Everyone in the music industry has been wondering where one of the most acclaimed figures in the music world, singer-songwriter/guitarist Ryan Ross Hernandez, had gone. The released his critically acclaimed, and commercially successful third studio, Let a Man Be Lost. The album was released in November 2010, and since then the man has been nowhere near the public eye. No promotional runs, no tours, no interviews, no public appearances, no social media usage. With no explanation at all given, rumors flew around of a serve depression or a retirement even.

Ryan Ross Hernandez came onto the stage without any dimmed lights, theatrical antics or large pyro, just a man and his guitar. The stage even had a simple layout, a guitar rack filled with guitars he'd be using through out the night, a piano, and a drum machine. Not another person on stage just Hernandez. He prefaced the set by saying, "We'll start simple and get stranger. Think of it as sex. I'm going to start gentle, I'm going to kiss your neck, I'm going to explore your body. Nothing out of the ordinary. In music terms, it means that I'll start you guys off with the songs you know." and thus began a steady journey into songs and stories shared in between each one. It was completely manifest that the evening in Brooklyn was like coming home for Hernandez. Although not born or raised in New York City, he got his start in music here playing the same venue seven years ago and you could feel a history of nights crawling out of the floorboards and peeling themselves down off the walls. As he promised, he started off with the radio hits; Your Arms Feel Like Home, A Never-Ending Trip to Heartbreak, All You Need Is Love Is a Lie, The Halfhearted Lover.

Talking of his early days, Hernandez said, "I don't know if anybody maybe can relate to this or maybe you're going through it, but that first place you live where you're living on your own, you've got to figure all this shit out. There's no bigger bed that you can run into and get into bed with mommy—you're on your own. Which is fun at first but doesn't last very long, and you're just dealing with all of this… there's all this freedom. I can go anywhere I want, but shit, I can go anywhere I want."

As Friday night rolled into Saturday morning, he got into deeper album cuts, yet some favorites among fans, he sang "Hollywood Hills Assassin," "(I Know) The World Is Black & White," and "Why You Wanna Break My Heart Again?" and "What We're Fighting For," among others. Undoubtedly, the music was spot on— guitar solos garnered quite a bit of excitement, covering other artists songs, and even Hernandez hung a harmonica around his neck.

As the night was getting on, he talked about the future of his music as he wraps up his self titled, metaphoric retirement:

"I want to tell you a little bit about where I'm going, 'cause I think it's important since you guys are fans. I've done the pop thing as much as I can do the pop thing and I will be retiring for a couple years from the pop thing 'cause I think I have some other shapes and colors that I need to get to. (audience claps) I know that was a weird thing for you because [you're thinking] 'I don't want to clap too loud for that because you had good rhythms' but I understand. I feel the same way. I would clap that way too. And um, so I've pretty successfully, disappeared from the celebrity world in the last six months. I've dropped out from the celebrity world. But I've dropped out for good reason… I think the world had a little too much me before. I had too much me—I never meant to make that much me happen. I found the antidote to bullshit, it's called timeless music. It's called Bob Dylan. Eric Clapton. Fleetwood Mac. Frank Sinatra. Jeff Buckley. Jimi Hendrix. Marvin Gaye. Leon Russell. Sam Cooke. Sting. Tom Petty. You put it right into your chest and it makes overplayed, overrated Top 40 radio go right away… Look, I'll back that up at two o'clock in the afternoon tomorrow if I have to. I'm not erasing Pop from my genes. I can't, it's in my body. I'm just saying that, Pop music won't be what I center my music around any longer."

He continued deeper into what the future holds for his career, "I'm learning this concept that's very simple, yet I've lost it a few times. The simple concept of, 'talking less, and listening more'. I don't feel that need any more to carry around this huge 'WOW!,' factor on my back. I don't need that anymore. I'm fucking turning thirty in six months. I'm going to do whatever I want from my career. I'm not going to be one of these musicians who have thirteen side-projects, and they use their main project as a safety net if all others fail. You won't hear any Ryan Ross Hernandez Band, or Trio, or Quartet. You will just hear Ryan Ross Hernandez. Be it if I decide to make a folk album, or a jazz album, or a fucking ambient noise album. I'm not afraid of losing fans, or losing a record deal any longer. I feel like every single artist and band in the world both lose and gain fans with each album. I've made enough money to find ways to distribute my music if a label happens to drop me. Which is interesting when you think about it, because for the last seven years, I've done things my way, yet I've kept labels happy. What is Ryan Ross Hernandez going to do next? I'm going to finally do the long awaited, Let a Man Be Lost Tour, while at the same time working on a record on my own, and one thing that I really want to do in the near future is a collaboration album. I'm talking a collab album as Miss Vanity and Stephanie Fierce did. Like the album Jakey Comatose and Regan Futrell did together. I really want to do it with a female because something combining good female vocals and male vocals together, always gets my attention. So that might happen soon. Or I might just a make a Duran Duran album, I don't know, I get bored easily."

