On September 7th, 2023, Ryan “Don’t Trust Ryan” a musician, DJ and artist sat down with Calum Jeacle from Debaser to discuss music, inspiration, process and most importantly his upcoming performance at Pique fall edition, happening on September 23rd, 2023. Known for their presence in the late night DJ scene here in Ottawa, we learned where he goes to dance, what motivates his artistic vision and the environments and experiences that he’s grown to cherish and build his sound from.
The following is an edited and trimmed transcript of the in-person interview between Ryan (R) and Calum from Debaser (D).
Debaser: Don't Trust Ryan is going to be playing with us at Pique fall edition of 2023 in Alma Duncan at 10:00 p.m. Known for your involvement with the DJ scene in Ottawa and Toronto. I wrote down things like your affiliation with the Ottawa event brand, Core, the DIY House Scene, and finally DJing for Arthritis Kid.
Ryan: What's funny is that [Arthritis Kid] works completely on her own, and I'm really just the cheerleader and arranger who executes the live visual spectacle. I think it's common to see us together, but when it comes to the music, she's really on her own. I don't know how to emphasize it, but she truly produces and works on her own. When it comes to what happens on stage, that's where we really get into it together. It works a different part of my creative brain. I get to play some drums, I play some synths, I bring out my sampler. It's more kinesthetic and a bit more engaging. That's kind of what perhaps I'm more known for. I enjoy pursuing things very separately. These are very isolated projects, so when I DJ, I like to engage with and interact with every part of that instrument, every part of that mixer/controller, my music and what's on that USB. And then when I work with Arthritis Kid, that's a completely different set. Of course, I might have my controller and whatnot, but I want to take advantage of the piano that’s at Live on Elgin. I want to use different instruments and kind of weave that into the performance to make her performance more engaging, but also help to enrich my own kind of skill.
“I feel like music is a way for us to express ourselves, express our egos or our personalities in different ways, and so I try not to stop myself or restrict certain elements of my ego. But getting to exercise a bit of each is always fun.”
D: You're going to be digitally DJing a lot of stuff, which I made the assumption and called “glitter pop with grit”. That’s what we were talking about before we started recording today, a texture based way of describing the music you're going to play. Is there any other way you can describe where your sound comes from or what it's going to sound like?
R: What's funny about descriptions is that, I had to complete a description for myself when Debaser reached out. It's very beautiful that you have to look inwards and dig for personalities in yourself, dig for egos and whatnot, and then it's very complex because everyone contains a multitude of egos. For me, I think glitter pop is great. It reflects the very bouncy texture of what I play and what I gravitate towards.
D: I wrote glitter Pop with grit, only because I've heard what you play, and you're playing a type of pop that used to come out from a different perspective. Sometimes pop is made by someone with, let's say, puppet arms. But you're playing a lot of music that is produced and written by these new powerhouses, describing new topics in really in-your-face ways.
R: Yeah, for sure. I like the way that you incorporate pop in there because I think it may not be what's popular. I love things that are catchy in pop. I like things that have a really sweet melody or bass line. I love playing everything from techno, to garage, to Italo, which I love doing at Afterlight. I only play Italo at Afterlight, like, 80s.
D: You've been playing around Ottawa a lot at this Afterlight series, at City at Night, which is earlier in the evening, so it lets you jump into different areas of your sound, right?
R: Yeah, it brings me great joy to be able to play those things because it's always a treat. It's something that I don't think I thought I'd be able to play. I listen to a lot of it. I love listening to R&B, jazz and a lot of older rock, but you never really find a way for it to fit in the way that you want it to, or to express yourself in the way that you want to. I don't know if you've been to Afterlight, but the way that they transform that venue is incredible. They have candles out and it's dim, romantic, and a little mysterious, but I feel like it works to my advantage because I tap into a different side of my taste and I get to tastemake in a way that's isolated and unique to that experience. Then when I make the glitter pop with grit -which I feel like I will alternate to my tagline- it's different, right? It's like a completely different ego, which is fun because I feel like music is a way for us to express ourselves, express our egos or our personalities in different ways, and so I try not to stop myself or restrict certain elements of my ego. But getting to exercise a bit of each is always fun.
D: It is funny to hear you describe that setting transformation too, because for listeners who don't know, Ottawa has nightclubs, and it has nightlife, but it doesn't always take place in nightlife settings, and you have a history of playing at places like Pour Boy, which is a dive bar that's turned into a nightclub. In the same way that your show at Pique will be in a screening room, there's this ability to take places that aren't necessarily for nightlife and turning them into that, just by the sound that comes into it.
R: I really appreciate the spaces that I perform in because there's so much history behind it. But beyond all of that is really just four walls, you know? I enjoy Pour Boy particularly because the owner gives me carte blanche to do whatever I want, and I'm free to experiment when I play in ways I never thought possible. Club SAW is like a second home to me in terms of where my musical journey goes, but I love this place because it also embraces the sound that I create. I think that I'm blessed to not be in a place where -or to have never been in a place where- that sound I brought clashed with the space that it existed in.
D: Carte blanche is a good way to put it, especially when you're trying to break new ground while playing. Addison Rae is an artist that's the first example that I can think of where a lot of mainstay nightlife places aren't ready for that specific kind of pop, because it's incredibly new but it reminds us of something that's already existed.
R: Yeah, Addison Rae’s really funny. A couple of my friends just go from, “this girl is out of this world, why are we liking this?” to “I'm sold” and are singing along and have the songs in their heads. I think that it's nice because [Addison Rae] mentioned that those songs are all demos, and I think that the element of experimentation is what I enjoy in the music that I play. I feel like a lot of music comes from experimenting, and I really like to perform them live because it's all an experiment and you get to embrace what happens.
D: It's polarizing too. Bringing back as well, the example of Arthritis Kid, someone who you are DJing for. I might be overstepping, but [her music] is almost built to be polarizing. It's literal, it's confrontational, but it's also fun and light. I think it speaks louder than words when you get on stage with this equipment that people are used to hearing dark techno on, and this style of pop transforms [the room] completely.
R: Absolutely, yeah. I don't want to put words in her mouth, but I think that she would agree. I think that in the music that she makes, there's a lot of lyrics that are in your face about her lived experience, the things that she's seen, the things that she's heard, but I think she wants you to tap into that. She wants you to feel that there's a bit of darkness and a little jealousy or whatever’s sinister about her, which is ultimately relatable. You're not fighting what you're listening to. You're trying to find common ground.
D: Before we let you prepare for Pique, any last words?
R: Thank you. Fucking thank you. Honestly, what a great group of people. What a great initiative. What a great curatorial team. [You’re] truly a person that I look up to a lot because you have the pulse of the scene. I think anyone in the art scene in Ottawa -when they realize what's going on here- are confused and excited, but it starts with the first one.
Tickets for Pique fall edition are available now here.