Speaker 1: I've always believed in one mantra, share your story or
someone will write it for you. And as we continue
to grow inside this podcast world, there's a lot of
stories we haven't dug into yet. Ero dot net, A R.
R Oe dot Net. Thank you so much for supporting
the vision as well as the path. Good morning, Ryan,
how are you doing today?
Speaker 2: Good morning? I am doing great. How are you?
Speaker 1: Absolutely excited to share a conversation with you because you
are the rocker on the show this year, and I'm
so excited to really kind of break out and try
to figure out how you're preserving that voice because to me,
you're putting more pressure on those vocal cords than anybody
else because you know where you want to go and
you know what you need to do to extend new
opportunities to happen. But that's stress on those vocal cords.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Yeah. I mean I'm loud. I've always been
really loud, So it's nothing new to me.
Speaker 3: That stress is. It's happening every day. I think I
got a good technique. I don't know, but I just
I like to sing loud. It's just like everyone who
I love too.
Speaker 1: Well, that's me. Like when I when I grew up
in that band up in Montana. I mean, those speakers
weren't loud enough. In fact, I just read an article
about Metallica that they it was a bit based on
the amplifiers behind the band? Do fans want to see that?
And they said no, And I said no, get away
from me, Metallica. You have to have those amplifiers and speakers.
Speaker 2: It's funny you mentioned that.
Speaker 3: I mean, I remember practicing in high school with my
band and we didn't have a PA in my buddy's
basement and I would I would sing and I was
I was.
Speaker 2: Loud enough to sing over the drums. So you know,
I can I feel that for sure.
Speaker 1: Those drums. You're right, How did you even handle that situation?
Because even if you were playing in someone's basement, It's like,
while I went to a show last night, I heard
the drums, but I didn't hear anything else.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I've played some venues, I mean, you know a
lot of more punk type of venues that the drums
don't have mics on them.
Speaker 2: But but you're you're in someone's basement and the sound
is how it is.
Speaker 3: And you gotta you gotta overpower some of the instruments,
for sure. Sometimes the mix isn't isn't great either, you know,
you're curing yourself through a through.
Speaker 2: A monitor that's not quite there, you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So with with you moving to the front of
the stage like you have, because I mean, I mean,
do the history on how many drummers have moved to
the front of the stage. Very little, very rare. So
what is it like for you to be a part
of this very elite group?
Speaker 3: Man, It's it's a dream, and I'm just I'm like,
I'm grateful that I that my blind audition even aired,
you know, But everything past that point has just been
so cool. It's just been so cool to be a
part of this and be surrounded by so much talent
and so much drive.
Speaker 2: Everyone I've met on this show has been so cool.
Speaker 1: So now, what are you doing with your arms when
you're singing? Because I sit here and hit the microphone,
I'll knock over the cop up of coffee, I'll sit
here and bump because I can't keep my arms to
myself when I'm doing anything.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I it's you know, someone else mentioned that to
me and I never really put it together, but uh,
I think I used to sing with with tension in
my neck, and I, you know, I have to put
that tension somewhere, you know. And since I've you know,
been learning technique, especially on the show, I've found that
if I, if I can put that into my hands,
into my arms, it gives me.
Speaker 2: Something to something to put that tension into. And it
also you know, it.
Speaker 3: Helps give me direction to where I'm pointing my focus.
So I you know, using my arms uh as a prop.
Speaker 2: You know, it helps me out for sure.
Speaker 1: Wow, what do you do in the studio? I mean,
because I mean, you know, once you're in that studio
and the only person that can really see you are
is either the band or the engineer, do you do
you let yourself down? You let the guard down so
you don't have to sit there and be on display
all the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3: And you know also, I I mean, I my fohilosophy
with recording in the studios, it's all about the performance.
Speaker 2: So I I love to record.
Speaker 3: On just like a like like an s F seven
B or you know, just like a dynamic handheld sort
of mic. And if I can, if I can treat
that lack of performance, that's when I find I get
the both the best vocal takes, you know, rather than
sitting still.
Speaker 1: Dude, they'll sit there and tell me you hit your nose.
What do you mean, I hit my nose. I don't
remember hitting my nose with that microphone. You hit your nose,
You got to redo it, you gotta do. We got
to sit there and do a punch at it. You
hit your nose. Absolutely, it's the crazy stuff that you
wish that could stay in the songs, because I think
that's what was so great about the music of the
fifties and sixties and why it's still around today, is
because if it hit the nose, who cares you went
a little nasal for a second.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's all about those those happy accidents, those mistakes.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Do you ever have spinal tap moments?
