By Matthew Lau
A confusion on Spotify has led to an unconventional opera-rap collaboration between two Jeremy Ryans on opposite sides of the globe.
Classically trained Jeremy Ryan (of Perth) and rap artist Jeremy Ryan (of New Jersey) shared a laugh when the American counterpart’s music ended up in the wrong account on the digital music streaming service.
Thus, came the release of single-track Night Falls on 7 August.
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The 38-year-old Belmont parishioner works as a Network Controller for Western Power and is father to 10 children; seven girls and three boys altogether.
Honing his baritone style at WAAPA (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts), Jeremy broadened his singing to include the style of tenor before moving into the mainstream channel by combining classical and contemporary (known as ‘popera’). In 2015, he featured as a contestant on reality TV show The Voice.
After exchanging a few private messages via Instagram, the two Jeremys decided to have a Zoom video call to start working on lyrics for the new song.
“Once Jeremy from the US had put down an original arrangement, I sent across a vocal demo and the track was further developed from there. My final vocals for the track were recorded at Artisan Music in Malaga, with the final mixing and mastering taking place after that,” the Aussie Jeremy Ryan told The eRecord.
“When I first read the lyrics, I felt they could be related to my faith and that they have a biblical significance.”
The verses in the song mention “I know the world is dark and there’s always fight, so knowing there’s a battle, you can call me a knight” much akin to Psalm 144:1 – “who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle”.
The chorus of the song includes: “I pray for the lightning and the thunders energy, to strike from the sky, to light up the night”. This, he said, relates to Psalm 144:6 – “Flash forth your lightning and scatter them; shoot your arrows and rout them”, and Psalm 97:4 – “His lightning illuminates the world; the earth sees and trembles”.
“Ultimately, it is the Lord who will give you the strength to do battle, to be a knight in this dark world. He will show forth his power in the heavens and win the victory for you.
“To me, the lyrics in the chorus speak about prayer, calling upon the presence of God, that he would come and enlighten the world,” Jeremy added. “He is the true light [John 1:9]”.
“Like lightning, the presence of God is terrifying, inspiring and beautiful all at the same time.”
US-based Jeremy Ryan has been creating music professionally for over 10 years and performs the rap section of Night Falls.
He is the President of Sound Entertainment – a Grammy Balloted entertainment company – and has built an award-winning team with gold, platinum, and diamond credits.
Speaking to The eRecord, Jeremy described his style as “very eclectic”.
“It ranges from ballad guitars to rock and roll, from children’s tunes to EDM, from hip hop all the way to pop opera,” he explained.
“When Jeremy contacted me for a potential collaboration, I initially thought: ‘has this ever been done before?’. I have not heard of any collaborations that mixed rap and opera – I immediately jumped on it.
“The song speaks about persistence and never giving up on your dreams, even though sometimes it feels like there’s nothing but darkness. There’s still light at the end of the tunnel. In this case, lighting.”
The music producer began working on the track the same day he first spoke to popera Jeremy.
“I like to run with the feeling, especially when I have a good vibe. I had the song written and recorded with my demo vocals within 24 hours of our first web call,” he added.
“From start to finish, getting Jeremy’s vocals recorded up to the release was a little under two months to put together.”
Both Jeremy Ryans have not dismissed the notion of another collaboration.