the time. It's like usually what starts my playlist for my radio show. Cause it's a two [00:36:00] hour music show. Yeah. So you know, that's a lot of songs and it's, there's a lot of songs.
But like sometimes it's just like that's what starts, it's like I'm watching something, I'm like, God damn, what is this? And then it's just like, and then I'm just like, okay, now I'm just gonna pull the thread from here. But that is how a lot of my playlists start.
RG: But yeah, it's like, they just released this recently.
PH: Okay, great. This is
RG: so good. It's like one of those like, almost like love triangle things where like, who is she gonna pick? You know?
PH: It's like, yeah. I, I see four guys on the screen, so Yeah, I figured.
And you're Ben team. Ben. Come on. Okay, we've got one minute and three seconds left. So. So I'll just say thank you so much. I'm like super excited to listen back to this and it will be shorter than the 80 minutes that we've actually talked, but yeah, this was really, really fun. Yeah,
RG: you can have the directors cut for the deep
PH: Yeah, that's right, the redux.
RG: Thank you so much too. It's really nice to meet you and chat with you. Yeah, hopefully we can do another connecting thing like this at some point and absolutely. [00:37:00] Yeah. Yeah, again, it'd be so cool to come and, and visit Smithers too. And I,
PH: I think that that's a definite possibility.