Originally Posted by Sleeping@Last

well, the ep is called "darkness" so i wanted to explore all sorts of variations of what "darkness" means. in "woodwork" i wanted to tell the story of someone who experiences the very edge of life. a near death sort of thing.. in this case, a car wreck. a long time ago i had this weird thought that when we get into accidents, i wonder if the music that we were listening to still plays on the stereo. so that image was sort of the catalyst for the song. all of these huge, disastrous things are happening during a wreck, that i liked the idea of focusing in on these very small sounds. heartbeat.. breathing... music.

Right on! Off the whole EP tha's the one song that I've repeated the most. All the deeper tones just resonate with me and was wondering where it came from. 'Tis beautiful.

You'll still sing "umbrellas" at my wedding, right?

Also, everyone purchase the atlas bundle!

When you wrote the song "silhouettes", was your goal to write the saddest song in human history?

Originally Posted by kennedyAM

You'll still sing "umbrellas" at my wedding, right?

Also, everyone purchase the atlas bundle!

haha, thanks for the invite! :) it's possible.. ;)

Originally Posted by a nice person

When you wrote the song "silhouettes", was your goal to write the saddest song in human history?

haha, no.. but i believe it to be the saddest song every written on the ukulele... i can't confirm that, but it seems that way to me. ;)

hi, ryan! first, i want to thank you for how kind you are to your supporters. i've seen you twice & you've been fantastic both times.


is the release pattern of yearbook & atlas reflective of where you think audible art is headed? or is it more representative of your desire to create & share with those who've supported you?

Total English PhD nerd question here, because that's how I do. The third volume of the "Yearbook" collection starts with what's got to be my favourite tune of yours (and am I mistaken or did you perform that on tour this fall? because I'd swear I've heard Matt playing that!) but I immediately noticed that the track listing has the first track listed as "Atlantic," with punctuation, and the last similarly as "Resolve." Was that an iTunes fluke, or was it intentional? The writing nerd in me desperately wants to read that as a narrative.

And speaking of that fall tour, 'twas lovely to meet you that night in Bethlehem.

Originally Posted by Datywhit

Right on! Off the whole EP tha's the one song that I've repeated the most. All the deeper tones just resonate with me and was wondering where it came from. 'Tis beautiful.

thanks a ton for that! it's really awesome to hear specific feedback on new songs. thank you!

How did you meet Geoff Benzing, the artist that does most of your album art?

Originally Posted by Sleeping@Last

oh man, that's a tough one! maybe mad men! or... the new arrested development!! (which would make no sense, but whatever!)

Which is what would make it so epic.

You plan on touring soon?!?!

Originally Posted by Keagan Ilvonen

You plan on touring soon?!?!

^^ Yes, this!

i'm a huge fan, don't take this many questions being asked the wrong way.



* the 8 bits ep with mike & steve of kindo was a neat online release- how likely would a tour this year with them be since both groups will have stuff out over the course of this year?

* the move in sound from ghosts to darkness is marked. is this change in sound a result of band lineup changes? or more due to where you think your stories have gone/


* is we're still here intended to be a standalone release? or is possible inclusion in atlas possible?

* does the larger chicago music scene have any discernable influence on what you do as an artist?

* you have a top 10 movies list on your site, what were some of your favorite albums from this past year?

Do you have any favorite books?

And since you toured with Jars of Clay last Fall, I wanted to ask if you had any favorite songs by them? By the way.. consider touring with Jars again.. because that Pittsburgh show the best concert ever, literally, my favorite singer and band in one show. You have no idea how happy that made me.

And what are some favorite things you like to do on your spare time?

Thank you again.. God bless. I think if Heaven wanted to write a soundtrack about earth it would be your music and if people need a reason to believe that angels exist they should meet you and your mother, you see people as a testimony, a miracle and a rich and beautiful human being and nothing less. I've been carrying the inspiration you gave to me that night in Pittsburgh ever since.. no other music artist has had this big of an impact on me. I have not been the same since that night. Even if I wrote a book trying to explain how much your music and who you are as person means to me I still don't think people would understand. Thank you.. just thank you so much, you have no idea.

-Ariel Cerbus

Originally Posted by singregardless

hi, ryan! first, i want to thank you for how kind you are to your supporters. i've seen you twice & you've been fantastic both times.


is the release pattern of yearbook & atlas reflective of where you think audible art is headed? or is it more representative of your desire to create & share with those who've supported you?

that's super kind, thanks, jared!

i think it's actually both. the idea for such consistent release schedules began as a creative challenge for myself... as i was discouraged by how few songs i was writing a year.

the model of it was also something i was excited to see how it'd work too... to sort of challege the standard for release formats. i had no idea if it'd work before yearbook began.. like would people still be interested a year into this project? etc.. and i was so blown away by how folks responded to it. which lead to me the concept of atlas. for me, it's an exciting way to spend my time writing all the time, rather than talking about writing all the time. :)