Ryan Leahan Interview - The Backlight Podcast Ep. 18

this week i sat down with Ryan Leahan to talk having a song blow up on tiktok, highschool bullying, his ever changing best-songs-of-all-time list and his recent spark! remix album.

listen to the spark! remix album here!
  / spark-remix-album  

you can find ryan ‪@ryanleahan_‬ on all platforms, or follow him directly here:
  / ryanleahan  
  / ryanleahan  
  / ryanleahan  
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4BX7b...
https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanleahan?la...

and you can follow BACKLIGHT here:
https://solo.to/backlight

and you can follow noah, the interviewer, here:
https://solo.to/noahsellers

intro sound/graphics supplied by our amazing graphic designer bryce, you can find his work here:
https://bryceterry.com/

additional graphics supplied by our lovely graphic designer rei, you can find her instagram here:
  / reikonggg  

you can find ryan's "best of 2021" playlist here:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0s3...

and here are each of the songs ryan outlined as his top 10 of all time:
1. Curtain Call - Ruby Haunt: https://open.spotify.com/track/0cme8p...
2. Nikes - Frank Ocean: https://open.spotify.com/track/19YKae...
3. Song for Zula - Phosphorescent: https://open.spotify.com/track/6Thn8A...
4. Don't Be So Hard on Your Own Beauty - yeule: https://open.spotify.com/track/1MgWwi...
5. In Camera - Yumi Zouma: https://open.spotify.com/track/34PIoW...
6. Yam Yam - No Vacation: https://open.spotify.com/track/7kyiHj...
7. Chateau - Angus & Julia Stone: https://open.spotify.com/track/48mqfE...
8. There's Your Man - Ben Howard: https://open.spotify.com/track/7dGRFE...
9. 1921 - Leif Vollebekk: https://open.spotify.com/track/32s3mV...
10. asturias ft. Zero - Oklou https://open.spotify.com/track/7gqyMA...

and here are each of the artists ryan mentioned in the interview!
jais:   / jaiv-winter  
E L L E:   / weedkillervalley  
tyler childers:   / tylerchilders  
ian munsick:   / munsick  
grape milk:   / elidrinksgrapemilk  
christian blair:   / yoshi  
alé: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1mviu...
kaido:   / 1kaido  
starfall:   / starfall  
bladee:   / bladee1000  
dakota dogma:   / user-269823924  
RILEY THE MUSICIAN:   / rileythemusician  
bixby:   / ihatebixby  
endie:   / 1endie  
roan:   / whoisroan  

timestamps for each question:
0:00 intro
0:20 how did the idea of remixing spark! come to you?
1:07 did you influence the creation of every remix or were you more hands off?
2:23 have you ever reused WIP songs from years prior?
5:37 why did you say "this is gonna be the first summer of our lives"?
6:44 funniest experiences driving between philly and NYC?
8:37 did any of the remixes surprise you with how different they were?
10:47 do you consider any of the remixes better than the original songs?
13:05 BONUS: ryan's top 10 songs of all time (links in desc)
16:06 who are your dream collaborators for a remix album?
17:47 how do you look back at your earlier music?
19:39 BONUS: the fallout of having a song blow up on tiktok
22:13 funniest tiktoks you saw with My Little as the audio?
23:49 what happened in your senior year of highschool?
27:05 advice for artists experiencing artistic rejection in their hometown?
28:58 differences between ACBH and your previous collective, Requiem Inc.?
30:44 advice on how to perform when filming a music video?
32:32 ways to stay motivated in a creative slump?
34:11 lessons you learned in your first few live performances?
35:54 have you had any interesting dreams recently?
37:48 best small artists we should listen to? (links in desc)
39:17 artists you want to collaborate with?
40:57 things you want to accomplish this year?
42:23 outro