⚡️💥VIDEO PREMIERE: "Spider Sally"

Check Out The Latest Solo Single + An Interview With Ryan Allen

Ryan Allen is a talented and prolific songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who seems compulsively driven to create great new music…even when he doesn’t mean to.

On his latest solo album—the playfully-titled Livin’ On A Prayer On The Edge—Allen shifts effortlessly between sounds and modes to deliver a stellar collection that plays to all of his strengths while also pushing in some exciting new directions.

“I've been thinking a lot about the future, and how I'm going to be able to sustain making music at the clip that I prefer, which is basically constant,” Allen told me for the interview below.

“I love making band records, and am super proud of all of the Extra Arms records (not to mention what I've put out recently in my other bands Big Life and Speed Circuit), but sometimes I just have a vision and feel like testing myself to see if I can execute it on my own. It keeps me sharp, and constantly moving.”

Whoo! Whoo! We’re thrilled to have the video premiere for “Spider Sally,” one of the album’s standout tracks.

“‘Spider Sally’ was one of the last songs I wrote for the record, after I decided that it was going to be a full-length, and not a single, or an EP, or whatever (which I kept toying with as I was going),” Allen said.

“The album felt like it needed another short rocker that just got to the point without much fucking around, and that had a playfulness lyrically to kind of lighten things up a little bit. I just wanted something bashed out, garage rock-style, with those kind of simple two-string guitar leads you'd hear on early British Invasion singles, like The Creation or something. So with all that considered, ‘Spider Sally’ is what came out.”

I connected with Allen (a semi-regular contributor to Remember The Lightning in all its forms) to discuss the inspiration for Livin’ On A Prayer On The Edge, his evolving approach to recording, and the inspiration for a few of the album’s tracks.

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Ryan Allen Interview

Congrats on the new album! Your last solo release was a concept record. What was the inspiration for this one?

Ryan Allen: I should start by saying I wasn't really intending to make another pop record so quickly after Extra Arms' RADAR came out in May of 2024; but one night I was sitting on the couch, maaaaybe a little stoned, watching Monday Night Football with my guitar in my hand (weirdly, something I rarely do). I was just kind of zoning out—maybe it was a boring game or something—but I was noodling on the guitar when all of a sudden an avalanche of riffs started appearing out of nowhere. In the span of the game, I think I came up with the basic elements of ‘Anxious All The Time,’ ‘After I'm Dead,’ ‘When I'm Gone’ and ‘The Construction Man,’ seemingly all at once. I woke up the next day and sifted through my voice memos on my phone and thought, ‘Oh shit, I think I have something here.’ So the initial inspiration was just the unexpectedness of it all.

Tell me about the recording process.

Ryan Allen: Prior to this little songwriting explosion, I'd been toying around with the idea of trying to record something at home with my rudimentary set up (just a few mics, no real true engineering skills) and send some tracks to my friend/musical collaborator Paul Miner to see if he could make the tunes sound better than I could on my own. I thought, ‘Fuck it, I'll record a few of these new ones as a test and see what happens.’ So that's pretty much what I did; I recorded ‘I Should (But I Don't Really Wanna),’ and ‘Lost In A Daze’ (which I kind of forced out to be a companion song to ‘I Should...’), and sent them off to Paul.

He sent them back and my mind was blown. All of a sudden I had these new songs, a little bit of an idea for a sound and direction, and a process that actually worked really well, recording myself at home at my own leisure, knowing that I could send whatever I came up with to Paul and that it was going to sound fuckin' massive. So we basically just rolled with it, and I'd send him 2 or 3 songs at a time. I didn't know if it would be a single, an EP, or what, but I ended up picking through some demos of songs that I had been waiting in the wings, and—bang!—I had 12 tunes for a record. It was a really fun and easy way to make something, especially because I had the confidence that Paul was going to make the shit sound crazy good.

Livin’ On A Prayer On The Edge is a really evocative and playful title. Is that something you had in your back pocket?

