We recently connected with Jacque Ryal and have shared our conversation below.
Jacque , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
I have always been in a band.
I first started out as the singer/keys player of indie pop band, Strip Darling, then when the band went on hiatus I teamed up with Aaron Nevezie who has become my music partner and we developed synth-duo project titled Ryal.
However in 2020, I grew restless and I wanted to level up my skills, I wanted to contribute more on the development of songs from a sonic/texture perspective and learn about music production.
I have always been the singer… the songwriter… but I really felt it was time to delve into the production side of things. So I took the risk and I did.
At first my ventures into production were scouring Youtube watching countless tutorials how to navigate Ableton Live (the DAW (music production software I use to make music). I was beyond overwhelmed and often frustrated.
Then one day, in a rabbit-hole research session on Facebook groups I stumbled upon a girl named Lillian Frances who was offering music production classes. I watched like all of her videos and was completely blown away by how much I was learning so I signed up for her free intro class and BAM! I found my guru.
Fast forward to the summer of 2023 and I released my first solo EP that I wrote, performed every instrument and self-produced. And now, making a live show with the material.
It has been the most humbling, reinvigorating 3 years learning and developing as a producer and I know it is helping all aspects of my life. I’m seeing my efforts even in the writing with my synth-duo Ryal and now I’m starting to venture in producing for other artists (catch my single with pop-artist Veronika Jokel coming out September 22).
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Jacque Ryal and I’m singer / songwriter (turned music producer) originally from indie-pop band Strip Darling, but most known from synth-duo Ryal based in NYC.
In addition to Ryal, I also have my solo / self-produced project after my name Jacque Ryal.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
For me, music is a means to emotional survival, so when my first band of 10 years Strip Darling broke up, I was absolutely shattered. Reinventing myself and finding my next project felt like the most daunting task. I felt so incredibly lost. I loved my bandmates and we had taken ourselves out of a really bad record label situation and made a record we are still so proud of. It felt like we had climbed this massive mountain, made it to the peak and then just decided to roll down the hill.
But you know how it goes, in moments like these you have to surrender. I kept our rehearsal space and just started showing up on my own and started writing little pop songs – that I then took to the producer of the Strip Darling record, Aaron Nevezie. I asked if he would be interested in producing. One track led to another and we started writing, recording and releasing and developing the most special project I could ever imagine being apart of.
So never give up. One thing leads to another.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I was raised in a musical and entrepreneurial family so hard work / work ethic was engrained in me. I’m a product of the 80’s so at the time, conversations about self-love, self-care, burn-out etc where not part of the conversation. I sincerely wish that someone had told me in my 20’s that IT IS OK TO TAKE A BREAK. Take a vacation. Don’t play a note. Stop pushing. Stop over-analyzing. Stop promoting. Take a breath and just stop.
I still have a very hard time with this and as I’m writing it, I realize it is probably time to take a bit of a breather.
Contact Info:
- Website: jacqueryal.com ryal-music.com
- Instagram: @jacqueryalmusic @ryal-music
- Facebook: @ryal-music
- Twitter: @ryal-music
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ryalmusic
Image Credits
Feature image: Brandon Thomas Brown Solo shots in black outfit: Emma Meade Solo shots in yellow outfit: Michelle LoBianco Ryal shots: Michelle LoBianco