An Interview With Ryan T. Higgins
A brand new release from Ryan Higgins brings the Sonic rock blues straight to your ears with tons of endless energy and that perfect sort of swagger that gets you hooked right from the get-go.
The Mad Love album comes through as a guitar-driven blues soiree and it's damn near impossible to look away from especially if you're a fan of real deal, classic blues guitar in the vein of Stevie Ray.
This record has heart, soul, and an addictive and boisterous character that you become more and more wrapped up in the further into the album you go.
The only thing on this record that really competes with the guitar on that level are the vocals and they have such a wonderfully harmonious vibe together throughout the entire release.
These songs have stories to tell and will let you paint some good pictures in your head as you go along and with these attitude-riddled guitars and vocals come a band that pushes things forward even more as the players feel like they're feeding off of each other's energy the entire time giving the record in almost live performance feel.
This is quite rare but maybe not so much for the genre. Now, I'm not sure if this record was recorded live on the floor at first and then dubbed in with certain parts later, but either way after listening to this album you definitely want to see this live in your face because if that's the kind of energy captured on the record, then a lot of performance must just be ridiculous.
There are more than a few gems on this record that stand on their own two feet as singles very well but I do suggest listening to this album from beginning to end because I think it's the best way to soak it in.
It's not exactly a concept record per se, but this is one of those records where the energy doesn't let up and there are layers that can be peeled back along with the understanding that you're going to get some awesome guitar riffs and soulful, southern kissed songwriting that comes through with passion.
One of my favorite things about this record as a whole, is the character that it portrays and how it never ever lets up.
The whole thing is very driving and fun so you find yourself getting attached to it and even engulfed in it from start to finish and I think that it's been quite some time since I've heard a record that you can literally jam with from beginning to end so to have it now was very refreshing indeed.
I would have to say, that if you are a guitar player, this is a record that you have to hear because it's not just about solos or that blues tonality, it's about the riffs and the rhythms as well and how impactful they can be.
These tracks get you moving and they get your blood pumping.
As a matter of fact, I would suggest listening to this first thing in the morning cuz it just gets you in the mood to take on whatever you have coming at you in the day.
With the release of such a well-woven record, we wanted to have a sit-down with Ryan Higgins to find out where this record actually came from and what might be coming up next for the artist.
Here's what happened.
TSWS: Okay, let's start with Mad Love! This album had some real swagger and style! I love the rock tonality and that edgy fun and loose approach! How did this release come about?
It started with Rick J. Bowen who played drums on the album. We had played and recorded together in another group, Michele D'Amour & the Love Dealers for their album Lost Nights at the Leopard Lounge. We were hanging out one night after a jam at the Madison Avenue Pub and he suggested that we record another album together. I'd already been considering recording an album and playing most of the instruments myself, but I'm not a good drummer and really wanted live drums.That was the tipping point, and I decided to go for it. We worked really hard on it and I'm very happy that it's finally ready to put out there.
TSWS: How did this all start for you as an artist?
When I was about six years old my aunt came to visit from out of town and she brought an acoustic guitar with her and I was asked if I wanted to try it. I remember holding it in my lap and the way it sounded when I strummed it. I loved it, that was it, I knew I wanted to play guitar someday. I started on trumpet in fifth grade and freshman year in high school I got my first guitar. My focus immediately shifted from the trumpet to the guitar. Before that I'd practice my trumpet almost every day, but after that it was the guitar. I also started messing around with singing at this point, but that was more for fun, I was really focused on the guitar. After a couple years on acoustic I got an electric and about that time we put together our first band with a couple of guys I'd met at camp and we started writing songs. That lasted all the way up until just before I started college. We'd get together every Sunday afternoon and play and practice. When I went on to college I was ready to switch to guitar as my main instrument. I did my first two years of college as a music major and then went on to Musicians Institute in Hollywood. Around this time I started focusing on my singing too because I was tired of dealing with flaky singers messing up the bands we were trying to start. From there I've just kept on going whether it's been leading my own band, playing in someone else's, or just working on new things alone and scratching the musical itch by going to a jam. When it comes down to it, I love to create and I love being able to be part of a community of people who make and enjoy music.
TSWS: What kind of things really inspire songs for you?
Songs come in different ways for me. Sometimes it starts with a riff I like on the guitar or a set of chord changes, sometimes it's a phrase that I think would make a great lyric, and sometimes it's about trying to convey a feeling, to tell a story, or paint a picture. I'm always getting ideas. That part is easy, the trick is to remember to document them and the real trick is to just sit down and do the work to turn an idea into a complete song.
TSWS: This release has some great approaches to it! Can you give us some of your biggest influences musically?