Ryan Allen: I always have a running list of song titles that I keep on my phone; just things I overhear, or mishear, or read, or just pop into my mind from some unknown place (could be the weed?). So, that one had been on there for a long time; I was originally going to call the record Please, Chill, because I thought the songs might end up being a little mellower than I'm usually known for, and it was also a little mantra that I'd been saying to myself when I started getting worked up about the election or other life shit. But at the last minute I decided to change it to Livin' On A Prayer On The Edge as more of a cheeky nod to Bon Jovi and Aerosmith; two bands that managed to be absolutely massive in the ‘80s, but then reach these unexpected levels of success in the ‘90s...which just so happen to the be the two decades where I personally came of age and fell in love with music.

A lot of this album is kind nostalgic for that time, and obviously influenced by a lot of the big indie guitar bands of that era like Sugar, Teenage Fanclub, and The Lemonheads. Mashing those titles together really seemed to encapsulate the essence of that time for me (while being pretty funny at the same time).

Your lead single, "I Should Stay (But I Don't Really Wanna)" feels like an extension of the themes on The Last Rock Band. What was your approach to writing this one?

Ryan Allen: My wife and I were talking about going out and doing something, but we were also really enjoying just chilling on the couch. I turned to her and said, ‘I should go, but I don't really wanna.’ And then, as I am wont to do, I began to annoy her by singing ‘I should, but I don't really wanna’ in sort of a nursery rhyme kind of manner, just being an idiot.

After doing it for probably too long, I was like, ‘Actually, that melody is pretty great.’ So, I just grabbed my guitar and wrote the entire song on the spot, music and lyrics simultaneously. Naturally it ended up being about letting go of that FOMO mentality, and just embracing the pleasure of soft pants and bad TV. I spent so much of my 20s and 30s going out, drinking, staying up super late, and just being a little too wild. I don't necessarily regret it (well, some of it I very much do), but after I gave up alcohol 8 years ago, I just completely reevaluatied my relationship with everything, including going out. Now...don't get me wrong, I totally do things; I love going to shows and seeing my friends. But, I also don't feel too bad when I miss out on stuff because I'm too busy or too tired. Now, I take my health super seriously. I love sleeping. My couch is my safe space. Love Is Blind is my guiding light.

"After I'm Dead" has a revved-up Big Star vibe. What came first for that one, the words or the righteous guitar riff?

Ryan Allen: Yep, total Big Star rip. That little lick was one of the riffs that popped up in that edible-induced songwriting burst. At first I thought it was a little too on the nose, or maybe a little close to, like, something Superdrag (who I love, of course) would do. But then I started focusing on the verse and chorus melody a little bit, fleshing that out, and feeling really good about those parts. The lyrics started to drop in, and I liked where I landed with them.

Not to be morbid, but I think about death a ton; I think about not being able to see my family and all of those depressing things that probably don't need to be listed here. But the fact that I have a catalog of music that can be accessed by anybody with an internet connection, including my son, for the rest of time is a pretty cool thing. So that's what the song is about; just doing what I can to leave a legacy I'm proud of, but also leave something behind so my kid can hear my voice whenever he wants to, including...duh duh duh...AFTER I'M DEAD (muhwwhahwhaha).

Anyway, by the time I had my arms around it, I didn't care if the main riff was a little too Chilton-esque; Big Star is one of the best to ever do it, and I have no qualms about paying homage to the fuckin' GOATs of power pop.

Tracks like "Spider Sally" give this collection a slightly different flavor. (I love the hand claps!) Any particular inspirations there?

Ryan Allen: That was one where the song title existed first, and I was just scanning through it one day, looking for something to jump out that would maybe inspire an upbeat rocker with lyrics that maybe intentionally had less meaning and was more word salad. What's kind of cool is that the song was first called ‘Trash Can Kid,’ which was another title I had tracked in my notes, so when I wrote the first line (‘I know a guy his name is trash can kid, he's a little garbage man’) I thought that was going to be the character of the song. But when I got to the second verse I was like, ‘Oh, I should switch characters and switch genders, too’ (not that it really matters at all, but I was just looking for an opposite). Anyway, I scanned my notes again and ‘Spider Sally’ was there, and I just went with it.

