We recently connected with Ryan Yingst and have shared our conversation below.
Ryan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
I have, and the most important part of early income as a musician is flexibility. Deciding to become a performing or recording artist is not something that brings success overnight. Lots of larger artists have the luxury of spending years without income while they have publicists, managers, bookers and agents building hype and creating a persona for them to step into, but that can be deceiving for small artists who don’t have that option. For those getting started I am a big believer that it is better to stay focused on the industry you want to be a part of. I was first able to pay the bills with engineering work, both live sound and studio based. This kept me close to the music I loved and gave me valuable appreciation for what it takes to put on shows of all sizes. Before earning a living as a performer under my own name, I also spent a lot of time playing for other groups and doing touring with other artists. It was a great way to become more comfortable with my stage presence, as well a learn from some folks who had much more experience on controlling a crowd and setting up shows. The transition to performing under my own name came with my own writing. Learning how to charge for my time has been an ongoing battle that I believe all artists struggle with, but it is important to remmeber that as artists we are charging for the time and energy it takes to create a set that can be performed, not just the time on stage. It is so important to be your own biggest advocate because until you value the music you are making, no one else will. Looking back, the only thing I would have changed would be to be less cautious. I don’t think I’m terribly unique when I say that as a creative I struggle with self doubt. But if you are operating as your own booking agent, manager and publicist, you need the ability to sell yourself like a product and put the doubt aside.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Sure! I’m a Nashville based performing/recording artist, musician, producer and audio engineer. I write songs in a variety of genres, but typically stick near folk, soul, rock and indie. My songs are largely based on my life and experiences. Even songs I don’t intend to be about me end up pulling truths from my life into them. As a writer I often use heavy metaphore, or metaphysical aspects to impart imagry rather than overtly describing a situation. I do this by focusing on the feeling of a word and the shape a series of words will impart. I take influence from all genres and try to listen to anything I can get my hands on, which leads me in lots of different directions creatively. As a performer I try to make sure that no two shows are exactly alike. I’ll often play the same song a variety of different ways at each show depending on how I’m feeling. Performance is such a momentary art that I feel improvisation makes it much more true. As an artist I have a bit of a controlling nature to my music. I produce all my own recordings and I have engineered most.
As a musician outside of my own solo career, I perform as an electric and acoustic guitarist, bassist and backing vocalist for a variety of artists. I also play keys, violin and a variety of other instruments as part of my producing. I also stay busy doing work as the main sound engineer at ‘Affinity Entertainment’ as well as producing ‘The Cap Table’ podcast and a variety of mixing and mastering for artists with ‘Freethe Publishing’ a NYC based publishing group.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
The best thing I believe people can do on an individual scale, is to look small. I truely believe that the difference between a small show in an intimate venue and a massive show that sells out an arena has little to do with the actual artist. If you (as a listener) hear someone performing in the back of a bar or hear a band in a club that you enjoy, persue their music. Find them on social media, add them to your playlists, tip them, and buy tickets to their shows. We should want to find art that speaks to us as individuals, not things that are popular just because they are popular.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Well, over the 2020-2021 time period I had an awful couple years that truely made me question if I could continue as a creative. The world was still struggling to understand the context of the pandemic, musicians were trying to find out how/when we could return to performing and touring, and I went through some personal troubles. My parents divorced, my father was diagnosed with ESLF, I lost some family and close friends forever, and I was attacked on the street from behind in a random act of violence that left me with 3 broken bones in my face and in need of reconstructive surgery. The compounding of these and the financial worries that sprang from them really made me question giving up my career in music and trying to live simpler. My resilience through all this really came from my partner. She took care of me at my lowest and helped me to come back from the brink of my sadness. I wanted to be better for her and through that, found a desire to get better for myself. Music also helped me to get the feelings of this time period down in words and melody, and also helped me to forgive, and to look ahead rather than behind. Today I have a different view on that time. I recognise the struggle and certainly am glad I’ve moved passed it, but the lessons in resilience are something I will always carry with me and helped me to realize that music is not just a job or career, but in my lowest moments it is a necessity, a motivation and a comfort.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ryanyingst.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryan_yingst/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ryanyingstmusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryan_yingst?t=TpgS874NBAKhpS5idqzNNw&s=09
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/ryingst1214
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2fcotWEGbj3K0I3LW6QP7Z?si=7gq1XVFLQga95-x3QgyxYw&utm_source=copy-link Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/ryan-yingst/1450453956?ls
Image Credits
Madison Wrubleski