In a world so densely filled with cookie-cutter bands and outrageous characters, it’s good to know Tempe is the home to a breath of fresh air for the music scene. Soft-spoken and full of passion, Ryan Osterman, singer-songwriter of Owl & Penny and Sownbones, is one of the few small voices trying to give our future generations something worthwhile to listen to.
But the current music scene seems to be discouraging younger musicians from entering unless they’re prepared to be closer to advertisements than their own guitars. Many who aren’t willing to have their voices accompanied by Auto-Tune or their bodies turned into models of sex appeal for teenie-boppers may feel the need to give up, but Ryan said, while the process isn’t easy, it’s worth it if music is what you love.
“It’s strange. I don’t really like it. I mean, I love writing. I just don’t like my process,” he said. “Before the first EP I put out, I had probably about 50 to 70 potential halfway songs, and I only ended up finishing about five to put out. It can be frustrating but, when I get through it, it’s really relieving and makes the entire endeavor worthwhile to me.”
You’d think the current mainstream musicians would remember the hard work it took them to get to where they are now. You’d think they would encourage others to do the same. But it constantly baffles me how musicians these days expect to be treated like nothing less than gods. I can generally remember attending the shows of my favorite bands during my adolescence, but the parts that I can vividly recall, the times that made me the happiest, were when the musicians stayed for hours after the show talking to and meeting fans.
Ryan released his new CD Fever Dreams last week, but he promises that with his achievement will not come the cocky overconfidence that so often follows successful musicians. His main advice to younger musicians trying to break into the music scene: be yourself.
“I think just saying ‘hello’ is good enough. A lot of my friends that I keep close now were once total strangers here or there, you know? I don’t like being put on a pedestal. I’m not different than you, or the stranger that will approach me later on in life. We’re all just regular humans, and we deserve to be respected like such,” he said. “You need to respect everyone you come across, being a musician or not. That’s just how life should run.”
“Be real with everyone and just enjoy what happens,” Ryan added.
Maybe one day things will be better. When fathers will no longer have a reason to keep their daughters away from musicians, kids will no longer need to listen to the sad excuse for music they’ve been given for so many years and aspiring musicians will no longer fear pursuing a career that at one time would have tried to mold them into something they weren’t.
But until that time, I’ll keep my faith in the fact that Ryan will be out there, willing to stay late after shows just to shake hands with a kid whose only wish may be to be on that stage himself one day.
Reach Brian at brian.p.anderson@asu.edu
