Having already established himself as the guitarist for fast-rising indie-rockers Luna Bay, Rye Milligan recently took the plunge to pursue his new solo project with his brilliant single, ‘Silhouette’. Stepping away from the standard guitar and drums backdrop that most artists in his position adopt, Rye is more interested in using new technology to create his work. Blending traditional instrumentation with looped samples, he has delivered a fresh and dynamic new offering that oozes originality and creativity.
So with his new cut doing the rounds right now, we contacted him to find out more about his new venture and what the future holds.
Words by Chris Bound
Discovered via http://musosoup.com
Chris) Hi Rye, how are you today?
Rye) Hello, I’m well thanks! I miss my friends and family but I’ve got my health, so I am feeling very grateful.
How would you best describe your sound?
I’d say my sound would be best described as indie-electronic. It’s predominantly guitar-based songwriting but I mess around a lot with production, adding electronic layers. My songs are lyrically often self-reflective, so I guess it's like singer-songwriter with synths and sub bass…
Which artists have influenced you the most?
Musically, there’s this incredible American rapper/artist/producer called K.Flay. Her music always excites me into wanting to make more music myself. In particular her album Life as a Dog. Check it out if you haven’t heard of it before. It’s an 11/10. Or, for the lifestyle, I’ve always been influenced by Jack Johnson. He seems to live modestly yet is a hugely celebrated artist. I love that, plus his music is just beautiful and so relaxing.
You are also the guitarist in Luna Bay. What made you decide to pursue a solo project?
Yeah, I absolutely love being in Luna Bay and it’s 100 per cent what I want to spend the rest of my life doing. But before I met those boys I was releasing my own music and supporting artists I love with this project. So it’s been important to me to carry on with this project on the side. Once you’ve performed on stage surrounded by your friends, it’s hard to go back onstage alone. But both are so rewarding, in their own way. The Luna Bay boys are really supportive of this project. It was actually Alex (Luna Bay’s drummer) who encouraged me to finish producing and releasing ‘Silhouette’.
Can you tell us a little bit about how that track came about?
Yeah sure. Around the time I was writing this song I was in my third year of uni. My bedroom was so small. In order to have my desk and recording equipment set up I had a single mattress on the floor and nothing else in there . We called it my ‘BeatLab’. I was really into production so would often squirrel away and that's how this song started really. I’ve got a podcast episode called ‘Rye Pod’s’ where I break down the production more.
Are you planning to make it part of a larger release, such as an EP or album?
I’d like to build up momentum for this project by releasing singles for now, before working towards a second EP in the future. I like the idea of singles because they are their own separate entity.
What other plans have you got in store?
So 2020 has undoubtedly been postponed for the music industry at the moment. But like a lot of artists I’ve taken to online streaming shows from my bedroom. I guess isolation works well for my solo loop pedal and sample pad set up… My bedroom is where the music was written and made anyway, so it’s an exciting concept to perform it live in the same space for an audience online.
I did a Facebook live stream on Sunday 26 April for Aperohit. Connor (Luna Bay’s frontman) and myself did one for the band on Instagram too. And I’ve got another one for my solo project for BBC Radio Wales / Horizons. The date will be confirmed soon. Luna Bay are also releasing a new song soon which I can’t wait for. It’s called ‘Misunderstood’, so keep an eye peeled for that too.
Finally, if you weren’t a musician, what career path do you think you would have chosen?
I can’t remember who gave me this advice, either my dad or my grandma, but they said that you are never one thing in life, you do a lot of different things and they all feed into you, being you. I like that because it gives space to explore other avenues. I quite liked drama classes while growing up and even made my own radio shows and wrote scripts with friends. It doesn’t mean you have to be exceptional at anything, but I like the idea of dabbling in many things.