Another spotlight, and more on the way! Today, we have soul-pop duo (In)Body, a collaboration between singer/songwriter Ryan Amador and producer/multi-instrumentalist Daniel Weidlein!
Ryan always had a love of music, and began writing songs on his own when he was 8 years old. He soon developed a love of theater, and even ended up going to college to study theater director while still singing and writing songs. After college, Ryan moved back to LA to focus on music. Daniel himself was “pretty hell-bent” on a career in music for as long as he can remember. The producer started out studying piano at age 5, and moved towards the saxophone, focusing on that throughout his college years. Daniel also got involved in music production at a young age, graduated from college, and eventually opened up his own recording studio, The B(e)at Cave!
Coming together as a group, Ryan and Daniel came up with the name (In) Body, which is a mantra for them. They said in a statement:
“Too often have we experienced art on the other side of a glass wall. We want to break down barriers between performer and consumer and try to create an inter-connected artistic experience. We want people to internalize, then physicalize our music. For some that means dancing, but to others that manifests itself in a variety of ways, each which starts with a feeling of something deep within being awakened by the music. And we stylize the (In) to really draw attention to the personal experience of this music (as opposed to having an out-of-body experience).”
Inspired by singer/songwriter James Blake, mythologist and writer Joseph Campbell, and jazz musician Donny McCaslin, the group uses these influences in their own music. “We have taken great pride in self-producing and writing our music ourselves, but we’re also excited to start collaborating with other artists to continue our musical exploration,” the group said of their music. Also, growing up in “fairly privileged bubbles” pushed them to go outside of their comfort zones and explore diversity, which comes through in their sound and lyrics.
One of their latest tracks, “Safe In Your Heart,” showcased how they break away from their comfort zones, Ryan in particular. After living in New York for five years, it was difficult for him to leave the family and home he had created to go live in LA to pursue his music career. Inspired and comforted by Joseph Campbell’s monomyth concept (or the hero’s journey) described in his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. That “allowed Ryan to find solace in the fact that, while physically leaving the people he loved, he would always be “safe in their hearts.”
Collaborating with David Baloche (who co-wrote the song as well as produced an earlier version and sang some background vocals), (In) Body brought in some good friends to create a choir that’s heard on the track, as well as good friend Noah James to play bass on the song. The video, featuring Devin Lyons in his directing debut, shows Ryan breaking free of the chains that still tie him to home. Check out the video below!
Currently, the group are shooting and releasing music videos for every song on their album, Becom(In)g, which was released back in April 2016. They currently have a campaign running on Patreon to help finance this venture and continue to make creative visuals for fans (feel free to donate here!). Ryan and Daniel have been taking a break from performing to focus on other ventures, but will definitely be back at it soon!
In terms of what sets them apart, (In)Body believes it’s their “holistic approach” to music that makes them unique. “We want everything we do to stimulate multiple senses at the same time. While the musical duo seems to be very en vogue right now, we approach the duo a little differently,” they said. “We like to think of ourselves as the electro-soul update to the old hip-hop duo format from the 90s, where Daniel mans a battle station for the instrumental half of the band (like a hip-hop DJ) and Ryan is free to sing and connect with the audience like a great emcee.”
In the future, (In) Body hopes to be performing at big concert venues, as well as creating their own production company and art space in LA! “Everything we want to do is interdisciplinary and we’re laying the groundwork for making that happen,” the group said.
You can check out more from the group on their official website, as well as YouTube and SoundCloud. You can also connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
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