Ian Bryn

Soundside & The Receptive
Vintage Lounge– Levittown

On November 10, two up-and-coming bands performed at The Vintage Lounge in Levittown. Soundside featured Rich Arcati (lead vocals), Ran Reardon (guitar and vocals), Christopher “Topher” Denona (bass), and Chris Multari (drums). Their performance included such originals as “Everything,” “Never Take Me Alive,” “Into The Night,” “Denial,” “Great Barrier Reef,” “Stuck In A Memory,” “Back To The Beginning,” “Cross My Heart,” “Broken Promises,” and “Revelating.”
“Everything” started off a little slow but the beat picked up about halfway through the song. “Into The Night” had good harmonies, and “Back To The Beginning” was about, as Arcati related, “stupid stuff we used to do when we were younger.” “Cross My Heart” had a tight tempo with the drums and guitar keeping in close sync. The tempo slowed down about halfway through the song and then picked up really quickly. “Great Barrier Reef,” recently written, has not been released on a CD. “Broken Promises” was the first song the band ever wrote.

Soundside has two full-length CDs available, A Day Without Change and Soundside, as well as two EPs. They are currently working on their third album.

The Receptive is a mixture of indie, grunge, and rock. The act features John Colleary (drums), Ian Meilinger (vocals and guitar), and Tia Meilinger (bass). Their songs included “Rhythms,” “Cause I Want You To,” “Bittersweet,” “Me,” “Not Going To Lie,” “Spinning,” and “Inspiration.” Normally, Colleary and Ian Meilinger perform together; Tia is a member of another band, Fellow Project. However, all three members blended well together. For a trio, they have a very strong sound. Ian’s vocals are powerful with no signs of straining. Ian and Tia come from a musical family and have been performing together both locally and on the road since they were kids.

Currently, The Receptive has released an demo entitled, ((In Stereo)), which contains seven songs.
– Text & photo by Steven Karpe
- Good Times Magazine

Published: July 04, 2007 7:28 PM EST
By: Isaac Joseph Davis Junior
(Juniorscave.com)



Music Spotlight: Ian Bryn





Indie Grunge Rock.


Recently, Ian Bryn, Guitar and Vocals, from the Receptive took the time to talk with us at Music Now. As you read the interview, you will come to realize that this act from Huntington Station, New York makes great music. In fact, Ian stated recently that "I am not really sure how to describe the music that we write. It is simplistic in nature and fluctuates between soft melodic sections and heavier counterparts. We don’t do anything that crazy, but we make it sound good. The songs are driven by passion.” (Ian Bryn). I hope everyone enjoys this very cool spotlight--

Main Websites
http://www.myspace.com/thereceptive
http://www.myspace.com/ianbryn

Q. What aspect of making music excites you the most right now?
A. Making music is generally exiting to me. I really like the idea of making things from nothing. It simply feels good to create a song that I can listen back to and enjoy. It came from intangible experiences, and now it in some ways tangible. That is a very cool idea to me.

Q. What aspect of making music gets you the most discouraged?
A. I try not to get discouraged about things, but I guess, having a writer's block has in the past gotten me into a mood. I usually try to think about it positively and rely on the idea that maybe I should be doing something else right now. Being discouraged is a frame of mind that I try to avoid.

Q. What are you up to right now, music-wise? (Current or upcoming recordings, tours, extravaganzas, experiments, top-secret projects, etc).
A. My life is always filled with some sort of musical project, whether it be writing and recording my own songs, or helping out fellow artists and bands record their songs. I like to have music in my life, so I pretty much make sure that I always do in some way or another. Right now, I am working on finishing up some old songs, and also dabbling in some new writing. Just having fun with it.

Q. What's the most unusual place you've ever played a show or made a recording? How did the qualities of that place affect the show/recording?
A. I once recorded a live jam with a bunch of talented musicians at the Scarborough Renaissance fair where I worked. It was a really awesome atmosphere to be playing in--in the middle of a renaissance village outside in there wilderness. You can hear the frogs and crickets in the recording. We played for about 3 hours, and I have to say it was one of the coolest musical experiences of my life...

Q. In what ways does the place where you live (or places where you have lived), affect the music you create, or your taste in music?
A. I am not really sure that the place I live directly affects my songs as much as the situation in which I am living. I tend to write more about personal experience than about specific environments or places. BUT I do know that the songs that I wrote while living in Washington DC are very different from the songs that I wrote once I moved back to NY. So I guess the places do shape the music to some extent, maybe subconsciously.

Q. When was the last time you wrote a song? What can you tell us about it?
A. I wrote a song a few weeks ago. Where do I start with this one?.... I guess I will start from the beginning. I have crazy curly hair. It is getting pretty long right now, and a lot of my friends have developed a strange fascination with what I would look like if it was straitened. Well, the day finally came when everyone was in the right mood to make it happen. I was chillin in a chair on my back porch while 3 of my lady friends all worked together and straitened my hair. it was really quite a big deal.

Any way, I was playing guitar while they where blow drying my hair simply to keep myself occupied...I came up with this riff and started singing. The next thing I knew I had a ridiculous song about getting my hair straitened. It was really just for a good laugh. However, it kept running through my head, so I developed it a little bit and recorded it with my sister on bass and my friend Marino on drums. SHIT sounds sick!!!! It is goofy, but strangely rockin.... So that was the last song that I wrote, you happy now.....

Q. As you create more music, do you find yourself getting more or less interested in seeking out and listening to new music made by other people...and why do you think that is?
A. Regardless of whether I am currently making music, I am always interested in new music that other people are creating. I will never not want to hear other great artists. I get inspired by music, and I love music, that will never change.

Q. Lately what musical periods or styles do you find yourself most drawn to as a listener? (Old or new music? Music like yours or different from yours?)
A. I have been listening to a lot of local bands that are simply unbelievable. Probably some of the most talented artists I have ever heard. They are way better than me at music. I mean seriously, my songs don't even come close to comparing. I am talking about songs with crazy time signatures, and crazy changes throughout the whole thing. But they do it in such a way that you almost don't even notice. Seriously, some phenomenal shit..... My songs are very simplistic in nature. I do not really write songs the way most bands do. Don't get me wrong, I love the music that I write, but it is very different from most of the music I listen to right now. I tend to keep them short and sweet and easy to digest. A lot of the music I am listening to by other artists right now is very complex and intricate, and I must say I am really enjoying it. I someday strive to be able to simply play the songs that they write.

Q. Name a band or musician, past or present, who you flat-out LOVE and think more people should be listening to. What's one of your all-time favorite recordings by this band/musician?
A. Right now-- the first band that comes to mind is VIlla Vina. They are a local band from Brooklyn, and they are doing some really amazing things with music. They only have a 4 song demo recorded, so I have to say that that is my favorite recording by them. They are sick!

Q. What's the saddest song you've ever heard?
A. Damn, I am not really sure, probably one of my songs!

Music Now: Thanks for this great Spotlight








Photo used in this story was provided by Ian Bryn.

- Isaac Joseph Davis Junior