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Offline PANIC!  
#1 Posted : 10 December 2013 07:39:07(UTC)
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Ryan Ross Hernandez on Elvis Duran and the Morning Show
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Ryan Ross Hernandez stopped by this morning on Elvis Duran show to talk about music and speak candidly about his new girlfriend Isabel Merjos.

This morning we are joined by one of the most successful and well-respected singer-songwriters in the 21st century. He has sold over 26 million records worldwide. His new album titled Traveling Tales was just released last month and debuted at number two in the Billboard charts. Please welcome our buddy Ryan Ross Hernandez back to the studio. How are you doing this chilly, rainy morning in New York City?

Ryan: I'm doing well, I use to live in New York. The weather doesn't throw me off completely, it's not as bad as most of the rest of the country. I was watching football yesterday and literally every channel I turned to was a game drenched in snow, so this isn't terrible. Thank you for the very nice intro there.

I figure you've been around long enough to merit a long introduction like that.

Ryan: It's cool, man. I rather that than be an artist 14, 13 years into it and still be introduced as "this guy who plays guitar and has kind of just hung around, we're not sure about him yet, we couldn't book anyone better." [chuckles]

You are not anywhere close to a mid-tier artist, but you have kind of surfaced under the radar for the last few years. We haven't exactly heard a huge single on the radio from you or even Twitter, you deleted your Twitter account a long time ago now. Do you find it hard to remain in the space you are in music without following any of the trends found in both music itself and the ways it's promoted?

Ryan: I really don't. The thing with trends is that they come and go very easily, they are fickle. The artists who follow the trends that are built in music, they make a career out of very formalism ways and matters, don't have the careers as the musicians who kept true to their craft and organically grew as artists. That's why we live in a weird era in terms of music. You can take in music in so many different forms these days, just as the shortcuts you can take to making music. If you just used ProTools or sounds created by a computer, you can record an album in a week. There's much science there. When you're behind an instrument and you're creating those sounds yourself, it just makes the art that much more bendable. You can't replace a drummer with a drum machine. It's not the same feel. A drummer can take a beat and twist it in a million different ways. With a drum machine, yeah you can layer them and have effects, but it's still coming from a machine, anyone else could create that. Now in terms of promoting music, I fear for all these young people who are and have come up in the era where you have Twitter and YouTube and all this social media abstract. It's what these platforms are, they are abstract ways for people to either love you or hate you, which means nothing. I have nothing against the artists who've made it and launched careers through these resources they have at their hands. I do fear for the lack of artistic development they will likely have when their thrown into the wringer at 16, 17, 18 years old. We're in this media hate culture where it's much more cool to hate on something and someone than to write positive thing. It's a culture where everyone has 140 characters to tell someone whether they love them or hate them. Where opinions can run wild, even if they mean nothing.

It surely was a different time when you were growing up and breaking out in the music industry.

Ryan: Yeah, I signed my first record deal when I was 23 years old. It's crazy to me how major labels are signing these kids who are teens and giving them multi-million dollar contracts off a YouTube video or something like that. You can't... you can't go from your bedroom to Madison Square Garden, you can't. That's not how an artist is going to develop. You have to build to that, but a lot of these kids can't do that because they have labels and management that calculates everything they do. I think I came in the last batch of artists who started out playing venues where the capacity was a 100 and playing cafes and lounges. It was very natural and the moment that I was able to play the Garden and venues like that, it meant so much more because I knew I had worked my ass off to get there. These days you have labels promising these young artists a million records sold in six months and playing soldout venues with 30,000 people in a year. Let the artists develop, A&R departments have to do a better job in that and look at perspective of a career and not just a trend or quick cash in.

You do know a thing or two about developing your talents and growth as an artists. You have been around about 12 or 13 years and have kept true to who you are as a musician and I'd say even person at the time of recording a given record, without attempting to do what's currently popular and selling the most.

Ryan: Which I'm proud of, six records into it, I can say that looking back into my discography, I feel proud with the work I've done and the development I've had as an all around musician and songwriter. I also don't have the mind to be a world famous artist, can't go out dinner without 20 bodyguards. I would love to be famous for being under the radar. I honestly don't know how someone like Vanity, and Weekend, and so on, can have this level of success and fame, without losing their freaking minds. I would go insane if I had that much attention on me when I'm going to the gym. No one is famous for being under the radar. You're either in the spotlight and the public eye or you're not known.

