Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Viera

Hi Ryan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?

Lot 49 was born out of a love for reggae music and a passion for song writing. Ever since I was younger, I always envisioned myself up on a stage playing music. My first venture into music was as a drummer and I had an amazing time doing that. But as I got older and discovered new types of music, I found myself wanting to write my own music.

At about 24 years old, I started Lot 49 with a couple of buddies who have since moved on, but my vision was always clear. I wanted to be in the reggae scene I grew up being a fan of, but put a unique twist on the the status quo, and blend in other genres that you don’t always hear paired with reggae that often, and found myself making pop/R&B focused songs with reggae undertones that I really started to like.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

I think the hardest thing these days is standing out amongst the noise. We live in an era of music discovery that is sort of a blessing and a curse. On one hand, we have so many more ways to discover music with apps like Tik Tok, Instagram, Youtube, etc. But on the flip side, people have much more access to recording software and making music in general.

And on top of all that, the boys and I don’t have that “look at us” eye catching personality that often helps you stand out on social media. We are pretty easy going. Just some dudes who like to play reggae music and think the songs are high quality and relatable. But that’s only a small piece of the pie. You gotta know how to market yourself, and admittedly that’s not my forte.

I don’t get a lot of guidance on what works and what doesn’t in the scene. There are a ton of people that help along the way, but we don’t have someone showing us the path, a lot of that is us trying to find our own way. So I just try to focus on making good music, and being authentic, because all of that flashy social media persona stuff just isn’t who I am, so why try to fake that?

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

Well, I do a little bit of everything when it comes to Lot 49 haha. I write the songs, I produce them, I book the shows, I run basically all of the marketing, I film the videos, I run the merch table. We also have an amazing manager who helps with a lot of that stuff, but essentially I gotta specialize in anything and everything that can get Lot 49 any attention.

In terms of what I’m most proud of, honestly the first thing that comes to mind is some of the amazing artists we’ve gotten to share the stage with. Artists and bands we have grown up listening to such as J Boog, Kash’d Out, Groundation etc. Those were all really cool accomplishments that we were like “what, is this real life?”

I think what sets Lot 49 apart is the unique sound of the music. I’m not saying it’s groundbreaking, but I do feel like reggae as a genre has a bit of a formula, and I love the formula. But I wanted to do something a bit different and add a more polished pop sound to the music. At first that was born out of a necessity, because I didn’t have room for a drum set in my apartment, but since then it’s kind of become the sound I am for when writing and producing.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?

Honestly just being a good person. Someone easy to work with. I am a believer that if you are easy to work with, and you treat people with respect, you’ll go far. In anything you do, not just music. So I really just am grateful for each and every person that comes up to the merch table after a show to say they dig the music, or anyone that DMs us and says they heard about us through a friend, it truly means the world. And in an industry that is so ego-centric, I think sometimes just being authentic and being nice can get you really far,.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lot49music.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lot49music/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lot49music/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Lot49Music
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lot49music