Meet Riley Smith: Songwriter & Frontman of RYLY

We had the good fortune of connecting with Riley Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Riley, the decisions we make often shape our story in profound ways. What was one of the most difficult decisions you’ve had to make?
I’d say as an artist and songwriter, the hardest decision I’ve made is the decision to be honest. When I started this thing people know as “RYLY”, the only thing I really knew was that I wanted to be honest and truthful with the songs I write. It may seem strange that honesty was the hardest decision, but I just got sick of hearing the same music over and over. All the biggest hits across the board are about love whether it be hook-ups, breakups, falling in love or out of it. I just got tired of hearing the same idea over and over and seeing a lot of “superficial” songs so glorified. Don’t get me wrong, I love “love” and I think its a great and vast topic to write a song around I just started thinking there was more that goes into life than just your affection or distain for someone. I wanted to write songs for the couple who have been married for 60 years and one of them is in a hospital room taking their last breaths. For the high school kid about to graduate that feels misunderstood by their parents and what the future holds. I want to bring my life experiences and the stories of others into well crafted songs that people can relate to. I want our music to be refreshing in lyric and sound. I think there’s real beauty when you push past the surface level feelings and dig down to find the massive amounts of emotions and experiences that we all have everyday that go into making us human. I still write songs about love but the most difficult decision I’ve made is being as honest as possible because you are letting people take a look at parts of your life that most folks wouldn’t see and hopefully my honesty in our songs can connect with someone and make them feel a little less alone. 

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As a band we write Indie Pop/Alternative music heavily influenced by 80s music. I think the biggest thing that sets us a part is how diverse our music is. We’ve been compared to artists and bands across the board, most of which we admire but a few we laugh about. RYLY started as a Singer/Songwriter + Americana project in 2016 and over time has evolved to more synth-y and pop sounds, but our songwriting is still true to the roots. I feel like we aren’t tied down to any one sound and that feels so freeing to be able to experiment. The first EP we put out in 2016 hit #25 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter charts. That was huge because we had no following and only word of mouth by family and friends and a couple Instagram posts. The next project in 2017 hit #18 on the same iTunes charts and it was a completely different sound. I think thats when I felt the true freedom to make whatever music we wanted, whenever wanted. Since then we’ve only grown and its been steady. Our 1st full length record “Young + Naive” released July of 2019 and we still had no press, no deal with any sort of company and no support from anyone but our listeners. That record did way better than I dreamt it would do and took us on a 35 city tour. We did everything in house and routed the tour ourselves. It’s been challenge after challenge since the beginning, but thats what we signed up for. Chasing a dream is one of the hardest things you could ever do and also has been the most rewarding. Relying on friends and family for emotional support is what has kept us going. Hearing stories from our fans about what different songs and lyrics have meant to them only inspires us to write more. If anyone would walk away from reading this having remembered something I hope it’s to be honest with yourself about what you truly desire and celebrate your failures with you victories. There will be plenty of both in this life. We get one shot in this game of life so why not do something that makes you feel fulfilled?

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If out of town friends were visiting I would take them out for drinks and then we would grab tacos downtown in the back of this little Mexican supermarket (that I will not name) and we’d have a Frosted Orange from the Varsity because you can’t visit Atlanta and not go there. To end the night we’d head back home and I would make cocktails for everyone while we talked and played games because I love hosting my friends. We’d also probably do some thrifting and hit some vintage stores somewhere in there. If we are traveling, my favorite city to visit and to play is Chicago. Cindy’s is a must-see downtown. They have a rooftop restaurant and bar that sits over The Bean and the water and has the most beautiful sunset + evening sights.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My parents are #1. They saw something in me at a young age and gave their time, money, and encouragement toward the pursuit of my passion. I wouldn’t be chasing this wild dream without their support. The guys in the band and the RYLY crew help drive me everyday. Nick Hooper, Sam Rady, TJ Rodriguez, and countless others who have hand in this along the way are the reason we are where we are. It truly feels like it’s “us against the world” and I wouldn’t trade them for anything. We do everything ourselves from songwriting, production, social media, marketing, graphics, etc. We were never given a handout or outside help and I think that also helps us appreciate our accomplishments even more. We started from scratch with no support and we are building this thing everyday. Also to all the fans and listeners. Artists and bands say all the time “I want to thank the fans, we couldn’t do this without you”, and we shrug it off, but without our fans we would be singing into an infinite void. So thank you for sticking with us.

Website: https://www.rylymusic.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rylymusicofficial/?hl=en
Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/56zbBNrJlFsdyGiHBwd0HB