You currently have a new single, you have a new album too, Traveling Tales, which we will talk about later. But you have a new single out called Living in Fairy Tales, which is a lovely song.

Ryan: Thank you.

You're very welcome. Isn't it hard to just release a song without something attached to it? Without having a factor of people believing it's about this person or having this sidenote or story to it or an elaborate music video or used for a commercial.

Ryan: It's impossible to have a hit song without something else going along with it. People really want something about than just the story itself that's told in a song. You think back to the early 2000s, yeah, probably a song would be a hit solely for the fact it's a good song. Back then you still had people calling in to request songs, "I wanna hear this song, I love this song, play this song." In 2013 you need more than just the surface of a song, people want to know all the details. When they Google a song, they need to have most of the first page be, "did you hear this song is about so and so?" You know? "Sources say..." It's all noted with a trace of BS.

For the last few years you have been able to go a bit under the radar, you had problems with your vocals for a while, and you moved to Montana. You weren't in the public eye, not even touring for a long time. Did you feel the need to plan out some large scaled way to say you were back?

Ryan: No, not at all. I announced I had recovered on a Google Plus webcast with like, what, 30,000 people watching it? It wasn't like I booked a performance on every major singing contest show and late-night television or get a gold truck to say, "Hey, I'm back!" We just announced the tour and people who are fans of mine and keep with what I do, past the charts or radio play, they know about and they come out to see the shows. Did we sell out every night? No, but we had the core audience there. I rather have a crowd that knows the deeper cuts instead of having to shuffle my setlist to please the highest denominator.

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Now one aspect of your life that keeps coming into view and making headlines is your personal life, your dating life specifically. The internet is buzzing around the rumor of you and Isabel Merjos dating. Are you cautious when you get into a new relationship with someone else who is also very well known?

Ryan: Life is too short to over-analyze everything, especially when it comes to the matters of love and relationships. Just go for it, if something feels right, if you feel like this other person would be good for you, take the time to learn them and love them. When I'm dating, I can't be thinking, "Oh sorry, I really like you, but I can't date you because people are going to view it a negative way." She's an amazing woman and I'm so honored to have her in my life. No other opinion is going to matter to me and it shouldn't when in a relationship it's just two people, two opinions that should matter. Everything else is just static noise that won't interfere our relationship.

I must say that you do sound very passionate, speaking about her and the relationship you two have.

Ryan: You have to speak from the heart to connect people. You know, it's just like I said before, this hater culture we live in. For as long as celebrities have been a thing, the media is fascinated with their love lives and that's fine, but they always have to attach, "and there's more." You never hear a tabloid write an article about two people being together and ending with, "they are very happy together and we wish them the best." Love whoever you love, man. And don't tweet about it. [laughs]

[chuckles] That's your advice to your fellow companions of yours with a high-profile who are dating in the limelight?

Ryan: Yes, just keep things private. I tried that in the past and it sucks, I want to be personal, but people that follow you on Twitter don't need to know certain things. I love people who use Twitter in a very vague, yet personal matter. I wish I had done it that way when I was on it.

Would you ever consider getting back on Twitter?

Ryan: Absolutely not. I don't have the mind or time to waste on that. I have songs to write, I have tours I want to go on. I don't have the space in my brain for getting into Twitter wars with people and going through all my mentions until I get to the one hateful comment toward me that just ruins the rest of my day.

We know you and Isabel are dating now. Obviously both of you involved together makes for a very high-profile relationship, there's no way getting past that. Would you two ever write and record a song together?

Ryan: I don't think if Isabel and I ever did a song together, it would be for the sake that we're dating. I don't think we would sit down and say, "hey, let's write a song because we're in a relationship." That's a gimmick. If it were to ever happen, I wouldn't want it to be done in a fashion where the selling point is that we made a song together, about each other because we're dating. That would undervalue the song.

So you're not ruling out the possibility of you and Isabel ever doing a duet?

Ryan: No, of course not. The thing is, we don't need to do it. We don't need to record a duet for the sake of our careers. We were both doing just fine before she met me and I met her, you know. We do talk about music a lot because we're both passionate about it. I don't see it ever coming a time where we use the fact that we're dating as a selling point for music or anything else. We're not gonna have his and hers watches coming out. I tried that before and it's not my lane. Leave me to the music, please. [chuckles]

It's also your girlfriend's, Isabel Merjos 21st birthday today, so we're gonna wish her a happy birthday right now.

