--Ada Wofford
----24 April 2020
In our second installment of Life During Quarantine we talk to Ryan Young, a multi-instrumentalist from South Jersey whose projects include Morning River Band and Dear Forbidden.
MLU: Tell us what instrument(s) you play and what project you are currently working on—If nothing current, what have you worked on recently or in the past?
Young: Right now, I’m working on two projects, playing drums in Morning River Band and bass in Dear Forbidden. Morning River Band just released a song a few weeks ago called “The Arrow and The Flame,” which incidentally features Gina from Dear Forbidden on vocals. Morning River Band completed two songs at Gradwell House about a day before lockdown began. The next one, called “Cumberland County Line” will be released in a few months. Dear Forbidden is currently in the mixing stages for another single called “Invisible Corset.” It was mostly recorded pre-quarantine, except my bass parts which were done in my house, post lockdown.
MLU: As a musician what have you been doing during quarantine?
Young: Mostly, with the bands I’m in, it’s been planning for the future and recording at home. I did write and record a few songs myself, playing all the instruments, but in a (maybe lockdown induced madness) I became frustrated with those songs and removed them from my BandCamp.
Ryan's home recording set up
MLU: That leads well into this next question, do you feel that quarantine is affecting your productivity as a musician/writer? If yes, how so? If no, why not?
Young: At first, yes, I was highly motivated and used my time to record and write. As the lockdown drags on, I’ve become less motivated. I haven’t even picked up an instrument in a few weeks.
MLU: What records have you been gravitating towards during this time?
Young: I’ve been playing a ton of records lately, trying to really dig into stuff. I’ve been on kick with the new Stephen Malkmus record “Traditional Techniques” and I’ve been revisiting Sonic Youth’s “Spinhead Sessions” which is a bunch of instrumentals they recorded with the intention of it being the soundtrack for a movie. I don’t know if the movie part happened on or not.
MLU: You recently posted an article all about deep listening and your nightly routine of listening to a whole record. Can you speak about that? Why it's important to you and so on?
Young: It seems to me, in today’s Spotify/playlists/singles world, the magic of entire albums is being lost. The article I shared likened it to reading a book or watching a movie, and I agree completely with that sentiment. Most artists are meticulous about track sequencing, album art, etc. all of these things add up to a complete work. It’s all telling a story or at the very least giving you a vibe. So much of the wonder and joy is lost when you just have a collection of songs on your phone. It’s an experience. You wouldn’t just watch the trailer for a movie or read the back cover of a book over and over. I mean, I don’t know, maybe people do that? People often talk about how much they love music or how important it is to them, but I feel like they don’t interact with in a way that speaks to that.
MLU: I get that. I hate comparing mediums though because a song isn't a synopsis of an album--a song is its own little world.
Young: Good point, but I tend to like albums that are sort of "concepty." Cursive has a record called I am Gemini that I absolutely love, that tells a complete, operatic story that would be lost if you were just listening to one song. The physical release even comes with stage directions and stuff. But even songs that are their own little word exist in a solar system that can add additional perspective
MLU: I like the solar system analogy. Yeah, the artist's intent is important in this regard as well. I was thinking about pop albums and there's hardly any continuity in those albums. It's like 12 attempts to write a hit
Young: Yeah totally, but I’d even argue something like Taylor Swift’s Reputation is 12 attempts to write a hit, but it definitely has through line. That being, her reputation with the media.
MLU: Yeah I can see that. So, do you think you’re gravitating towards them specifically because of the quarantine?—If so, how?
Young: I’ve been listening to a bunch of my personal mainstay bands, maybe for comfort? I haven’t felt the desire to check out anything new (as in a new artist, I recently checked out the new Deerhoof stuff, which is a band I already liked).
MLU: Writing a song about quarantine/the pandemic—Cool or Cheesy?
Young: I think it can probably be done well, but I mostly fall in the “cheesy” side of the debate.
MLU: What’s the first thing you plan on doing once this is over?
Young: Band practice!
MLU: Just for fun, if you were to write a song about quarantine or the pandemic, what would you call it?
Young: “You can have a little bat, as a treat.”
Check out our write up on Morning River Band’s new track here and our write up on the most recent Dear Forbidden single here. Listen to “Smile Dropper” below.
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