Ryan Caraveo

By Makayla O’Connor 

Known for selling CDs out of a backpack at just 12 years old, Narrow Magazine was invited to speak with Seattle based pop artist, Ryan Caraveo about his upcoming album Northend Sweetheart that is releasing on July 30th and his journey as an artist. 

With over 750 million global streams, Ryan will be starting his 4th U.S. tour September 30th and travelling to around 20 cities. After being held up in quarantine for the past year Ryan is super excited to be performing live again with a crowd. 

“I am most excited to play ‘Holly’ and ‘Stay Warm’ live, but ‘Stay Warm’ will be definitely be a crowd favorite.”  

Ryan started writing music at an insanely young age, with his brother teaching him how to write and rap. 

He told us, “When I was 7 or 8 my brother and I would rap battle each other. He honestly taught me how to insult him which was great because we would just go back and forth rap battling and dishing on each other. After that I actually started to write my own music and not just insult my brother.” 

Every artist needs a way to keep themselves grounded and take care of their mental health. The music industry can be hard on your mentality, and Ryan told us the one thing he does for himself is run while listening to ambient music. This is his own form of meditation. He also will play video games with his brother and cousins as a way to take a break. 

Recently, Ryan was featured on Steve Aoki’s latest song, “Complicated.” Ryan has known Steve for a little while now and told us that Steve really helped him as an artist. 

“I was younger and it a low point of my life and Steve helped pick me out of that. He is a great guy, it is impossible to not like him.” 

When the pandemic first hit the U.S., artists had plenty of time to sit around and write. Ryan told us that after about 4 months into quarantine he felt as though there were so many songs about being trapped and he had been writing songs about that as well. Ryan says that it wasn’t hard to write but it was hard to find inspiration. He wrote tons of songs, but he didn’t feel any of them were actually good. 

When it comes to writing songs, no matter the passion, it is still work and can be challenging. Each artist has their own strategy to writing music. 

“When I first started making music, I was really young and lived with my parents. I have to be alone and know that no one can hear me so I would stick my head in my closet and whisper the words in my hands. Now, since I live alone, I really just lay on the floor and am as loud as I want. I love creating, it is something I really have a passion for it is just that simple. I don’t need any techniques to stay focused because this is my favorite thing to do,” Ryan told us. 

Northend Sweetheart is Ryan’s 5th album in his music career and says this is the one he is most proud of. The artist knows is upcoming tour is going to be “crazy,” and although it has been a while since he has performed live, he is super excited to show the world his latest creation. 

Since Ryan has been making music for so long, he has plenty of advice for young people looking to get in the music industry.

“It is really all about breaking boundaries and taking risks. You have to be rebellious against even yourself sometimes. If you want to surprise people you have to be willing to surprise yourself.” 

You can find Ryan Caraveo’s newest album, Northend Sweetheart, on all streaming platforms on July 30th, and follow his Instagram @ryancaraveo.