About Ryan

Ryan Amador is a songwriter, director, writer, and producer working at the intersections of music, theater, and film projects. He is also the co-founder and executive director of The Future Perfect Project, a non-profit dedicated to amplifying the voices of LGBTQIA+ Youth.
 

As a writer-director, Ryan is currently in development on a new musical, called "Q2", with actor/writer/activist, Celeste Lecesne (formerly James Lecesne). The piece has been in residency with New York Stage & Film and The New Harmony Writers' Conference in Indiana. He was recently seen performing in "Oratorio for Living Things" at Ars Nova Theater in NYC, cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ryan has written and directed educational pieces for New York University Abu Dhabi and Seattle University which incorporate health-related topics into live musical performances. Other directorial credits include: his own adaptation of William Golding's Lord of the Flies performed in Winter on a roof in Manhattan (2013), the world premieres of "Mouthy Bitch" at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival (2015) and "Mystery House" by Wendy Weiner in Los Angeles (2022), a new vision of Brecht/Weill's "7 Deadly Sins" produced by Jukebox Castle in collaboration with 14 New Orleans-based chefs (2017). For more info on previous theatre credits, click here. 

As a singer-songwriter, Ryan has released 4 ALBUMS & 6 EP's (Visit Spotify for a full discography). He is best known for his song "Instead", which has garnered over 9 million listens on Spotify, and his music video for "Define Me", which led to live performances at Pride Events in New York City, Pittsburgh (opening for Adam Lambert), Cleveland, and Brisbane, Australia.  Following the release of his video, "Spectrum", Ryan was asked to perform at TEDx in Santa Cruz, CA and speak on the topic of diversified sexuality, alongside the song's featured artists, Jo Lampert & Gyasi Ross. His song "I Don't Want to Post This" was featured on Spotify's OUTNOW playlist in June 2020. 

In 2016, Ryan and frequent collaborator Daniel Weidlein completed work on "(In) Body Vol. 1: Becom(In)g", the duo's self-produced album and film. The film is a series of music and dance videos strung together by a central character (played by Ryan) who deserts his life in Hollywood for a journey across the globe, trying to make sense of certain questions and relationships he's had, told through imaginative dance sequences. The entire film is available now on YouTube.

Following two EP's released in 2017, Ryan attempted to capture the sonic landscape of the U.S., in his latest full-length album, "The American", which was recorded on a road trip, collaborating with various producers & instrumentalists in each city along the way.  "The American" was released on January 25th, 2019 and features fan favorites: "Hospitals" & "Loverboy".

His single & video "Like A Woman" is a collaboration with women's rights organization, V-DAY, to call men into action in the fight for women's rights. 

 

Album Releases Include:

• "Symptoms of a Wide Eyed Being" EP (2012) - produced by Shaina Taub & Justin Goldner, featuring "Apology"

• "Palos Verdes: A Teenage Retrospective" EP (2012) - produced by David Baloche

• "Ryan Amador" (2013) - produced by David Baloche, featuring "On The Surface," "Instead," & "Define Me"

• "4S" EP (2014) - produced by Daniel Weidlein, featuring "Stained" & "Spectrum"

• "(In) Body Vol. 1: Becoming" (2016) - produced by Daniel Weidlein, featuring "Safe In Your Heart" (ASCAP Award Winner), "Talk In The Morning," & "Balloon"

• "Seattle Songs" EP (2017) - produced by Matt Stillo, featuring "Someone" & "Maryanne"

• "The Lost Tapes" EP (2017) - produced by Daniel Weidlein, featuring "Saint of Love"

• "The American" (2019) - produced by Ryan Amador, Daniel Weidlein, Cameron Spies, Chris Cunningham, Peter Mavrogeorgis, Erik Malchunik, Alex Simon, Billy Marino, & Ben Lorio, featuring "Hospitals," "Loverboy," "Liars," & "Inches Away".  "The American" was re-released as a Deluxe edition in December 2020.

• "Love In The Age of Anxiety" (2022) - produced by Ryan Amador, Daniel Weidlein, Brett Castro, Cameron Spies, and Brad Kemp. featuring "I Don't Want to Post This," "All My Friends Are Brands," and "Alien"

Visit Spotify for a full discography.

As a songwriter for other artists, Ryan is half of the songwriting team for LA-based artists Blake McGrath (So You Think You Can Dance, song "Missing You") and Luke Edgemon (NBC's The Voice), alongside producer/instrumentalist Daniel Weidlein. Ryan has also written songs for Molly McCook, Mario Jose, Will Makar, Ali Mancuso, & Ben Yahr. For a playlist of Ryan's songwriting for other artists, please click here

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For more on Ryan, please contact him here or join the mailing list below to stay informed.