Speaker 2: Uh? Yeah, sure, you know.
Speaker 3: I've definitely put things in a song by accident and
listened back and been like, oh, wow, that's the coolest thing.
Speaker 1: And then but then how do you get back to it?
Because I'm sure Stevie Nicks and Lindsey bucking Dam do
the same thing. They both take chances with their music
and it's like, oh, how did we even get there?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I mean it's weird, you know, on that note kind
of during my blind audition on the voice, you know,
at the end of that song, on the end of
a hitting Baby one more time, I went off script
and I was getting up into this this more mixed,
kind of higher part of my register because I was,
I mean, like, the.
Speaker 2: Worst thing that could happen already happened, right.
Speaker 3: I got no chair turns the day before, so I
was like, I'm gonna try something else, and I think
ultimately that's what.
Speaker 2: Ended up getting rebit a turn or chair.
Speaker 3: So it really is sometimes going off script that ends
up making the best moments.
Speaker 1: I think what led you to that song? And the
reason why I bring that up is because I've done
so much research on the artists of the MTV generation
versus those on the TikTok generation, and there is such
a separation between the two different sitting fans and you
being twenty five years old. How is it that you
landed on that song on the blind Ambit auditions.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, it's it's it's weird because I grew
up with a lot of like watching MTV, and you know,
I'm not really part of that generation.
Speaker 2: A lot of my favorite music. And I'm also, you know,
all up on TikTok.
Speaker 3: So I you know, I'm kind of on both of
those worlds a little bit. And Uh, as far as
that song goes, hit Me Baby One More Time, that.
Speaker 2: The decision really came down to, Uh, I liked. I
liked what the song meant in the.
Speaker 3: Context of what was happening, you know, hit Me Baby
one More Time. I was like, I mean the thing
that I can I can channel the perspective of the button.
And also there's a there's a sense of desperation in
that song, like come on, like like one more time,
like let's let's get this. And I I was trying
to really channel that feeling because that's what I was
feeling at the time, like this is my this is
my shot, you know, and I don't want to miss.
Speaker 1: Wow, we we've kind of, in a very weird kind
of a way, have something in common. This morning, you
sang the Britney Spears song hit Me One More Time.
Not even an hour and a half ago. I was
with Kevin Feederline, Britney Spears husband, and and so it's
really weird that the two of us are sitting here
and we have this energy around has caused you know,
and and and the effect of it all is that
it affects both of us.
Speaker 2: Oh wow, yeah, absolutely, that's crazy.
Speaker 1: Wow what what? But that's what music is, and that's
part of the story. And that's why I think sometimes
instead of hitting next, next, next, next, next on on
your platforms, man, sit there and listen to the song
and get to know who who Ryan is?
Speaker 2: Absolutely, what would you say?
Speaker 1: The answer to that question would be who is Ryan?
And Ryan you're with Reba McIntyre. I hope to god
you're learning something with a Southern accent, because that girl's
nailed it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, she absolutely has. Man, who is Ryan? I mean I,
at my core, I think I'm a I'm a songwriter really,
and that's uh, That's always been first in my in
my music, and you know, I think I learned it
to sing as a byproduct of that. But I really
I love like arranging the songs and making them my own, yes,
and connecting to the to the material and you know,
making making these songs my own.
Speaker 2: I think that's that's who I am.
Speaker 1: Well, okay, now you bring up something here and now
now you've taken me back into an area. I'm because
I'm blessed with the opportunity to talk with a lot
of authors. I talk with a lot of singer songwriters
who are now writing children's books because they believe it
uses the same exact creative muscle as writing a song.
Are you into anything like that or have you heard
anything like that being a songwriter.
Speaker 2: Writing children's book.
Speaker 1: Well, because they feel that because you have to you
have to use the same technique of writing a song
to put it into a children's book, because it is melodic,
it does have a rhythm to it, it's and you know,
there's harmony in the words and things like that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I could absolutely see that connection. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I think the best songs too, you know,
they're not it's not overly thought out. Sometimes they come
through you more than they they They're created from you,
you know, so I think and I think probably probably
writing children's books is it's probably similar, right, It's it's
a simple kind of thing.
Speaker 2: It's not overthought you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Do you grab the smartphone immediately when that song
hits you while you're driving in the car or if
you're at a movie theater.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Yeah, I've got a lot of a lot of
voice memos, a lot of shaky voice memos in the
car for sure. Yeah, totally if I if I don't
want to forget something, or you know, often I'm laying
in bed and it's it's two in the morning, and
you know, my girlfriend's next to me, and I'm like,
I'm like, hold on, I gotta to record.
