Meet Ryan Zin | Songwriter, and Music Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ryan Zin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ryan, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Being creative has always really felt like something that was in my blood. Both of my parents are visual artists, so I grew up exposed to a creative mindset. Even though they were visual artists, my parents exposed me to a lot of music when I was growing up. And they really emphasized that songwriting was a productive way to channel one’s emotions, and to comment on the world. I started songwriting when I was probably eight or nine years old and this is before I could play any instruments. So once I learned that ukulele and later the guitar, that was really the missing piece to start creating. I had written, or had in my head was my main motivation for learning all of the instruments I play. I would spend most evenings of my teenage years on garage band, and later logic overdubbing different instruments to create my songs..

growing up I was really taken by the rock and folk rock songwriters of the 1960s and 70s and how they would comment quite directly on the Socio political issues of the time. Therefore, when I was recording, my first two albums by both consciously and subconsciously tried to take a similar approach to my songwriting, but focusing on contemporary issues such as technology and smart phone addiction and climate change, as well as channeling my own personal experiences, and struggles into song. Just like I believe a lot a lot of other songwriters do, I find songwriting to be a form of self therapy, and because of that, I find myself having my creative rushes during more emotionally negative parts of my life, which ends up being kind of a weird conundrum, because I want to be happy and enjoy every day, but I also want to create and have a continuing flow of inspiration.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
One of the greatest challenges in my creative journey was having the confidence to share my creativity with others. I grew up in the small town of Ojai about 60 miles north of LA. There weren’t a lot of other kids interested in music growing up so I always felt a little self-conscious and sharing my music. Unfortunately, this even carried over to when I was in music school at CSUN, but that is where I learned to get out of my shell, so to speak and feel comfortable sharing my creativity with others. One of the biggest things that helped me with that was being involved in the student record label VOVE Entertainment. During my senior year, I was Cole executive producer of the label. This really helped me hone my organizational and leadership skills as I was managing a team of about 28 people in six different departments. And it also allowed me to show my comfortability in a recording studio environment. throughout the school year, we would put on a Southern California wide contest to find our “artist of the year” and from there we would put on a small showcase concert, record an EP, produce several music videos, run a marketing campaign, and host several more concerts. During our recording sessions is when I felt that I really shined. I was involved in booking the sessions, helping write some of the music, playing bass on the recordings, helping with arrangement ideas, mixing, and then mastering the tracks with the help of other people on my team. During those recording sessions, I also made connections that have lasted past graduation. We did a couple recordings with a singer, songwriter, named Molly, Oran, and since graduation I have recorded several songs with her in my home studio, one of which we have released so far titled “abandoned, astronaut.” I hope to record more with her in the future and release more songs because I feel like we have a good creative chemistry. In addition to producing other people, it is my goal for the new year to record more of my own music again before the pandemic I had to put out two albums, one of 10 songs, and one of 20 in rather quick succession titled “Call to Action” and “Hindsight in 20/20” respectively. but after the pandemic began, I felt creatively unmotivated unfortunately. Recently, I have been writing and starting some recordings with my girlfriend, Melody, who has been very supportive of my creativity. And I have really enjoyed creating music with her because there is a lot less pressure for perfection than I have felt in other contexts. It is nice to create music just for myself and her.

Another current project I am really excited about is a broadway influenced concept album about notable, visual artists throughout history by LA performance artist, The Dark Bob. I am helping write, produce and record this record that will also feature guitarist Nels Cline of Wilco, and drummer, DJ Bonebrake of X.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love to travel, and I also love to experience my city, as if I were a tourist. One of the very first things I like to do when traveling to any great city is if possible to look off from a high vantage point so one of the first places I would take someone is on the hike up the Santa Monica mountains from will Rogers State Park. It offers great views of the ocean and Santa Monica, as well as Century City, and the skyscrapers down Wilshire Boulevard and downtown. In terms of food when traveling, I always look for authentic local places and try to avoid the corporate experience. One of my favorite restaurants is Rae ‘s diner. It is literally a block and a half down the street from me and it is one of the few sit down restaurants. I know where to people can have lunch and coffee for less than $20. It is also a great snapshot of mid century Los Angeles with its Googie style architecture and teal interior with red tuck and roll booths. I would also. make sure to take someone for some authentic street tacos. My personal favorite are the Al Pastor, which they shave off of the large rotating spit. I would also take someone for a drive around LA as driving is a quintessential Los Angeles experience as is sitting in traffic on the 405, as horrible as it is. I would probably take them on a drive down Wilshire Boulevard all the way from the ocean in Santa Monica to downtown. Before taking that drive, we would probably hang out on Venice Beach where I would make sure we saw Harry Perry play guitar while roller skating. One of the last things I would do is take the visitor up to a beach in Malibu near Point Dume. I think it’s magnificent how the sand dunes meet the ocean. Seeing the desert meet the sea always makes me forget that I am close to home and makes me feel like I’m in an exotic faraway land.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to dedicate my shout out to those who inspired me on my musical journey. One of the greatest influences I had was my music teacher, Mr. Orser during middle school he started an after school Beatles rock band club, and we would jam on various songs, and had a little concert at the end of the year. Also to the other music teachers I had along the way in high school, and in college at Cal State Northridge. I would also like to dedicate it to my friends from the CSUN studio ensemble. I always had a lot of fun playing along with them and found a strong home and community in that class.

Instagram: ryan_zin_music & the_peoples_canvas

Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/00tof8ZTbtiDh6YiVnrguk?si=BqRl3zk5Qc2nIVpnuYxv6A