What I’m Doing Right Now:

Me at the top of Lion’s Head in Cape Town, South Africa

31 October 2015

It’s Halloween, the last day of October and I’m in Copenhagen, Denmark just 90 minutes away from playing my last gig here.

This is a snap shot of what I’m working on right now in the bigger scheme of things which is prompted by the ever-inspiring Derek Sivers and his great writing.

• Tonight, I’m tying off a 3-month RK live gig residency in Copenhagen, Denmark. I’ll be in Sweden then Norway in a few days to play my last European/Scandinavian dates of 2015 having been to Australia, New Zealand and The UK before this

• I’m writing and demoing new songs for my next single and EP (I’m heading into the recording studio after closing the tour)

• I’m populating my new blog African Astronauts and working on the promo video for its official launch

• I’m recording songs for my upcoming YouTube covers series (project name and details yet to be revealed)

• I’m learning new skills and various techniques to keep growing as an individual and as an artist

• I’m mentoring various artists on how to work towards and achieve the career goals they desire

• I’m helping various friends and colleagues navigate emotional challenges and work towards achieving a healthy mind-spirit balance

• I’m taking more time off my busy schedule to be face-to-face with and meet new people, try new things, perform live more, and generally spend less time plugged into the matrix.

Twenty years ago people would process 300* tasks a week manually. Nowadays, just because we can get 3000* tasks processed in a week using the convenience and power of technology, doesn’t mean we have to process 3000 tasks a week! I believe everyone should be able to take even more holidays in 2015 with the same level of productivity or more. Instead, I see more ‘busy’ and less ‘love’ or ‘attention’ for those around us. A smart phone or laptop doesn’t give you a hug and attention quite like a real person can! I’m being more aware of knowing when to turn off the digital devices  RK

*I just picked a random number to help illustrate my point

Birthday dinner with long time friends in Perth Australia 2015

Why?

‘Why?’ I find this to be one of the most powerful questions when it comes to pretty much anything anyone does, desires, works towards. Kids go through the infamous ‘whyyy?’ stage and there is merit to staying curious as an adult.

The main reason why I’m doing all of the above comes down to this…

I am building an international career as a world-class performing and recording artist. In an age where you have to build your own space ship if you wish to fly to the stars. I am creating a fulfilling life of artistic expression that is shrouded in love for fellow mankind. Music has the power to heal wounds that aren’t physically visible.

The African Alchemist

Do You Know?

Do You Know?

What was the first thing you did without having to ask for permission?

Who buys your attention and who earns it?

Do you really care as much as you would like to, and are you going to end up with who you want to or just who you can? Do you really know yourself or are you living in a stranger?

Do you want to know yourself? Is having ‘knowledge’ really the lack of ignorance?

Don’t try to be what they want you to. Who is ‘they’ anyway?

If you could live your absence, would you like what you heard?

Are you listening or are you thinking? … Are you listening or are you waiting to be listened to?

Is there a significant difference between the two? Are you free? Do you make your own decisions?

Are you aware that you make decisions constantly and was the last decision you made the right one?

If you made the decision on how you really felt within, then it was the right one.

If it took you to the wrong place, then you were there for a very good reason and it will probably seem the right place only when you finally leave it.

A perfect life situation only looks that way from the outside looking in.

Do we ever get anywhere in life or are we always going somewhere?

Our task is to evolve. Time is the key to our happiness.

Time is the key to our sadness. Time is everything… Time is like a silent god.

But aren’t they all silent? Do you realize that sadness is a power?

It is the power that gives you happiness. We have to know what grief is, to enjoy the feeling of completeness.

People are the most significant cause of our happiness, and sadness.

We can’t read up on our life’s lessons, we have to live them.

People, are like volatile chemicals: bring them together, and you will always get a chemical reaction of which the full result can never be pre-determined.

We can’t declare love or name it, we breathe it in like the air we had nothing to do with creating. Love is an emotion we can feel and experience: pain, joy, despair, sorrow, fear … love is, not one thing but many.

Do you love yourself?

Do you love anyone?

Does anyone love you?

Did you ever wonder…

… Why?

