Ryan Star – HuffPost 4.28.10

[Note: This is a nice exchange taken from my interview with Ryan Star that might be inspiring to new artists.]

Mike Ragogna: One of the pictures of you that are floating around the internet shows you wearing a Leonard Cohen Songs Of Love And Hate album shirt. Who are some of your influences and inspirations?

Ryan Star: I played the saxophone and that was my thing. So, up until I was eleven or twelve, I believed that my calling was to be the next Kenny G. Thankfully, a band called Pearl Jam came out and changed my life forever. I remember getting the CD and saying to myself that’s what I want to do, and the next day, I formed my band called Stage.

MR: How old were you?

RS: We were 14 at the time. And since that day I haven’t stopped. So, those are my early influences. The whole Seattle scene was a very big influence on me. Then, I also was into east coast side of things. I loved the Lemonheads and the Pixies and Morphine and that New England scene. Juliana Hatfield…do you know her music?

MR: Absolutely.

RS: She sang on my record. It turned out she was a fan, you know, it goes years back. I saw her was younger, gave her one of my demos, and it turns out she knew who I was and was excited to sing.

MR: Dude, you’re humble and a New Yorker. This is good.

RS: I learned a lot, especially being on that TV show. I grew up in New York. Madonna walks down my street or Lenny Kravitz and no one cares. For me, I think what has kept me humble is the fact that at the end of the day, I have to go back and see all the people I’ve always seen, all the great musicians, and all the bands that are killing it in New York. You never really let anything get to your head because there’s always something great right next door, and it just keeps your game up and keeps your head small which is a good thing. It’s hard to let anything get to your head because there’s always someone way bigger than yourself down the street.