Ryan York

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24 year-old Ryan York (also known as Asura) was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and currently lives in Los Angeles. Ryan has been studying music since the age of six, beginning with piano, trumpet (age 9), guitar (11), and finally double bass (14). York worked as a semi-professional jazz bassist throughout high school and college and began recording music at the age of 12 on a Sony walkman, eventually teaching himself electronic production and engineering on a home PC. At the age of 18 Ryan came to Los Angeles to study double bass with jazz masters Kenny Burrell and Anthony Wilson in UCLA’s Jazz Studies program but quickly realized that his artistic interests could not be completely satisfied through a formal jazz education.

With an ear deeply rooted in jazz, Ryan also started turning towards the modern classical, and electronic scenes of Los Angeles. The past year and half have seen him focus his energies toward creating a bridge between LA’s thriving beat scene and also its world of experimental and improvisational music, mostly facilitated by his association with the Non Projects label, an imprint of Alpha Pup Records started by Brian Simon that is devoted to finding and nurturing creative talents and their music. On an international level, Ryan has done mixes for Mary Anne Hobbs and the Low End Theory podcast (among many others), been featured on websites such as XLR8R and RCRD LBL, and has shared the stage with electronic luminaries such as Daedelus and Nosaj Thing and jazz notables Dave Liebman and Ray Drummond.

Ryan’s eponymous debut album as Asura was released on Non Projects in January 2010. He has since remixed Shlohmo, Baths, and Oscar McClure, released a split 12? with Non Projects founder Anenon, produced and engineered Ana Caravelle’s debut album Basic Climb, and released the Zipperlegs EP for Matthewdavid’s Leaving Records imprint. Ryan is currently a resident at Futura (alongside Teebs), a new monthly concert series presented by Alpha Pup Records. Upcoming projects include a jazz/improv album with his acoustic trio in which he plays double bass, a collaborative album with Ana Caravelle under the Gold and Soil moniker and the second Asura full length for Non Projects.

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