Hernandez also answered questions about his decision to do no promotion and touring for his latest album, Let a Man Be Lost; "What I did with Let a Man Be Lost, by not touring or promoting it at all, after its release was an experiment for me. An experiment that I wanted to conduct for myself. Everyone hated the idea but it intrigued me. The experiment was, what would happen if I release my best record to date, not only best record but most mainstream appealing record to date. What if I were to release this amazing album, and not promote it? Not tour it. Would it still be a success. And while the experiment, when you look at it, cost me and most people around me money. The album was a success, is a success. It has had a two successful singles come off it, Hollywood Hills Assassin, and Halfhearted Lover. The Halfhearted Lover has gotten to number one on the charts twice, and has been on Top 20 chars for twenty weeks. That's a successful single. A successful single isn't just going number one then disappearing a month later. A successful single is one that sticks with people for as long as this single has. The album as whole, has been successful. Four, five months from it's release and it has sold 1.6 million copies in the United States, certified platinum. The experiment has paid off because it proves, maybe not to anyone else, but to me, that it doesn't matter if you promote a record in twenty seven countries, or play hundred tour dates, or make an appearance on every single talk show that will have you. If the music is good, if the music connects with people, it will be successful whether you're me or anyone else in the music industry."

He went on to mention that a direction in acoustic/folk music would be the likely successor after the predicted death of his pop music run. Who knows if this is true, but it is almost certain that he is ready to return to the music scene, with a new set of songs and an old set of feelings that always emerge in this place. Before the last song of the night, Hernandez shared a sobering and yet grateful outlook on the "beautiful flashback" he was having while on stage—no doubt recounting in his mind the places he's been from beginning till now. He said, "I asked for everything. I did, in a way, sign off on everything, I said 'Yeah, I'll take it all.' The good and the bad. Give me houses at the snap of a finger and give me relationships that fade in a heartbeat. And give me a bunch of money, and then give me a lot coming in and a lot going out. Give me hell and give me heaven at the same time. And I got it, you know, and I won't complain about it. 'Cause the heaven slightly outweighs the hell, which makes it worth it. And I think that's everybody's life."

Could have just been the words of a scotch-tamed tongue, but he ended the night 120 minutes later, singing "The Other Side of Desire" and all of the voices of the 500some in the room joining in. At the end of the night he promised the audience at hand that they will hear from him again soon, and just in the same simple fashion that he entered the stage, he exited it.

Edited by user 02 April 2011 06:25:47(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Stephanie Fierce: I always respected you more as a musician rather than artists, until Let a Man Be Lost, were you successfully combined the both. I'm gonna miss the pop side of you, since we all have it. But I respect the fact that you care more concerned about the music. Pretty darn well said, what you said. Whatever you do in your career Hernandez, always will be fan. Good luck with everything man!





OOC: This



and

this:

WELL FUCKING WRITTEN!

OOC: If there was no PANIC!, I would have probably never done half of my best RPs.

OOC: Haha, well thank you very much for all the warm comments. It's good to see that I haven't been forgotten around here yet. I'm glad to see that the roleplay section is alive around here, and some familiar faces are still around.

OOC: With that Let a Man Be lost RP, i don't think its possible to be forgotten lol

Ryan Ross Hernandez: "Oh Alicia, stop over-hyping me I'm just a guy who had a little bit of talent, was able to grow that talent and in someway strange way, was able to become successful while still doing whatever the fuck he wanted with his music. No god-like quality here, I'm just a well-studied, learned musician who has gene in my body that can quickly grasp as to what someone wants from me in a musical or producing level. Thank you for having me as a producer for both of your records, all those countless hours you've had to spend in studio with me can't be easy. Most people can't take me after one conversation, ha! But yeah, if you have me for the third record I'll talk less."

OOC: Wow, you guys are being way too nice to me right now. I'm glad that my rp's have at least inspired others so much. I'm terribly critical of myself, and self-aware, so I always find something wrong with my rps. But I'm glad their handy for others. Hopefully I haven't lost that magic touch after my hiatus, haha.