Speaker 2: This little rift that puffed into my head real quick,
you know.
Speaker 1: But yeah, well yeah, And the reason why I bring
that up is because Steven Ferdick from Elevation Church just
talked about that. He teamed up with these groups of
guys who do that. They they'll throw their vocals into
a smartphone and then they don't know what to do
with them. Well, that was the challenge of that that
particular recording project. Grab all the songs that you've been ignoring,
put them out here, and let's figure out what we
can do with it. Now.
Speaker 3: Oh man, Yeah, yeah, if I think about it, I've
got like, yeah, song idea six hundred and forty two
in my voice, mother y.
Speaker 1: Sure and see, and you're not afraid to go into
the several different layers of where music is. I mean,
that's one thing I find so inspiring about you, Ryan,
is that it's like you look at it and go, Okay,
I'm gonna make it my own. Okay, I got it,
I got it. Let's let's make it happen.
Speaker 2: Thank you? Yeah?
Speaker 1: No, absolutely, Where do you get that confidence? Though? It
can't be just an LA thing. And by the way,
congratulations to your Dodgers.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Yeah go Dodgers. Absolutely where do I get that? Man?
Speaker 3: I mean a lot of it I think comes from
my dad at a young age. He's a songwriter. And
ever since I was a kid, I've been I've been
fascinated by his ability to just like make these beautiful
songs and and.
Speaker 2: I've always thought that that was so cool.
Speaker 3: And I you know, I think he's emphasized just like
the importance of a lot of these things since I
was a kid. And he never he never really you know,
told me to go into songwriting or you know, any
of my siblings or any of that, but I just, uh,
it was always around and and just the way that
he could do that and make make something out of
nothing or something out of.
Speaker 2: Whatever he was going through.
Speaker 3: I just thought that that it's like it's like such
a superpower, you know. And I think when I was
a teenager. That really set in and I was like,
I can I can take things in my in my
world and maybe you know, are negative or difficult, and
I can turn them into something positive that'll that will
help someone else. Or I can take something positive in
my world and turn into something fun, you know, And
that's just the coolest thing ever to me.
Speaker 1: Do you have a studio in the house and are
you using pro Tools? Adobe Audition? What do you use
in Vegas? What do you got?
Speaker 2: I kind of use a combo of pro tools and
Logic and.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I've got myself a little set up with a
vocal booth. That's that's kind of all you need these
days with your laptop. And you know, I've got a
drum kit too, which is which is great.
Speaker 1: Please do not move. There's more with Ryan Mitchell coming
up next. He's one of the big stars on NBC's
The Voice. We are back with Ryan Mitchell. How do
you go into a into sound booth? Because I mean,
I have to do it right here in front of
the computer when I'm dropping vocals, because I feel like
that this is the womb and inside this womb, this
is where creativity is. And if I have to go
over there to that room. There's a lot of thoughts
that move through me before I go ten feet totally.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's it's kind of like I was saying, I
guess the sound the sound booth might be an overstatement.
I really do enjoy using a dynamic mic, being in
anulated space that's big enough where I can move around
and you know, close my eyes and pretend I'm on
on a sound stage somewhere, you know, you know, a
performance to an audience.
Speaker 2: You know, that's uh, that's I think the best vocals
come from that.
Speaker 1: You coming from la Is there a side of you
that would like to be at the Hollywood Bowl?
Speaker 2: Absolutely? Yeah.
Speaker 3: I snuck into the Hollywood Bowl one time night. Actually,
and I say, I say, on stage at the Hollywood
Bowl with a couple of my friends. I I, well,
I guess this is the radio high Maybe I shouldn't
be saying that.
Speaker 1: Don't know, would you do go through the back Did
you go through the back side of it or did
you go up to the front side, come down that
come down the actual stairs to go up that way?
How did you How did you get up on that stage?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: You know, it's it's harder than it used to be,
I think, because at first I tried to go through
the front, and there's security, and so I climbed the
hill behind.
Speaker 2: The Hollywood Bowl.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I climbed the hill, and I was with a
couple of friends and we we walked down that that
whole area and ended up getting up on stage and
they looked like they were set up for something that
the following week. There's like some scaffolding on stage and
some stuff. But you know, I got up on stage
and I sang some queen and I was like, perfect,
I'm sang it. The Hollywood Bowl were in the foot.