© Ryan Koriya

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5 September 2015

When I was about 17 years old and growing up in Zimbabwe, I wrote the words above, they just came out, introspective and questioning life, like most of the writing I did as a teenager, and still do. These words however, nearly didn’t make it past a few minutes of existence, but they did, thanks to Hemal…

I was visiting one of my best friends, Hemal, who lived a road away from me in Belvedere and we cycled to Prince Edward school together everyday, (till we were over 16 then Hemal drove to school. I had a driver’s licence but wasn’t fortunate enough to have a family car at my disposal). Nor did we have a computer at home, which is why I was sitting at the desk top (tower) computer in Hemal’s dining room one day. We studied computer science at school and I would practice my typing skills when I had the chance. A, S, D, F, G etc.

I would therefore sit at Hemal’s computer (his dad’s computer really), and just type out random nonsense to work on my typing speed. After accumulating said nonsense, I would delete it all and log out.  One day, Hemal took a peek over my shoulder at my nonsense of the day and said…

“Dude, I hope you’re not going to delete that! It’s awesome!”

I’d never really thought of keeping my digital ramblings since I didn’t own a computer and I’m sure those were the days of CD-ROM or stiffy drives. But saved it I did! I may have just emailed it to my Yahoo account using the dial up connection they had. I do wonder what other gems I deleted various times before that day.

The funny thing is even after all this time, I still keep finding myself coming back to various bits of this written work when in deep and meaningful conversations with people. I imagine I will one day use parts of it in my songs or maybe do a ‘Sunscreen’ type mantra to a cool dance beat. lol

The African Alchemist

The Magic Of Berlin:

21 August 2015

The first time I ever saw Berlin was for three quick days in August 2013. I had heard so many great things about this Bohemian city and after spending a whole month in Amsterdam whilst touring the Netherlands, it was time!

I took a train from Amsterdam to Berlin (en route to Denmark for the first time) and only a few steps from getting off the train, this is how I knew it was going to be special!

I was on my way up some escalators in this massive bee hive of a grand station that is Berlin’s Hauptbahnhof when I heard a loud voice over some kind of loud system. A man booming away in German, not the kind to possibly be talking about train timetables or suspicious unattended baggage, then my eyes raised up above the floor level to reveal what was a spectacular first sight…

A woman sitting on a chair in the middle of the station floor, starting to play the cello in between her legs as a single couple danced the Tango. This scene was enveloped by a whole choir framed by a specially built makeshift structure. The choir then broke up into Tangoing couples shimmying across the station floor!

‘‘If this is my introduction to Berlin, I’m in love already!!!”

I ended up watching this whole affair for about an hour before going to address my hunger issues. Mind you, this was stumbled upon at about 11pm.

(See more of my colourful Berlin photos by clicking here)

My train had arrived about two hours late I think it was. Talking about German efficiency, they seemed quite embarrassed by the whole thing and I was even reimbursed some of my ticket by filling in the forms that were handed out as we arrived into town. I went on to have a superb three days of music, connecting with people and learning about this new playground I’d discovered.

So it wasn’t any surprise that the following Spring, I was back in Berlin, just fresh from releasing my first-ever single Ghostrider from my temporary base in The Netherlands, having run out of funds and no success with any of the few connections I tried to make with the local scene. Things tick over a lot slower in Holland, time I just didn’t have, and I was sure my best bet was to get to Berlin to tap into some of that magic! All I had to use as a wand was my guitar, my voice and the last 20 Euros in my pocket. Just to clarify, when I say ‘twin bed’ I mean two separate beds on either side of the room…

Captain’s Log | May 25, 2014:

Ryan Koriya · 4. African Astronauts | Captain's Log | May 25A 2014

For the record, this was the lowest point of my 2014 but I lived to tell the tale and to keep the music going. After that initial ‘excitement’, by day three, things started to come together…

This was the magical room, which I ended up renting while I was living in Berlin.

Captain’s Log 2 | May 25, 2014:

Ryan Koriya · 5. African Astronauts | Captain's Log | May 25B 2014

I had managed to stay upright and proved Berlin was a better bet for a more Bohemian approach. I had just handed over the clock position to Stephen who is one of our Berlin musicians, sat back and enjoyed the show…

The World Clock at Alexanderplatz in Berlin

Peace out!