Ryan: [laughs] Now transition to playing Recovery.

[chuckles] Not right now, probably on your way out you will hear it. Do you have any plans with her tonight?

Ryan: I'm actually playing a show in Orlando tonight. Pretty much in two or three hours I'm catching a flight to Orlando. Izzy is somewhere in this city, I'm sure.

That's right, you're still in the middle of your tour. You're actually playing the Barclays Center in Brooklyn next Friday, the 17th, that should be a fun show.

Ryan: I'm excited for that show. I've been to the Barclays Center before, but never have I played a concert there, it should be cool. It's the last tour date of the year and probably the last show we play in the states until next Summer, so we wanna really go all out for it.

We're looking forward to it. He is Ryan Ross Hernandez. His new album is titled Traveling Tales, it's out now. Thank you for being with us here this morning. Good luck with the rest of the show. Tell Izzy we wish her a happy birthday and a Merry Christmas to both of you.

Ryan: Thank you, I sure will. I'll be sure to have her come do my next interview instead. [chuckles]

Edited by user 10 December 2013 07:58:36(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

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thanks 5 users thanked PANIC! for this useful post.
RoseJapanFan on 10/12/2013(UTC), erich hess on 10/12/2013(UTC), DistortedAudio on 10/12/2013(UTC), GirlSpice on 10/12/2013(UTC), Andre Gandra on 10/12/2013(UTC)
Offline RoseJapanFan  
#2 Posted : 10 December 2013 08:49:17(UTC)
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OOC: Great job on this :)

Isabel: Yup, we're totally gonna make a song and then we're gonna make an album. Matter of fact, we should just have our own reality show too. That'll show people :P
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Offline Andre Gandra  
#3 Posted : 10 December 2013 11:17:02(UTC)
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mISTER_b: Love transcends man and by the light I saw on Isabel's eyes last time I was recording with her, I got tell you, you're making that girl happy! I feel happy for both of you, you're also a musician that we all can feel inspired by, I mean you're in this business for such a long time and still being reliable and artistically evolving, congrats on the new album and in this new phase of your life.
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Offline PANIC!  
#4 Posted : 10 December 2013 14:50:24(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: RoseJapanFan Go to Quoted Post
OOC: Great job on this :)

Isabel: Yup, we're totally gonna make a song and then we're gonna make an album. Matter of fact, we should just have our own reality show too. That'll show people :P


Ryan: It's interesting to me how people believe the fact that dating someone who's also a musician means that we're going to turn our relationship into a business. I knew it was coming, I mentally prepared myself for this interview. You should be my hype woman though, haha. :P

Originally Posted by: Andre Gandra Go to Quoted Post
mISTER_b: Love transcends man and by the light I saw on Isabel's eyes last time I was recording with her, I got tell you, you're making that girl happy! I feel happy for both of you, you're also a musician that we all can feel inspired by, I mean you're in this business for such a long time and still being reliable and artistically evolving, congrats on the new album and in this new phase of your life.


Ryan: Thank you very much for the compliments as a musician. I am proud of the work I've done and hope people can still find ways to connect with my music as I continue to grow older and hopefully wiser. I have to say that Recovery is probably the biggest song this year, if not it's a contender for that title. I'm not being bias whatsoever, it's a perfectly crafted song. Like I said, love shouldn't be something people try to break down to its smallest part. If you feel strongly about someone, just go be with them. I can't speak for Iz, but I think naturally you want to see your partner happy, so I'm glad she was happy in those recording sessions.

P.S. I did hear about that crush you have on Isabel.
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Offline Andre Gandra  
#5 Posted : 10 December 2013 20:27:43(UTC)
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mISTER_b: LOL, who else in the world didn't have a CELEBRITY crush on Isabel? No hard feelings at all man, you two make a beautiful couple together and I sincerely feel happy for you and for her too, I really do!

Edited by user 10 December 2013 20:28:17(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

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Offline PANIC!  
#6 Posted : 11 December 2013 05:28:57(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Andre Gandra Go to Quoted Post
mISTER_b: LOL, who else in the world didn't have a CELEBRITY crush on Isabel? No hard feelings at all man, you two make a beautiful couple together and I sincerely feel happy for you and for her too, I really do!


Ryan: Haha, I'm messing with you, man. I know Isabel is a popular choice for celebrity crushes. Obviously I can see why, she's a gorgeous lady. Once again, thank you for the kind words.
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