Ryan Gorman

Full Sail grad Ryan Gorman is pleased with his work on the Deftones' latest album, Saturday Night Wrist. Recording Arts grad Ryan Gorman has left his mark on one of the most anticipated metal releases of the year, the Deftones’ latest album Saturday Night Wrist. This follow-up to the band’s self-titled 2003 disc debuted in the top ten this fall, thanks to their rabid fan base, of which, coincidentally, Gorman has long been a part.

“I used to be in a band in my home town, and we actually opened with a Deftones song at the first show I ever played,” he shares laughing. “Yeah, so working on their new album was a very cool experience for me—and one of those things where you’re kind of like ‘Yep, you’re the reason why I’m here!’”

After graduating, Ryan split his time between studio work and touring gigs, until he landed his current dream job as the tour manager and front of house engineer for the Bangkok Five.

“I went on tour with the Bangkok Five last fall,” he explains. “And the drummer invited his fried Shaun Lopez, who was one of the producers for the Deftones, out for dinner with us. And during the meal Sean was like ‘You know, the label has been talking about bringing in a Pro Tools engineer for the record.’ And I just raised my hand and said ‘Hey, I’m your guy!’”

Good thing Ryan spoke up because that initial meeting led to him being hired as a Pro Tools operator for Saturday Night Wrist. The big opportunity to work with one of metal’s most respected bands got, well, huge once Ryan stepped into the studio and found himself alongside Deftones vocalist, Chino Moreno.

Ryan was initially brought on as an editing machine, “but when we started cutting the vocals I kind of fell into the engineering seat, and ended up engineering a lot of the vocals on the new album.” he shares. “One thing I wanted to make sure I didn’t do was offer up too much input, but there were definitely times where they were scratching their heads and I could just raise my hands and say ‘I got ideas here!’ And they were really receptive to it.”

This fifth Deftones album in 11 years has been catching strong praise from the music press, and Ryan is especially proud to be a part of their evolution. “The new record has everything from metal, all the way down to hip hop and even some jazzier stuff,” Ryan explains. “It’s really very diverse for them, and the experience was really cool because as soon as they put the first single up on MySpace it had two million plays within a couple weeks. And to know that I can hear subtleties in there that are my work and my influence is just awesome!”

And while hearing the influence of his work on a major label has been a surreal thrill, Ryan got an additional kick out of going out to pick up his own copy of Saturday Night Wrist when it hit stores. “The really amazing thing is I went out yesterday, the day the album came out, and it was sold out,” he shares with a giddy excitement. “It was so awesome! I was in New Orleans, and I couldn’t find it at any record store I went to! I mean, I can’t buy a record I worked on! That’s sweet!”

With those sales pushing the new Deftones album near the top of the charts, Ryan is excited to think about what’s in store for him next. Already itching to get back in the studio as he wraps-up a packed tour with Bangkok Five, this Recording Arts graduate has proven that there are limitless boundaries in the music industry.

“I’m really lucky to be able to jump back and forth between the two worlds – the studio and the road. I’m not a big fan of touring when there’s ten feet of snow on the ground, and when it’s 75 degrees out I’m not a big fan of sitting in a studio all day! It’s kind of hard to keep it all organized and make sure you don’t stretch yourself too thin, but working in so many areas keeps this interesting every day!” - Full Sail Real World Education