For the next installment of our CreatiVity program, creative director of Celine and long-time V collaborator Hedi Slimane hand-picked a spotlight for budding singer Ryan Leahan from Quadio’s college-based streaming platform. With 3.7 million streams in 2019, and a remix to his highly acclaimed single “Violet’ just released, the Temple University student is forging his own path into the music industry. One to watch, Leahan, who also goes by the name “Blondie” is making use of his time in quarantine by cultivating his passion for music and honing in on his unique, pop and soul fused sound. Initially catching Slimane’s attention with his track “Heatwave” off of his most recent album Platinum Green, Leahan’s emotionally charged vocals have a captivating power like no other.

VMAN spoke with the rising start about his growth in music, his beginnings on Quadio’s platform, and his experience social distancing. Read the full interview, below.

VMAN What’s your name, ages and where do you go to school?

RYAN LEAHAN Ryan Leahan, 21 years old, Temple University

VMAN What are you studying there?

RL Music technology

VMAN Where are you from? Does your music ever reflect or inspired by your roots?

RL I’m from Coatesville, Pennsylvania. I don’t think my hometown really affected my music, but the music I listened to at the end of high school really shaped the style I have made over the past couple of years.

VMAN Can you tell us a little bit about your background in music as a solo artist?

RL I taught myself how to produce and write songs the summer after high school. I would make 2/3 full songs a day and each day start fresh, spending probably 10 hours a day on music. Then, I got to college and it actually started to sound good so that’s when I decided to start promoting my releases. I met a bunch of my best friends who also make amazing music and here I am now.

VMAN How did you hear about Quadio? Can you tell us about the relationship you have with the platform and your music?

RL I found out about quadio because ophie came to my campus and told me and my friends all about it. It’s really cool because you can see yourself compared to everyone else at your school and region. Everyone starts at 0 on quadio so it’s cool to see who gets more popular on the charts because it’s 100% people chosen; nobody has an advantage.

VMAN Why did you choose to showcase your music there?

RL I think it’s a good way for other college students to find out about me as well as for me to find out about them.

VMAN Who are some artists that inspire you, your sound and creativity?

RL Right now, I’ve been listening to a lot of Russian bands, such as Molchat Doma and Human Tetris, also The 1975 are definitely one of my biggest inspirations and their whole 80s sound.

VMAN If you could work with anyone musically (past or present), who would that be?

RL I’d love to write a song with Bon Iver just to get to watch him create the unique sounds he makes. I would also love to work with Dylan Brady. I think he is the future of pop music and it’s only a matter of time before every hit song is distorted with pitched up vocals.

VMAN How do you want listeners to feel (or what do you want them to do) when they listen to your music?

RL I don’t expect or desire anything specific from my listeners. I feel like a lot of people just listen to music for the sound of it and never really dive into the meanings or stories of songs, while others pull every piece of info from a song, and I think both of those are great ways to listen. If you’re able to take anything from my music for yourself, that makes it worth it for me.

VMAN What’s been the most thrilling moment or experience of your music career thus far?

RL Full crowds of people singing the words at my shows. It’s incredible knowing that something you wrote in solidarity can be screamed by hundreds even though you have never met them before.

VMAN Can you tell us about the creative process and inspiration for  “Heatwave”?

RL Ian Hranilovich is a brilliant guitar player. He sent me the main guitar riff and I built the rest of the beat around it. It’s really just a fun song about moving forward with life and being excited about your future.

VMAN Can you tell us about the remix coming out May 1st?

RL Two of my best friends Patchymate and Abbot had dropped a pop punk single called “violet” a couple of months ago and my other friend Gordon Snyder, who is an absolutely phenomenal producer, got the stems from Patchymate and Abbot and flipped it into a Dylan Brady style hyper pop banger. They then asked me if I wanted in on it, and after hearing how incredibly aggressive and brilliant it was I had to get on it.

VMAN How has adjusting to the current climate of COVID-19 impacted your schooling and your life?

RL It sucks. I hate being in my house all of the time and I hate taking online classes. I just finished my last final of the semester today though, so now I can just focus on making music and not have to worry about school work at all for the whole summer. 

VMAN How have you been coping during this time? Is there anything that’s keeping you grounded?

RL I really haven’t been grounded to be honest, my sleep schedule has been a mess, I had been drinking a lot, and i couldn’t focus on music, but now with school being over I think that will all turn around now for the better.

VMAN When you aren’t doing anything music related, what are you doing?

RL Before COVID-19, I would hang out with my friends a lot in person, but now I hang out with them on discord calls. My roommate and I are currently transforming our tiny backyard into a garden so building flower beds out of wood pallets his how I’ve been spending the past week.

VMAN Do you believe music is important especially during a time where the world is in crisis?

RL I think music can help us forget that we are locked up in our rooms alone. I often find myself dancing alone in my room with the lights off and the music blasting. I close my eyes and feel like I’m at a party and I don’t have any worries anymore and just let the music take me wherever it wants me to go.

VMAN Where do you see yourself and your music career 5 years from now?

RL I have no clue, but hopefully i’m able to afford a comfortable lifestyle and i still enjoy making music, regardless of what it sounds like.

VMAN What are some of your goals musically and personally this year?

RL Musically, I want to release another song that gets a million streams because I had one in 2018 one in 2019 so I hope I can keep that streak alive. I also started learning guitar a few months ago, and I love writing songs with it now so I hope I can be really skilled with it by the end of this year.

Personally, I just want to be happier and quarantine makes that hard, so I guess I just want quarantine to be over so I can see Frank Ocean at Coachella.

Listen to Ryan Leahan’s “Heatwave” on Quadio, below.