And for those that might not know, ‘Spider Salley’ (which is the real spelling) is the nickname of defensive menace, one half of the SWAT TEAM, the one and only John ‘Spider’ Salley of the motherfucking World Champion Detroit Pistons. I love basketball, the Pistons, and that time of being a fan especially, so it felt like it had a fitting place on a record inspired by the things I loved as a kid.

I was really drawn to the sped up psych pop of "So What Who Cares." Was this one always uptempo or are the demos floating around with a more laid back groove (and maybe a sitar)?

Ryan Allen: This is absolutely one of my favorite songs on the record. It was also written after I decided I was making a record, so it was initially kind of inspired by trying to search for some kind of album closer (which ended up being the penultimate closer, but I digress). The original take on it was more of Kinks-meets-Green Day riff; an ‘All Day And All Of the Night,’ but even more revved up kind of thing. I initially thought it was just going to be a two-part, A/B kind of song, with the first half of the verse being the verse and the second half being the chorus. I think I might have a demo of the original idea, because it actually came to me while I was tracking something else for the record. I just opened up a separate Logic session and put it down real quick.

I thought it had potential, but felt like the record needed one more stylistic curveball, and was kind of searching for inspiration to turn the riff into something more psychedelic and kraut-rock inspired. I landed, I think rather obviously(?), on a sort of Stereolab-inspired groove for the guitar strum, and just leaned into the repetitiveness of what I was doing. The bubbly bassline is the driver of the whole thing, and when I landed on that I was like, ‘Ok, I guess we are just going full Stereolab on this one,’ and never looked back. I even took inspiration from Laetitia Sadier's approach to lyrics, which are less concerned with rhyming and patterns, and more focused on communicating her poetic take on life and politics. It's very cool when you start to inspect it.

That song was exceptionally fun to make and I feel like I pulled off something that is a clear homage, but also has enough of its own character to be unique in some way. I'm proud of it. Oh, and for what it's worth, it's been pointed out to me that the song bears a resemblance to The La's ‘Son of A Gun,’ which is the first song on their very excellent, one and only album. I will say it wasn't intentional, nor are they in the same key, but it's kind of a cool little coincidence, nonetheless.

The album closes with the contemplative "In The Next Life." Why was this the right way to sign off?

Ryan Allen: ‘In The Next Life’ was the last thing I wrote for the record, and almost didn't include because:

• A) I was basically done and ready to move on, and…

• B) Because it's a pretty heavy song and I wasn't sure if I should put it out there.

The song is about somebody I was close to on and off in my life; somebody who really had a tough go in a lot of ways. She had some things happen to her that I don't want to get into; things that were really unfair and sad. But through it all she was still such a sweet, caring person. She passed away last year, and it just hit me really really hard. My heart broke for her and her family. Whew. Yeah. I don't need to get too deep into it; but she was an important person in my life, and I wanted to memorialize her in some way. And it seemed like a fitting song to close this record, which is kind of about looking back, but also living in the present, as well as contemplating the future...just a very ‘middle aged’ kind of record I guess—but hey, that's what I am, and so that's what I'm going to write about.

And, I guess, when you lose somebody at this stage in life, at this TIME in history, to be honest, it's, well, beyond just being sad and tragic, is also a really peculiar thing. What I mean is, we have these friendships from a time before we were all online, knew everything about each other, and could essentially contact one another at any time. We grew these bonds and had these experiences before that kind of access existed, but are also now connected in this weird, digital way. And in some ways, it makes us take those connections and experiences for granted, where we FEEL like we know what's going on with people, and we might even interact from time to time, but what kind of actual VALUE do we put in those observances or interactions?

So, the song is sort of about that too; this idea that we catch up from time to time via a DM on some app, but don't really go that extra step and have a more four-dimensional relationship. And the whole thing seems extra exacerbated when somebody passes away. Anyway, I'm rambling here, but it was all heavy shit, and it was all on my mind, and it musically and lyrically felt like the only place it could be is at the end of this record—literally a send off in a way, but also hopeful that maybe I'll see you again somehow, in the next life (or, less morbid, on the next record).

And scene.

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