The African Alchemist

Post Natal Depression:

19 August 2015

Ghostrider, my first-ever single came out in April 2014. I literally broke my back to get it out. Having no single was like being an actor with no headshot/profile photo on my portfolio for people to get an idea of just who I am and what I’m capable of doing. Plus I had twins!

Now here is some interesting data for you. As of this afternoon, the total number of Ghostrider digital sales since April 20th 2014 is…

45 MP3 sales and 280 online streams, (meaning Spotify etc and excluding the four and a half thousand views currently on YouTube). That’s it! I did sell out a couple of hundred Ghostrider CDs at my recent gigs in Australia and New Zealand though. They were the first and last batch to date as making CDs isn’t cheap.

I am my own worst critic so even though it was hard to get this music out and it wasn’t made in an expensive studio, I was very disappointed about one thing, considering my large network of friends and contemporaries, that I hadn’t created something compelling enough to make people want to share it or buy it (for less than a dollar!) Ouch! That speaks for itself in my books. Plus as they say, your friends are not necessarily your fans. Although we do live in an age where people are so distracted and don’t really buy music anymore, why should they when they can get it for free!? That’s a story for another day.

We live in an age where the music field has been levelled. When an indie artist releases a new song, the listener is expecting something as good as Coldplay’s new single. I have some great early recordings that Coldplay released before they were signed, they are also pretty raw and stripped down, back then, you had time to develop behind the scenes. Nowadays, You have to grow in full view of the world at large, learn, develop, release and keep doing it till you one day become as compelling to share as a cat in a hat video!

I am however, still proud of my first single because…

1. Ghostrider (Radio Edit) :

This was a difficult baby! I was using old recording software which is like being on Windows 2000 in 2015! It made things 10 times harder. Never mind the 11 months that it took me to save up for a new laptop after the old one curled up and died! That’s also why the song sounds a little retro and lacks in something but I’ve since saved up and upgraded my software 

The song was written in Zimbabwe in 2011 and subsequently recorded whilst on the move in…

• Harare Zimbabwe (demos, electric guitars, drums and bass – 2011 and 2012)

• Antwerp Belgium (I redid the acoustic guitars – Spring 2013)

• London UK (Vocals recorded whilst sitting on the bed holding the mic in my hand, as having a mic stand can often be a luxury if you live out of a suitcase with no base of your own. Ironically, the bedroom in question is behind Abbey Road Studios in St John’s Wood London – Summer 2013)

• Amsterdam Holland (I programmed the twinkly synths in the verses, note by note whilst living in a rodent-infested flat in Jordaan… Yikes! Still better than being on the streets! – August 2013)

• Los Angeles USA (Synths, editing and mixing while attending a music industry convention – September 2013)

• Victoria Falls Zimbabwe (final touches and mixing – January 2014)

• London UK (Final mixing and mastering – March 2013)

• Copenhagen Denmark (I sat and edited the music video in one 12-hour session)

2. Ghostrider (Deep-Space Edit) :

The second twin came a lot easier! I started tracking the guitars in Victoria Falls in January 2014 and finished the rest of the recording in Copenhagen in February 2014. It is also a more stripped back acoustic version so not as much maintenance was involved. I also edited the music video in a similar fashion, I think I was still in Copenhagen…

Post Natal Depression

Now after all this, you can imagine how broken and depressed I was when I finally launched my new ‘babies’, spending many sleepless nights in South Holland, making music videos, designing my websites and all the various banners for social media, making the art work and talking to the distribution company, who did such a crap job (again, like in 2012) that I have since left them! They couldn’t do what they were simply paid to do!

I create, design and come up with all my own artwork:

After all this, with no money left for any marketing, I’m lying on the floor broken, my babies are finally out… and nobody even knows about them or seems to care! Wait?! I’m exhausted and you’re saying that the work only begins now?! Now is when the marketing campaign begins. Sending the song out to various media outlets etc. Most of which don’t want to know you until you’re somewhat successful or connected to the right people.