Speaker 2: We got that off the checklist and then we left.
But yeah, well.
Speaker 1: See I've always called that the obi wan kenobi. If
you act like you know what you're doing, nobody will
ever stop you.
Speaker 2: Yep, oh for sure.
Speaker 1: Oh my god. Because and to be able to use that,
you're right, it is a little bit tougher today, but
still just to be able to have that confidence, that
sense of realm that's around you, and then people don't
ask questions. You're going, how the hell did this happen? Good?
Go for it. I'm gonna sing queen right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So now absolutely what is it like for you to
sing Queen? Because I was there on the radio when
Queen was brand new and program directors thought they were
just too freaking weird. And yet today they are the
greatest rock band on the planet, or at least one
of them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I do think that they are one
of the greatest rock bands on the planet, and we're
one of the greatest rock rock bands on the planet.
Speaker 2: I love to sing Queen.
Speaker 3: And and for me, it's it's just like the perfect storm,
you know, Like when when I think of Queen, I
think of I mean Brian May's guitar that's so melodic,
it's and and intentional and perfect. It's it's like singing,
and they're the harmonies that are built into those guitar parts.
Speaker 2: It's just brilliant.
Speaker 3: And I mean, Freddy is just, I really think, maybe
the best rock vocalist that has ever been.
Speaker 2: Uh. I've tried, you know, I tried to sing his songs.
Speaker 3: I have a different instrument than him, and I don't
think anyone will.
Speaker 2: Ever have his instrument again maybe, but.
Speaker 3: He's just such an incredible vocalist. And then it's just
the writing on top of that. It's just like so
personal and and and the drama and everything that comes
with that. It's it's perfect. It's everything is just it's
the perfect storm. And that's why I love pointing.
Speaker 1: So true, so true. I've been with Brian. That was
one of those where I was so freaked out beforehand,
and then when he gets on there and shares his
first words, it's like, this was so meant to be
because he it's just like we're talking here, it was
just an everyday conversation with this guy who just happens
to be in Queen But yet if you're during that conversation,
you would never know it. He's just a regular guy.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: Wow, Yes, and so were you. You've got it down
so well, Ryan. Where where did where do you find
your calm? Is Is it in l a thing to
where you're walking in peace? Because it really feels like
that you you're in control.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 3: I don't know, I I really I just try to
I try to stay present as much as I can,
you know, But but that's I think that's that's it
for me. Yeah, trying to stay present in the moment.
Speaker 1: Jeez, where can people go to find out more about you?
Because dude. I mean, you've got that sound, and I
know you're gonna be coming to Charlotte and I know
we're gonna have to get together and have some Southern
barbecue or something. But the thing is is that when
when you hit that road and start traveling, where where
can people go to get those long distance tickets, the
merchandise and everything like that as you grow forward?
Speaker 3: Well, you can find me on on on Instagram and
on TikTok at. Ryan Mitchell sings is my handle and
there's no spaces, no anything, and all my Spotify and
everything else, and you know, my my.
Speaker 2: Website and all that you can find through there too.
Speaker 1: So do you do you ever practice saying your name?
Like in other words? When because Kiss always had the
greatest introduction, you know, the hottest band of the world.
Do you ever just sit there and go, ladies and gentlemen,
Ryan Mitchell? Where do you go, ladies and gentlemen, Ryan Mitchell?
What what do you do? What is your best way
to be introduced?
Speaker 2: I never really thought of it. Actually, I go with
my name because it's my name.
Speaker 3: I don't know, Yeah, it doesn't over complicate things for me,
you know, And it's one thing that's never going to change.
Speaker 2: So that's that's what my name is, what I what
I use.
Speaker 1: But you know how this who generation is and I've
learned that they like to chop things down because I'm
anxious to find out how how Courtney Kardashian is gonna go. Well,
it's gonna be. I listened to Ryan Mitch. It's Ryan Mitchell. No,
I listened to Ryan Mitch. You know how they shorten
it down. What are you gonna do when they start
doing that to you, Ryan, or they're going I listened
to Rye. Ryan is my man. He's the guy that
gives me that music. I'm gonna listen to some Rye today.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 3: If anyone cares enough to be doing that, that's fine
by meat.
Speaker 1: Dude. You gotta come back to this show anytime in
the future. The door is always going to be open
for you.
Speaker 2: I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Will you be brilliant today? Okay?
Speaker 2: Ryan?
Speaker 1: And not Rye? Not yet? Not yet. It's coming though.
Speaker 2: Sounds good. Ryan,