Name: javier ryan

Birthplace: afton, mn

Currently residing: missoula, mt

Musical past and present in one rambling run-on sentence: i was in choir since i i was lttile and thought iwas gonna make comics strips and started teaching myself piano at lunch breaks in ninth grade and then switched to electric organs that i’d watched my grandad play and switched to more portable guitar after graduating from high school and tragedy struck in college and i could’nt paint anymore so i put the pepper on writing and singin’ songs and that’s gone on and off for ten yearsish but i got into looping and drum machines and even had a band with traffic called special peoples and played keys with grit for a while and now i play bass with SHAHS and try to write pop music on my looping setup that sounds like prince MJ george michael billy idol and big black all capture on a demo called PARIS MINGUS made with audacity on a 2003 macbook’s internal mic.

Website

1. Who are some of your favourite composers, musicians and bands from the past and present?

me like madlib, dilla, metalfingaz (DOOM), grimes, xxyyxx, shuggie otis, pharoah saunders, miles davis, john coltrane, squarepusher, and tom waits. ini kamoze, LEN, yello, r. kelly, kanye, lana del rey. fine young cannibals, willie nelson, bjork, bonnie raitt.

2. Is there a particular song or musical passage that never fails to move you emotionally?

“your mother wouldn’t wanna see you with a poor boy.”? -nick ryan, skin flowers.

3. How would you describe your perfect day?

waking up at 11 so i can say “good morning” without people smart-assing at me. do my emails and my social media then practice guitar scales to the news then random ufo vids then some actual shows interlaced with some songs (UMO has been bumped a lot lately.) then i walk downtown with my guitar and start working on whatever new songs-wait… perfect day. i was doing typical. perfect day: wake up after noon in a tour bus in a new town. eat a decent breakfast and then walk around looking at architecture or people in hopes of finding some i get along with. work on new beats, sound check, dinner, play the show and after party a little then get some rest and do it all over again.

4. What would your friends say they appreciate the most about you?

when i leave, so does my aroma. if you’re done with that, i will finish it. i can sleep most places and even through a party. sometimes i have stuff in my beard and they laugh. and i believe in stuff with a child-like somethingness.

5. What is your most valued material possession?

easy. 1985 sequential TOM420 drum sequencer or the  roland gaia.

6. Who were you, or would you be nervous to meet?

probably grimes. and i’d be nervous about being nervous. she’s a dissonance genius and she seems nice from her interviews. i have no filter and an extremely dark sarcastic sense of humor, especially when i’m nervous, so i’d be afraid of trying to be funny then having to dig my foot out of my mouth. i should probably just stick to one word impersonal responses, grunts, and nods. and then i’d just be worried about smiling too much and if i was holding my arms in a weird way. i mean really who does that with their arms? idiot! idiot! idiot!

7. If you could blink your eyes and be in a favourite place right now, where would that place be?

maybe in a really tall building, or san francisco, or watching a ufo zip around. i saw one over los alamos once. really.

8. Is there something you would like to do more of in the future?

i really like recording and producing. i scored a short film. i just started writing a new concept album, and i think i’d like to get more into making videos. i want to make a multidimensional experience of it all, like another reality is bleeding into ours. you know? like t.v. but on a stage. i want to be the j.j. abrams of pop music.

9. Where would you like to find yourself in ten years? it would be nice if i could find myself in less than 10 years.