Captain’s Log | May 15, 2014:

Ryan Koriya · 2. African Astronauts | Captain's Log | May 15A 2014

Then by that afternoon, a plan had been made. Onward to Germany!

Captain’s Log 2 | May 15, 2014:

Ryan Koriya · 3. African Astronauts | Captain's Log | May 15B 2014

This is where the signed bands get to win. They make the music and pass it onto the companies whose job is to get it out to the world. Radio Interviews, Radio Play, Blogs, Magazines, Live Tours supporting bigger artists, Jools Holland, Super Bowl Halftime Shows, Song Placements on TV ads, Posters on Billboards and the London Underground etc. To release Rihanna’s song Diamonds, they spent about one million US Dollars in the America on marketing that song alone! People need to know it’s out and in such an oversubscribed market, it’s hard to get a word in sideways!

So on with the mission! To keep making music and stay ‘game fit’ whilst working towards catching up with myself online, to finally release something that represents me now and reveals the magical moments I enjoy internationally in the real world, today!

The African Alchemist

Something She Said Really Hit Home!

19 August 2015

Okay, let me set the scene:

It’s about August 2012 and I’m living at a backpacker’s lodge called Shoestrings in stunning Victoria Falls Zimbabwe. I am renting a twin room for myself and spend my days recording using my makeshift bedroom studio. The sun is bright and the energy is potent. This is also where Exsouliation this blog’s theme song was recorded…

I had moved back to Zimbabwe to record material, knowing it would benefit from the more positive ‘sun-filled’ energy of home seeing as my songs in London were turning out to be quite depressing with all the uphill battles I had to face when recording my first demo in an abandoned hospital building in Fitzrovia. Plus I really struggle with the British Winters!

The plan was to record in Zimbabwe for about six months… I had now been there for nearly two and a half years! My laptop died shortly after arriving in 2010 and it took me 11 months to save up for this new one pictured above, but that’s another story.

Something She Said Really Hit Home!

I was dating a lovely Spanish girl who was in Victoria Falls for six months to improve her English (now there’s a sentence a lot of people will find surprising, talking about how Zimbabweans do indeed speak English very well) 

Fast forward to the European Summer of 2013, we are now living in London and she says to me (paraphrasing a little)…

Last year when I was still getting to know you in Victoria Falls, I thought, I must be dating a mad man! You sat there in your little room by your computer on which you were recording a supposed new EP, tinkering away everyday. You had about  US$20  to your name and then you tell me with a straight face….

“My plan is to complete my EP, and release it by the end of the year then play an EP Launch here in Victoria Falls and in Harare (the capital). Next, I will fly back to London to assemble my first UK backing band, play an EP launch gig there (and now being on an EU passport), I’d love to go and check out places like Holland, Germany and hopefully go play at a close friend’s wedding in Australia in January”…

… I was amazed! How could you possibly think any of this is doable considering your current circumstances? Then, I watched you go and do literally everything you set out to do! It’s amazing how optimistic, passionate, resourceful and driven you are! So inspirational!

She made me realise how I’m so used to having to manifest so much from the seemingly impossible, otherwise, I’d have stopped being a musician years ago! It just doesn’t work on paper!

I had just come back from being in Australia for three months, to play at my friend’s wedding and then went travelling down the East Coast.

I had finished the EP in Zimbabwe, pressed the CDs, played a few launch shows and composed an original soundtrack which all helped fund my flight back to London in late November. By mid December, I was in Holland for the first time and by mid January, I was in Australia for the first time. I then went on to play in Belgium, Spain, Germany, Denmark all for the first time and also returned to the US later that year (having been there for the first time in 2009 to have my hopes dashed). By Christmas, I was back in Zimbabwe and about to do it all again a second time in 2014! The music train was back on track!

On January the 24th 2014, I landed in London and started my audio diary…

Captain’s Log | January 24, 2014:

Ryan Koriya · 1. African Astronauts | Captain's Log | Jan 24 2014

(PS: My younger brother has told me that he did get to fly to Botswana once and my dad did also take a local flight many years ago)

2021 Update: My sister has since gotten to fly to The US and to Thailand on short business trips. We also got to fly my mom to spend a week with me in Victoria Falls in 2016.

