Application of Love - Interview with Ryan Bronson
Over the last year and a half Ryan Bronson has been an incredibly consistent and active artist releasing a number of tracks and projects throughout 2020 despite the pandemic. Bronson's consistency has garnered the artist thousands of streams and monthly listeners its even afforded him the opportunity to join Struggle Jennings on tour this Spring.
Most recently Bronson has been gearing up to release his latest full length project titled Application of Love a project he has been promoting since early May. The 17 track project will be released on June 27th and we caught up with Bronson ahead of the project's release to discuss the process of creating this project as well as his recent tour and more.
Bronson has taken the time to re-invent himself making some changes to his sound after finding inspiration from a number of artists. While he has consistently created some fantastic hiphop music he recently shifted his sound to fit more of a pop punk aesthetic while still incorporating some hip hop elements.
What inspired you to shift your sound and go towards more of a pop punk style?
When I was younger I migrated towards hip hop since I wrote a lot of poetry, and didn't really have a big sense of melody, but as I've grown artistically I've gotten a handle on melodies & have a lot of fun writing them, so naturally I just tried to blend the lyricism I love from hip hop with the sonics & melodics of pop punk to bring the two genres together a little bit.
What was the creative process like for this project?
I have always wanted to blend pop-punk & hip hop, dating back to when I first started making music I remember having conversations with producers and them not being able to get the vision I was looking for, then artists like Juice WRLD, Trippie Redd, Iann Dior & even Machine Gun Kelly's new sound have popped up, and I experimented with the sound a little on my Two Sides album from 2019, then a bit more during some of the weekly releases of 2020, and just learning what I can do & my strong points and more of who I am artistically.
And did those tracks and the reception to them encourage you to continue in that direction?
That kind of gave me a way to explain better to a producer what I was looking for, the pandemic kind of gave me a lot of free time to really dial in & experiment and find out where I really wanted to take it, I explained the vibe I wanted to Jake and he just knocked the production out of the park. Every idea I had every thought I had and wanted to bring to life, Jake brought into existence & really brought the best out of me.
How did you determine the features on this project?
I really wanted to have the features be organic and make sense, so Ryan Oakes who I have worked with before on a record back in 2018 has also switched from hip hop to pop-punk so naturally it made sense for us to link again & his verse is absolutely insane. I also worked with Christina Rotondo back on that same 2018 Project, she's a pop punk singer from the UK who I have been watching her covers on youtube since legit like 2012, luckily she's been down to collab both times I hit her up about it. Justin Rogers & I have worked on a pop/punk vibe record in the past, he's the homie & I think his voice just fits the vulnerable sound perfectly, its explosive. McGwire was the most "random" feature & legit one of his songs popped up on my Spotify discover weekly & I was like "who the f*** is this?" his voice was dope & his sound was dope, I had Talking to Myself written and recorded and I was like dude I gotta get him on here, reached out & he was down so we made it work!
You mentioned working with Jake Daniels on some aspects of production who all handled the production on the project?
Jake Daniels made every beat except for 3, Jvsper made the 3 Jake didn't & Jake handled all the mixing/mastering
Recently Bronson was given a great opportunity to go on tour with Struggle Jennings and open up for the artist in a number of cities. This was a great chance for Bronson to not only network with other artists but also connect with new fans and get word out about his upcoming project.
How did the tour with Struggle Jennings come about did you reach out and contact his team, or did someone reach out to you?
I was approached about the shows from a guy I've been booking shows with since 2014, we've prolly done 5-6 tours together, so when there's openings he usually hooks me up.
What were some of the most positive experiences of the tour, did you have some time to connect with fans?
The whole run was pretty dope. It was amazing to finally be able to talk to fans and shake their hands and hang out with them again, I was able to do some networking and found a super dope video guy who's handled/handling the visuals for the project as well.
Bronson has been actively promoting this project and encouraging fans to preorder the project ahead of its release to show support. Thus far hundreds of fans have already pre-ordered the project and the number grows daily. He has utilized a number of ways to promote his project including his time on tour and giveaways on social media
How did your time on tour help you promote this project?
The thing I tell everyone about promoting is the BEST way you can market as an artist is the old school way of hitting the road. I've been touring since 2014 and I have fans that I met on that tour and who saw me on those tours who still stream/buy the albums to this day. I used this tour to play some of my best old tracks, and a handful of the newer ones, & then one thing I do every tour that has been important to my growth is I print business cards and hand them out to EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. in the crowd. the card has a photo of me, a QR code with my streaming links & my Twitter and Instagram handle. They'll remember your performance if its memorable, but its sometimes hard to hear your name through a mic in a crowd when the music is off. Have merch to sell & have a guaranteed way for them to find you.
Do you have any visuals in the tuck that you plan to release alongside this project?
I got a few comin! one drops at noon the day of the album drop, another a few weeks later & we're in the shooting process for some of the other singles.
In relation to promotion but more how you're using your project to benefit others, you're giving away $1 from every pre-order to the Anxiety & Depression association of America, what inspired you to decide to make this donation to such an important cause?
This is something I've done with every release I put out since 2015. I've faced mental health issues with Anxiety, Depression, & OCD since I was in 5th grade. Part of what started this was earlier that year I spent a little bit of time in a mental hospital, while I was in there there was one doctor on duty, and only a handful of nurses. I asked why this was, they said they don't have funding for staffing to employ more people. I also realized that unless someone had faced mental health issues themselves, no one knew what I was talking about. It was like I was speaking a foreign language. In therapy learning that I wasn't alone & my therapist educating me on why my brain was doing the things it was doing was so helpful. I think that foundations like this both help educate people & raise awareness & helps to get help to people who need it, so as my platform grows I will continue to contribute to raising Mental Health Awareness where I can
You can stream Ryan Bronson's latest project "Application of Love" on all streaming platforms on June 27th! Be sure to check out the project and follow the artists on all of his social media accounts to stay up to date on his upcoming live performances and any visuals he may release alongside this project.