An Interview with Shannon Saint Ryan 

Words: Aubrey Bramble

Photo: Selena Salfen

Out May 13 on Mental Records, The T4 Project is the brainchild – and labor of love – of Ventura, CA-based musician and creative dynamo, Shannon Saint Ryan. An interesting hybrid of concept album and graphic novel, The T4 Project utilizes the collective efforts of some of punk rock's most decorated thrashers, like seminal acts Bad Religion, Circle Jerks, Buzzcocks, Strung Out, The Damned, and more. Far beyond simple artistic expression, the project is a call to action for the youth of today to make a positive change in the warped, corrupt world around us. Threading his unique vision into the raucous fiber of punk-rock culture, Saint Ryan pairs his serious message with a good dose of dark comedy and clever production techniques.

I had the opportunity to chat with the artist about the vision behind T4, and what it was like to coordinate the recording of an album across two continents with 14 working (and touring) musicians, little to no budget and label skepticism.

REAX: How did you come up with the idea for this project?

Shannon Saint Ryan: I'd always been running with this theme of this virus. I wanted to just finally tell the story and use it as a metaphor for everything that is wrong and corrupt with the world, with the cell being the youth. I had about 4 years of recording with different bands – you  know, old school punk bands and new school punk bands – and what I noticed was that everyone is pretty much going against the grain in the same way, just with different vehicles. So I thought it'd be really nice to bring everyone together, almost like a celebration using the different decades and genres of punk.

REAX: Recording in 7 different studios in both Europe and America, did you run into any difficulties putting the album together?

SSR: Well at first I couldn't get funding. I knew it was going to cost an arm and a leg. It was really tough. All these musicians were coming forward to do it just because they believed in it; there was no massive paperwork or release forms. When it came down to budget ... I'm just an average dude. I've got my day job, making my shitty day pay. The way times are changing... I think record labels being worried about how you could tour, and with a lot of labels downsizing, it was a hard thing to invest in. So you find a way. It was a lot of taking out loans and just making it work. The big thing was Southern Studios in London. There was this window where I could get the entire rhythm section together. There's two drummers, two bass players, and of course I wanted to give it more of a live energy of having people together instead of recording individually. So that was a real push, and eventually I just had to bite the bullet because I was running out of time and I had to buy plane tickets. It was nerve-wracking!

REAX: It's really impressive that you pulled it off, and I think the end result is just amazing.

SSR: Well, thank you. Anyone could do it, it's just persistence. It's no magic miracle. It's a bit of working your ass off and believing in what you do. Whatever you do, as long as you do it with heart and the right intentions, and you're not some bag of shit who's just trying to make a buck - how can you deny that?

REAX: Do you have any plans to do a live performance of the album to coincide with the official release?

SSR: I think it'd be great and I'd love to get everyone together. Actually, a lot of these guys are touring nine months out of the year so it's difficult. But it's entirely possible for us to get together for a week, do some rehearsals and do two nights in LA, two nights in London, both places where the record came from. There's a way to make it work where less becomes more. You've gotta see the work through, you know?

thet4project.com