Rising Stars: Meet Ryan Embola of Northridge

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Embola.

Hi Ryan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in a musical family and landed on electric bass at an early age. A friend in middle school wanted to start playing jazz music and from there we formed this little trio and tried to learn just by ourselves the best we could. Then one day they brought up that CalArts, the school I would eventually go to for my masters degree, had this program called the Community Arts Partnership that let young students take music classes for free every Saturday with students from the school. And with time We joined and met so many amazing people some of which I am still deep friends with to this day. Our little trio morphed into a solid group of 8-10 people and we’d start playing around and making arrangements and the likes. From there, I was fully sold on doing music as a profession. One of my main mentors at that age would then tell us later a gameplan if we wanted to pursue music in college that would eventually be exactly what I did which was: Go to a community college the go to CSUN then go to CalArts. Build your foundation up and then reap all the amazing things you’ll get in your undergrad and Grad degrees. While in college I would be gigging and working to establish myself into the scene and have had many amazing opportunities and collaborations while doing my studies such as Recording a full record and then driving up to Stockton for the release show then driving back down the same night for 8am Class, acting in a student film and working in the field of music technology and many more. but getting out of academia gave me new perspectives and direction on where I want my art and my overall life to go

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t always been the smoothest road not the sweetest treat to eat. I have this tendency to overthink everything and overextend myself to do everything which would lead to large amounts of burnout as well as conflicts with mental health that I still deal with that I’d rather not get into during in this interview. Money has always been a mountain to fight especially later on in my education as I was working 2 teaching jobs while gigging actively just to be able to go to school, contribute to living fine when I was living with my mother during my whole collegiate career which saved me money in some regards but also held some of my needed growing back in other regards. I felt in the social side, I had this deep feeling of being a “Mannish Boy” where it wasn’t this oh We are in it and I am working to make a career in this but more of this doom and gloom I need to have everything planned down to tee and be everything I can so that I don’t end up a failure that really weighed on and has been in my heart for a long time. I was raised with very high expectations as a child and that most of what I did had to prove something or was in pursuit of proving something to peers, family, etc. which I am still in the progress of dealing with to this day as truly, We are all just works in progress and still on our our personal journeys as well as a collective journey with each other.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am an Upright and Electric bassist by nature of that being my main instrument however these days I have been diving into work on MaxMSP/music technology and composing music for my own sextet which we will be recording our first major release in the first couple of months. At this state in my life, I am very honored to have been a part of many projects spanning from records both released and unreleased, films, social efforts, etc but I will give you one to show the core of what I care and so that we are not here all night. During my last year at CSUN, my friend asked me to be apart of his project entitled Songs of the Sea which originally was a small quintet composed of Vocals Piano, Alto Saxophone, Bass, and Drums. As we began building and learning the music, We were recommended to work with the school’s dance and ecology department on a show entitled Home which was about Finding solutions to Earth’s pollution and how the environment is in a state of hurt due to greed, corporatization, neglect and the other usual suspects. From there the next months were some of the most fruitful and inspiring of my life, There was a lot of research and efforts involved but we were able to work with our departments to have this show truly make a deep statement and I wouldn’t trade that for the world. I don’t really believe in what sets me apart from others in that way of “I Do this and that’s what makes me special” but all I do know about myself from all the things I’ve learned from my amazing friends, teachers, mentors, etc. and have experienced, is that I enjoy and always wish to contribute to healing whether that is emotional release in song form, making a statement about an issue, working with children to refine their gifts, or even just sitting in the back of a bar people watching on a gig. I love people and it truly is an honor to be able to do what I do and to meet the people I’ve met as well as move forward in live to meet more people in the future

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
The main pieces advice I’d give is this:

You deserve to be happy and to be loved. You are not what you do, what you do is a reflection of who you are. Everyone around you is valid and can give you something to sit on and you have the choice to make use of it or not. Everything should always be done for the sake of having fun and in the pursuit of experimenting. Let folks show you who they are and believe. You are human and that is enough. You always have a choice.

There has been a recurring cycle in my development in many aspects of my life not just music and that is I hold myself to this standard of trying to be perfect all the time. Maintain this facade of having no kinks in the armor or if they do show up, then shutting down completely cause feeling and being vulnerable with the folks in my life is honestly a major area I need to work on. I used to condemn myself very deeply and only recently started sitting in the emotional work around mistakes and lapses in communication but that is even when we mess that doesn’t mean we are terrible folks or monsters or that we don’t deserve to live or be loved. Mistakes are just part of what we do and that is okay. That is what I wished I learned or had in my heart much sooner than now but you know things come as they come and I am honored and happy to be here in community. I am not sure where this will land in the article but I would like to end it the article with this for anyone who needs to hear it or needs in their hearts right now: You are very special to many people and if you don’t feel that then at least you are very special to me for spending this time, You are one of a kind and at the same time there are many people very similar to you who can understand you as you are. It is truly an honor to be living in the same time as you and I wouldn’t trade that for the world. You deserve all the Happiness and joy that will come your way. Sorry for getting all sentimental at the end and Thank you for spending this time with me and hearing a little bit about who I am and some of the things I enjoy doing.

Pricing:

• I Teach based off Sliding scale centered around what students can afford at a given time

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigbxrrie/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rembola30/videos

Image Credits
Poster Photo by Rob Moreno, Songs of the Sea Poster by Brian Meyer