The Standard

September 21 to 27 2014 THE STANDARD STYLE / MAN / PROFILE 7
Star Profile
Ryan Koriya
“
The key is to work on it till it can’t get any better…
“
Prudence Muganiwah
After quitting his day job as an
IT technician in Richmond, London
to pursue music, he lived in
an abandoned hospital building
for a while as he tried to get his
solo career into gear. That in itself
spells the amount of passion
Ryan Koriya has for music.
The former Prince Edward High
School boy has always carried music
in his heart. “I started playing the
violin during second term in Form One
and by the end of first term in Form
Two, I was awarded Music Half Colours
after just turning 14! (Sixteen is
the minimum age for this accolade).
I went on to get Full Colours and
other awards throughout my high
school career.”
Ryan thanks the then headmaster
Clive Barnes and his staff for
instilling a sense of confidence
in his abilities so early on, as because
of this support, he went on
to play in The Harare City Orchestra,
The Harare Sinfonietta
and also won the National Best
Actor Award before going on to
teach music at schools such as Arundel,
Chisipite, Prince Edward, Eaglesvale,
Saint John’s, Saint George’s and
The Harare International School.
The British-Zimbabwean singer-songwriter,
producer and multi-instrumentalist
whose music is mainly made up
of acoustic guitars, bass, drums, cello
and vocal harmonies, is a self-motivated
artist. Back in 2010, following a
special invitation from the US Ambassador
to Zimbabwe, Ryan played a successful
headline showcase gig at the
Ambassador’s amphitheatre, a show
which was also presented as part of
the global Daniel Pearl Music Days
campaign.
More recently, the ambitious artist
spent most of 2013 touring 10 countries
which include Australia, The
UK, USA, Spain, Germany, Belgium,
Zimbabwe, Zambia, Denmark
and The Netherlands to
promote his music.
Ryan’s rich, velvety voice delivers
music which shows
that his influences come
from artists such as Coldplay,
Bon Iver, Seal, John
Mayer, Dave Matthews,
Ben Howard, Ed Sheeran,
David Gray and
Coldplay.
Ryan believes that
music is a powerful
medium that
transcends many
boundaries such as religion, culture, different
borders and different languages.
“It’s quite a spiritually healing pastime
for me, especially singing, and I want it
do the same to my listeners.”
Ryan is a positive-minded individual
who inspires people with his never-saydie
attitude, soldering on despite having
no fixed home or steady income at times.
“When I’m back home in Zimbabwe, I
like giving performance and songwriting
workshops. I enjoyed adjudicating the
contemporary section of the National
Allied Arts Eisteddfod in 2011 and 2012.
I am also about to start working with a
global children’s charity that will come
into play over the next few months.”
Ryan works with younger Zimbabwean
musicians to help them benefit from his
knowledge and experience, and he looks
forward to growing a global awareness of
the artistic talent Zimbabwe produces,
which in his opinion will in turn create
more opportunities for the local arts
scene. “I still struggle with barriers in
the global contemporary music scene as
people are only expecting Afro Jazz or
World Music to come out of Africa.”
He says whilst it’s very tempting to release
mediocre music on the internet,
in today’s tough arts environment it is
crucial to make compelling and creative
music. “The key is to work on it till it
can’t get any better so it can perform well
when you finally put it out there.”
As part of his career, Ryan travels a lot,
and he says he loves that aspect of it.
“I am currently in the US which is my
eighth country and third continent in
2014.” Having at one point wished to be a
pilot but failing to go for training owing
to lack of funds, Ryan loves flying. “I was
meant to be a pilot but it cost too much
in a crashed economy so music is what
I naturally fell into. I guess I’ll just have
to become a global hit and buy my own
plane, John Travolta style. Haha!”
One of the major setbacks in his industry
he says, has been trying to make it
in a struggling economy. “It has been
challenging to operate outside of a socioeconomic
paradigm that isn’t really built
for artists. I left my day job in London
to become a full-time musician and that
was not an easy transition at first.” Ryan
is thus proud of what he has achieved
through hard work and determination.
“It took me four years just to get a Visa
to get overseas. Having no funding or security
made it even harder but here I am,
despite all the odds. I believe as Zimbabweans,
we are strong and resilient people,
so there are many of us excelling in
many different fields across the globe.
Ryan, who is still single, emphasizes that
there’s a lot of work involved in keeping
a music career active and growing. “It’s
like being 10 different people in one. Yesterday
I spent the afternoon in a recording
studio here in Nashville, Tennessee
and tonight I will be playing around the
Music City Broadway in the Nashville
City Centre. In two weeks I’ll be in New
York, then London, then Denmark by the
first of October.”
A strong advocate for gender equality,
Ryan is not a fan of people who go out
of their way to abuse or mistreat others.
“We are all human and if we spent more
time being supportive and empathetic
of others, this world would be so much
brighter. We need to see more female pilots
and there’s nothing wrong with male
hair-dressers or male nurses etc. Young
boys are taught to disregard their emotional/sensitive
side and I’m also not
a fan of how society deems it appropriate
to objectify women sexually. I was in
New York last week and nearly stepped
in when this drunk guy on the bus kept
turning back to ogle and drool over the
good looking lady in the seat right behind
him! Women have to go through that
many times every day! Come on guys,
let’s be better than that.”
Drawing most of his inspiration from
the challenges of life and the people
around him, Ryan also has respect for
the late Michael Jackson, John Mayer
and Tyrese Gibson. “Tyrese came from
a difficult background but still managed
to make something great of his life. He
also still takes the time to help communities
and those who can benefit from his
mentorship.”
Quite refreshingly, Ryan also takes pride
in that he does not smoke, drink or do
any drugs. “I still tend to be the life of the
party so people do seem to think there’s a
bit of a conspiracy there, lol, but I’m just
full of energy and like to be in control of
my body and mind. I certainly would not
have achieved all that I have if I used recreational
drugs. The music is my drug!”
Advising younger generations, the talented
Ryan says, “Kids, use all the free
time you have available to work towards
your dream goals. Trust me on this. Once
you leave school and lose the comfort
of your parents’ home, you won’t have
nearly as much free time when adult life,
work, responsibility kicks in. I played
music all the time that I was able during
my teenage years and that has held me
in good stead till today. Decide what you
want, then go for it, it’s that simple. You
have to be exceptional at what you do in
order to really succeed.”
Photography by Machperson