Ryan Ritchie
Ryan Ritchie's aspirations to become a songwriter and performer were formed when his family moved from their caravan park home in country Victoria to …
Ryan Ritchie's aspirations to become a songwriter and performer were formed when his family moved from their caravan park home in country Victoria to the outer suburbs of Melbourne. He spent his youth playing in bands that ranged from hardcore and hip-hop to '70s rock & roll; at 15 he started fooling around with 4 track recorders and samplers creating mixtapes of original material which he gave to girls, friends, teachers, and bosses.
He chose to pursue art full time at 17 and applied to colleges as both a composer and photographer. While attending Victorian College of the Arts studying Composition and Film, Ritchie worked nights as an MC and DJ in the then burgeoning local drum & bass scene. With blearing eyes, ringing ears and a sub rattled brain, he would stumble into classes on Bach and Beethoven and form his unique take on modern music.
His early career brought him international recognition with his hip-hop / jazz / orchestral group True Live, creating a fan base in France, Germany and a small buzz in his Australian homeland. He is also a partner in avant-garde large ensemble The Raah Project, which Ritchie discovered had become an underground success throughout Europe through the support of highly influential tastemakers such as UK DJ Gilles Peterson and seminal publication Vogue Italy. His work with soul songstress Paris Wells as a writer and producer resulted in Ritchie winning the pop / R&B division of the 2009 International Song Writing Contest.
The following year he continued working as a producer for artists including Paris Wells, and Kimbra (arranging her JJJ hit Cameo Lover) and wrote songs for himself whenever he had a spare minute. His solo project has been developed from every corner of the globe, from his time in Williamsburg with Paris to European tours with The Raah Project where he split off for a sojourn in the south of France.
His first solo offering, The Reds EP, displays a portion of extremely diverse group of influences that have come to shape Ryan's musical universe. Some may call it alternative pop, but it's definitely a little more complicated than that.
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