How Said Name Was Birthed:

12 August 2015

Where to begin? … with the name of course.

African Astronauts

I am an artist; a singer, a songwriter, a producer, a multi-instrumentalist, but when it comes down to it, I am a singer. I love singing and that’s what I want to do… Sing!

For me, singing is meditation, it is fun, it is healing, it is prayer, it is self-expression, it is my connection with other people, it is my release… Singing is my true passion!

When I meet people who ask what I do for a living, they often offer advice as people usually want to help. Advice that often demonstrates their lack of understanding of the business as it is today, which is not like it used to be, as with most industries, since the advent of the amazing internet. I often term this as BM (Before the Matrix existed) and AM (After the Matrix came to exist).

In an attempt to explain what it’s like being an artist today, barring the very, very lucky few, I say ‘humour me for a minute’…

“Twenty years ago, if you wanted to be an astronaut, you’d have to be one of the  lucky few chosen and capable ones, who were trained up by NASA and got to fly to the moon! Like… Wowzers!

Today, if you want to go to the moon, you have to build your own rocket! I mean, figure out how oxygen tanks work, learn about rocket science, chemical, electrical and space engineering, figure out how to build a crapper that works in zero gravity and so much more!

You just wanted to fly the thing to space, after all you’re an astronaut, that’s your chosen career. Well, not until you build a rocket by yourself matey! The sky’s full of them! Plus, you don’t have the zillions of dollars in budget or the multitudes of genius-level people that are behind such NASA projects.

Then after years of not giving up, of trial and error, of sweat and tears, of heart ache and many amazing moments too of course, you finally land your little ol’ rocket on the moon and there you find the music industry guys who say “Ah, welcome to the moon, now that you’re here, let’s talk business!”

One of the main points is that since the internet leveled the playing field, pretty much anyone can dream of, and actively pursue a career in music/the arts when before, it was only the few super stars who got to enjoy such privileges as having their songs recorded, with fans in different countries having access to those recordings. Now comes the problem of a very oversubscribed industry (understatement of the year) so this journey is not for the faint-hearted, especially if you have no financial support and come from a continent like Africa which is about as far from the Pop music ecosystem as the moon itself!

So yes, people think the idea of a home-grown Zimbabwean aiming for the same job that John Mayer or Ed Sheeran has is absurd! Just as ludicrous an idea as Africa having a space program. I must be a nutcase! Well, welcome to the mad house! lol

I am a fully capable musician who lacks the benefits of having grown up in the main ‘incubators’ of today’s Pop world, whether it be London, New York or Los Angeles etc. Where people like Adele and Amy Winehouse get to attend Arts Schools that can connect you to the elusive gatekeepers of this industry once you graduate. I can’t even afford to pay rent most months never mind consider such formal avenues!

So my chosen path has been the longer road involving self-development which labels don’t really get involved with nowadays. As one industry guy in LA told me when I played him my demo,

We don’t really do development deals anymore. It’s like trying to sell a half-cooked meal, so we go for the full ready-to-go meals, the cream at the top, which is in abundance (thanks to the internet). You have great songs and a great voice. You need a producer to make your songs radio ready…

This was a huge setback seeing that good producers want to be paid (like musicians do too)… I’m usually living off the smell of an oil rag!  Where am I going to meet someone willing to donate time and resources for free or swaps?! This is where I decided, fine, if I have to learn to cook the whole shebang myself… challenge accepted! This way, I never have to go hungry ‘creatively’ until the right connections are made.

That was in late 2009 so it feels great to be standing in my metaphoric kitchen that is now in pretty good shape!

What I also see, is my unique African background filled with optimism and resourcefulness,  coupled with my unusual story as being more of a strength than a weakness, especially once this rocket really starts to gather speed.

Most of the World seems yet to catch on to that general notion of the talent being harboured south of the Equator. Some contemporary artists are often tempted to hide their African connection as a result, but onward I fly, my personal journey is well underway but my best efforts are yet to be seen. I’m only just getting started and I hope you enjoy the ride as much I do 

Ready for launch!

The African Alchemist