It's mostly guitar players, and older music. I've typically always listened more closely to the backing parts in a song and how they work together and I've always had a tendency towards tracing the evolution of music. And, for electric guitar that inevitably leads to blues and jazz. So, in the 80's when I was first picking up the guitar it was the glory days of hair bands, but I was a nerd so instead of trying to play along with Van Halen, Def Leppard, or Metallica, and because I didn't have much access to that kind of music, I went to the library and checked out a book by Arlen Roth about how to play electric guitar. In the book he's talking about Eric Clapton and B.B. King and I checked them out and that landed me square in the middle of the blues. Then Dave Tillet, a bandmate of mine, gave me Stevie Ray Vaughn's In Step album for my birthday because he knew I was interested in the blues. Around the same time someone said I should check out Joe Satriani's album Surfing With The Alien and I got way into him. And that's how it's been, I'll discover someone I like and I'll dig into their catalog and who influenced them, like an archaeologist. I've had an obligatory Jimi Hendrix phase, Led Zeppelin, Freddie King, Albert King, Carlos Santana, The Beatles, John Scofield, The Allman Brothers, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, and many more. I've almost never been following the current trend, but pursuing my own interests instead. More recently I've explored a bit of Jerry Garcia, Oteil and Friends, Garage A Trois, and I really like Julian Lage and Bill Frissell.
Over the last couple years I've also taken a few lessons from Tim Lerch and I still get a lot from a lesson or two a year from someone like him. The last time Julian Lage came to Neumos was a few days after my last lesson with Tim. We had talked about seeing each other at the show, but it was a complete coincidence that we happened to arrive at the same pay lot to park at the same time. There were about ten to fifteen of us there for the masterclass before the show and it was great. Julian sat there on a stool and talked to us about playing guitar and answered our questions. For the show, we ended up with a table on the back of the balcony. I remember Tim sitting there with his head bowed and eyes closed listening intently and afterwards he talked about how blown away he was by what had happened that night, how Julian had managed to achieve this flow with his trio, that it was the kind of thing that John Coltrane had been reaching for with his music. What impressed me here was Tim, an amazing player in his own right, sitting like all the rest of us, as a fellow musician, in the masterclass, and totally immersing himself in the experience of the show, along with Julian willing to talk person to person with us in his masterclass, not as a master imparting wisdom but as a fellow musician sharing how he does what he does. The great thing about music is that influences aren't set in stone, it's an infinite spectrum to draw from that we can never exhaust. It's not so much that there are levels to it, it's more like different facets to share with each other. We just have to be open to it.
TSWS: What are you doing when you're NOT working on music?
If I'm not working on music I'm probably working on a guitar. Ever since I was a kid I have taken things apart to see how they work or make them better. I've always taken my guitars apart and worked on them and in the last few years I've gotten into building them, starting with buying a chunk of timber and turning it into a guitar. I've also built my own CNC machine to carve necks, bodies, fretboards and inlays, and I've also built my own automated pickup winder to wind my own pickups and make it precise and repeatable. In fact most of the guitars you hear on the album have pickups that I wound myself.
Beyond that, I enjoy spending time with my family, the outdoors, camping, reading (Robin Hobb, Neil Gaiman, and Terry Pratchett are favorite authors. I've been known to read things like Plutarch, Marcus Aurelius, and Bukowski too, but usually I keep it on the lighter side ), and video games (Currently I'm playing Starfield after exploring Assassin's Creed Valhalla).
TSWS: Who's in your headphones right now?
I really like the experience of listening to an entire album. Right now the two I'm listening to the most are Weathervanes by Jason Isbell and I Am The Moon by Tedeschi Trucks Band. A couple more frequent listens right now are The Elephants of Mars by Joe Satriani and Valentine by Bill Frisell.
TSWS: Are you doing any live performances right now?
I am. We have our album release party with the full band on December 5th at the Madison Avenue Pub in Everett, WA. Another interesting one is I am getting together with one of my bandmates from my very first band in high school, Mitch Dailey, to play after hours at a little shop in my hometown of Centralia, WA. We haven't played together since college and Wade Stringer who played bass with me for about ten years in the Ryan T. Higgins band will be joining us. We are going to do it as an informal jam and may have some other people join us, and it's open for anyone to come hang out and listen. I'm also looking at playing some festivals in the coming year too. Besides the full band, I've also been doing some solo and duo shows and am always adding more dates. You can check out the calendar at www.ryanthiggins.live
TSWS: Do you record these at a big studio or do you have a home studio set-up?
I have an old farmhouse outside of Centralia and upstairs is one big open room with enough space to set up a band. When I remodeled it a few years back, I put some extra thought and effort into the insulation and isolation to make it reasonably soundproof for recording and we also have a space at our place in Edmonds. The drums were all recorded at the farm and everything else was split between there and Edmonds. I engineered and mixed everything myself, and then had Ed Brooks at Resonant Mastering in Seattle master it for me.
TSWS: What can your fans expect from you in the near future?
I'm already starting to write and outline more music for the next album. I intend to continue exploring and working out new music. It's hard to say where it will lead, but I'm sure there will be more to share.
TSWS: Before we go, what would you like to say to fans of the music?
Thank you for being a part of this. None of this happens in isolation. I wouldn't have been able to do this without a community of people supporting and encouraging me and it wouldn't mean much without you to share it with. Thank you, I hope to see you at a show.