Getting to Know . . . AUDREY RYAN
 by Kathy S-B  ·  1 January 2008

Audrey Ryan is one of the most eclectic performers I’ve seen this year. She’s comfortable with any number of instruments and always seems to have a trick up her musical sleeve. Audrey is a native of Mt. Desert Island, Maine, yet there’s a very distinct urban feel to her music. She’s not afraid to experiment and have fun with her music. Get a taste of what Audrey is like by checking out the music and the video on her MySpace page. Audrey tours a fair amount here and in Europe so there’s a good chance that you’ll see her in your neighborhood soon!

Your style is most definitely one of the most original and dare I say quirky sounds that I’ve heard in some time. The good news is that it’s impossible to pigeonhole you into any particular genre. I hear bits of jazz, folk, pop, electronica, etc. That’s a good thing, don’t you think?

I do think it’s a good thing, mostly because I’ve been able to avoid boring my audience and fans, but more importantly, myself. As soon as I get tired of playing the guitar I switch to accordion, then when I get sick of that I go to keyboard or fiddle, and for Christmas I got a banjo which I plan to also add into my act. As far as the songwriting, I think you are right that it’s definitely on the “quirky” side, both lyrically and otherwise, my songs are very personal and one article called me a “genuine weirdo” when they listened to my new CD, “Dishes & Pills,” so whatever that means: quirky, weird… I guess in the end one thing it definitely ends up being is original. And that’s very important to me. I really steer away from derivative work, both in my own writing, and as a listener of others. If it’s derivative then I’d probably rather listen to the real thing. If someone’s ripping off Bob Dylan that to me is really boring, as I’d much rather just listen to Bob.

I understand that one of your main influences in Joni Mitchell. What do you admire about Joni’s body of work and how does that translate to your own work?

Yeah, I’d have to say that Joni is kind of “it” for me when it come to female singer-songwriters. She just has everything: she’s an amazing songwriter, engaging and literate lyrics, an incredible voice, her overall musicianship is solid. I can’t really say a bad thing about Joni except that maybe some of her later records are kinda bad… But she has so many incredible records like “Blue,” “Court and Spark,” “Clouds,” in her early years, that it’s hard to really top those.

As far as what translates into my work, I’d say that like her I write very personal stuff, if you listen to my newest record, then by the end of it you pretty much know me, or at least a lot about me and my life and feelings about things. Joni wrote really from the heart about her life and love, I feel like I know her through her lyrics, or at least about all of her many, many relationships with men. We also have a somewhat similar singing style, basically we both use our higher register a lot and arpegiate and such. Overall she’s probably been the biggest influence on me of all times. And when I get reviews they usually reference her and most people who listen realize she’s some sort of an influence on me. But I definitely have my own thing going on, again getting back to that concept of “derivative” and “original” work, if I really sounded like her I’d be ripping her off and I have no interest in that. It’s funny though, I think before Joni I didn’t have anyone I truly looked up to as the supreme singer-songwriter but ever since I’ve never come close to loving someone’s work as much. I’m also a huge Dylan and Neil Young fan, but there is something maybe about Joni being a woman that ultimately the connection is unbeatable.

You’ve traveled all over — Australia, Africa, and other exotic places. What made you set up a musical community in the Boston area?

I moved to Boston after college and after having spent a year in Australia and Asia. I chose Boston because my Dad is from Haverhill and I had spent a lot of time in Boston as a teenager because I went to a boarding school in North Andover. Plus my grandmother wanted me to move there, so I kind of did it for her and to be close to my home in Maine. So it was all those things combined. Otherwise I think I would have gone to NYC, and I still might. But Boston is a pretty cool musical city, there are tons of musicians, and plenty of clubs, I think what it seems to be missing is some real industry, there certainly seems to be a lack of that.

“Dishes and Pills,” your newest recording is an interesting mix of all types of instruments and production. Can you tell us a little about how this CD was recorded and how heavily you were involved with all the various production details that make the CD such an amazing aural adventure!

I recorded the CD with Stephen Brodsky (of “Cave In”) who is a really amazing musician and also great at lo-fi recording. We recorded 9 of the songs in his and my rehearsal space using a four track. We would just do drums and guitar/keyboard/piano live first and then dump it to a computer and add all kinds of things. I’m a big fan of layering and I own and play tons of instruments so it was really easy to go wild, and even overboard in giving the songs lots of bells and whistles and quirks.

I also recorded 4 of the songs at my loft on my own, playing everything, and I know very little about recording besides how to press record on a very basic and old computer program. So it still surprises me how good those songs came out, they are arguably some of the best ones, but I think it’s because I had total control over them and added and subtracted what I wanted before it went to be mixed. I think what really made this record special was the fact that it was done low budget on a four track in a rehearsal space. If you listen hard enough you can hear cars driving by in the background. Then I did spend some money on having it mixed and mastered and that is what really made it listenable to everyone else, those two processes really glued the whole thing together so that it’s one piece of work. And I have to say, I started recorded it the summer of 2006 and finished it early in the winter of 2007, so even though it was only released this fall, it’s been around a while now for me, but I still love it and am very proud of it, which is great. I don’t feel that way at all about my first record. I think this one has more staying power, and I like that feeling.

Do you enjoy the recording experience more than playing live?

I like both really, but I have to be in a certain mood to record on my own, whereas I will do a gig rain or shine usually I tour a lot so I must like gigging but sometimes after I’ve played too much (like my last 7 week tour in Europe where I played 43 shows in 50 days….) I just want a break and I lay low and spend a lot of time in my studio just messing around, practicing old and new songs, and maybe doing some recording if I feel like it. Actually, when it rains or snows I tend to like recording a lot more, it seems to be more of a bad weather thing, maybe because it’s a good excuse to stay in all day and work on something.

What are your dreams and plans for 2008?

Hmm…I don’t really know to be honest. My manager Dave surely has some things up his sleeve. I have some Northeast shows booked in January and February and I’m planning another tour down to SXSW in March. I will also probably go back to the Midwest in April as I usually do. Beyond that I’m not really sure, I think I’ll go back to the UK/Europe again, maybe this summer for some festivals, but definitely in the fall, my label there will most likely want me to come back. As far as “dreams”, well, I’m still looking for a US indie label to release my record and help me out stateside, and I’ve also been working on some publishing and licensing stuff that I hope to make progress on in the New Year. I guess we’ll see…