FOR OVER 30 YEARS, Ryan has worked as a musician, visual artist, playwright, and poet. He has collaborated with Rozz Williams, E.X.P., Jacen Touchstone, Doriandra Smith, Ace Farren Ford, Clint Catalyst, Omewenne, Justin Bennett, and kETvECTOR.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1991, he co-founded the musical troupe EXP, a motley group of artists conjoining poetry and their own experimental brand of music. In 1996, they released their first album on Triple X Records while extensively touring the West Coast of America until 1997, when they separated to pursue other projects. EXP now boasts an international reputation as one of the decade’s most influential underground bands.

In the 1990's, he collaborated with longtime friend and deathrock pioneer Rozz Williams (Christian Death, Shadow Project) on the experimental spoken word album The Whorse's Mouth, which he co-wrote and provided backing vocals for.

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In 2000, following three years as the Wine Director/Sommelier at one of Seattle’s top-rated restaurants, Ryan relocated to Paris. He attended the prestigious Université de la Sorbonne, where he earned a secondary degree in French Language and Civilization. In Paris he furthered his wine career, working for three years as the wine director at Café Universal, a legendary Parisian jazz club. 

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In 2001, he embarked upon a series of extremely successful art exhibitions showcasing his dynamic assemblage/collage sculptures, culminating in a gallery showing of his work in 2007 at the Centre Culturel Christiane Peugeot.

 

In 2005, Ryan returned to the United States as the Southern California Sales Manager for several extremely reputable French wine import and distribution companies, supplying some of the finest selection of wines to California’s upper echelon of restaurants and retailers. In 2010, he and his husband relocated to an island in the Pacific Northwest, where they taught The Art of Wine classes at Whatcom Community College for 5 years and launched their tour business, Wildstar Wine Tours.

 

He also served as the editor for the poetry book AND WHAT ABOUT THE BELLS? by Rozz Williams, published out of France by Camion Blanc. A new English-language edition of the book (release TBD) will feature never-before-seen photos and previously unreleased poems by Williams.

 

Ryan's next album, THE RUBBING MIRROR PARTY, is slated to be released soon. He is also writing a memoir.

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Ryan currently lives in Europe with his husband, Ryan Elston, where they maintain a Substack newsletter for all of their online subscribers, The Epicurean Vagabonds.