Ryan Vail
Londonderry County Borough, N Ireland, United Kingdom | Established. Jan 01, 2012 | INDIE
Music
Press
Earlier this month, we premiered Ryan Vail‘s “Grow,” a grievous song from Vail and musical partner Katie Cosgrove’s forthcoming Grow EP, which details the story of a friend’s sudden death. Where “Grow” laid bare the inevitable, the second track, “Gone,” acquiesces to mortality with added reflection and perspective. “‘Gone’ is about seeing things in a different light,” Vail says. “Past issues become irrelevant.” It’s a four-on-the-floor thumper that lilts even as the subject submerges. - FADER
Ryan Vail and his musical partner Katie Cosgrove have a way with austere soundscapes. Their latest track, “Grow,” begins with stark simplicity: the crackling of a needle resting on a vinyl groove. It’s a symbolic signifier: a story, much like a record, will soon play out. The song’s pulse–a steady, if somber, thump–beats for a minute-and-a-half before Vail’s subterranean baritone lays the narrative. “Grow is very personal,” he says. “The track, and the Grow EP, was written about a friend that passed away suddenly. The project covers the various stages of his journey to death, from telling people he was dying, dealing with it himself, questioning God and finally understanding what was happening.” You don’t know what I’ve been told/Every day that we get old/My life fades, it’s hard to say goodbye, Vail half-whispers, half sings, as reverse percussion samples clank underneath like a structure’s hollow pipes and beams slowly caving. We know the story’s end from here. Still, “Grow” is a grievous track that quietly commands you listen something fierce. - FADER
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
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Bio
Since the age of 13 Ryan Vail has been tinkering and experimenting with music. He cut his teeth at the tender age of 16 in the city's groundbreaking turntablist scene, where his love of hip hop and drum and bass, and also the crackly, analogue charms and possibilities of vinyl and synths, found root.
After working for a few years on melodic, instrumental tracks, Ryan hooked up with multi-instrumentalist and singer Katie Cosgrove,and the two began to sing and play live together, Starting small at local gigs, they incorporated Katie's flute and guitar, bringing an organic balance to Ryan's synthesized, propulsive beats. The pair have recently gone on
to support acts such as Jamie XX,Jon Hopkins, David Kitt, Boxcutter, Todd Terje, Phil Kieran and Luke Vibert among others.
No stranger to breathing fresh life into battered old machinery (check his old school MK1 Golf for proof - Ryan is one of those annoying, polymath people who can also add vintage car restorer, surfer, DJ and father to his CV...), he and Katie are defiantly hardware-focused in their music production as well, and you can hear the warmth of all those old synths in every track. Glitched electronics and analogue, drum-machine beats mingle with intimate, breathed vocals and pastoral, uplifting, naive melodies. His vocal chops have not gone unnoticed on the electronic music scene, and have recently been featured on tech-house releases by Dharma (on the legendary Renaissance records label), and local upstart Smak (Stripped Muzik records).
Comparisons to New Order, James Blake, Steve Mason, Q Lazzarus and The XX are more than justified. 2013 seen the band play on BBC introducings TV show for one big weekend. Other Voices series 11 also had Ryan Vail on there TV show playing along side John Grant, Neil Hannon and Laura Marling. Ryan is one to watch in 2014...
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