Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Hayes.
Hi Ryan, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Creating music and performing started for me at an early age. I joined band in the 7th grade playing clarinet and then going on to play saxophone throughout high school in Jazz band, Marching Band, Wind Ensemble etc… At about this same time is when my older brother really started to influence my music tastes, putting me on to whoever he was listening to at the time. That’s when I found Hip Hop music and I immediately fell in love with it. I would spend a lot of my free time online, trying to find artists that I hadn’t heard of yet, which really led to me learning a lot about hip hop culture as whole, not just the musical aspect of it. I felt like I wanted to know everything there is to know about this. My freshman year in high school, my brother an aspiring rapper at the time, gave me his old laptop and bought me FL Studio to see if I’d get into beat making. By my sophmore year I was sold, I knew this is what I’m gonna do. After high school I attended The Institute of Production and Recording (IPR) from 2014-2016, receiving a degree in Audio Engineering and Production. While I was in college this guy by the name of Paul Zee aka DJ Blaze One worked on the lab staff team there and one day we just got to talking about music and I had told him that I have a pair of turntables at home and some records but I never really knew how to start learning how to DJ but I’ve always wanted to. Paul met with me once a week for a while after classes and would let me mess around on his setup, showing me the basics I’d need and some things to practice to get started. Much like the production, I got super into it. After College, I started DJing local hip hop shows at places like Honey, Triple Rock, Nomad, and Palmers. A couple years after that I was introduced by a mutual friend to a DJ crew by the name of Slipmats Radio. At the time they were doing the weekend nights at Coup De Tat, whats now the green room in uptown. Mind you before this I had only done hip hop shows, and I grew up in a small town so night life was something I didn’t know about. When my friend brought me out to that night for the first time, it changed everything for me. I went back every single Friday and Saturday night and stood as close to the DJ’s as they’d let me so I could watch every move and figure out how to do this myself. After a while, Bob Marino one of the members of Slipmats radio, took me under his wing after and showed me everything he knew and after about a year I was ready to start doing my own gigs. I started doing nights at places like Last Call and Pimento, and even booked my first dance night residency at the basement bar that I held for about 3 years. I also helped curate and was the house DJ for a local artist series called Bars n’ Brews at Dayblock Brewing for a couple years. Then my path changed again, when I ended up DJing a Get Out the Vote show at Honey put together by CMJ (Christopher Michael Jensen) and Nur-D, who was just starting to make waves around town with shut and rap, was on the bill and I spun his set for him. He came super prepared, absolutely nailed his performance and I had a blast cutting up his tracks. Fast forward a couple months and I booked him on our Bars n’ Brews show at Dayblock and the experience was similar. A couple months after that Nur-D reached out to me to talk about doing a show with him and a band and if everything went well possibly continuing to work together after. That show was the Printer-stellar show for the Current at Modist brewing in 2019. When I tell you that I had never had as much fun doing anything as I did that show. Artists I had worked with before had wanted me to tone down what I do and not really do much but let the track play and that bored me, but Nur-D was the opposite. He encouraged me to bring all the aspects of my craft into his sets. So again, I went all in, becoming Nur-D’s official DJ and later in 2020 we started collaborating musically making the projects, Trapped in My Room, 38th and Chicago Ave, Mixtape 3: Just For Fun, Crush, and more to come. I quit working in the restaurant industry in 2020 and have been a full time DJ/Producer since, playing all over the country and in 2024 Nur-D and I opened FairPlay Entertainment Studio, a recording studio off University Ave. in St. Paul, MN.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
At times it has been a smooth road and other times it hasn’t. It’s a learning process. There isn’t really a guide to how to be successful in the music industry, it’s different for everyone depending on where you want to end up. So the not so smooth parts are the hard lessons learned, it’s a lot of trial and error, and going back to the drawing board and trying again. Like early on Nur-D and I had an artist book us on a tour we quit our jobs for and then kick us off the tour three days before we are supposed to get on a plane to meet up with them, because they could no longer deliver on their promises. From that you learn okay, everyone needs to sign a contract before I agree to do anything. I’ve been fired from clubs because they didn’t like my style or my sound and learned to do a little more research before booking somewhere to make sure i’m a good fit. Then there was 2020 which was definitely tough to navigate but again, I learned a lot from that. So overall, I wouldn’t say its been smooth or easy, but I’d say that the struggles along the way make the moments of success all the more rewarding.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I record, mix, and produce music as well as DJ. As a DJ I’m pretty open format but definitely specialize in Hip Hop, Funk, R&B, and Soul and I’d say the same for my studio work as well.
I’d say I’m known for my scratching and blends when it comes to DJing and my overall sound as a producer. I have people tell me all the time that they know when I made a beat just by hearing it, which is awesome cause that was always something I strived for.
I’m most proud of my work with Nur-D. The music we’ve made and continue to make as well as the shows, and the careers we’ve built together is the best part of what I do, but I love it all.
I’d say what sets me apart from others in the studio, is that I try to create an environment where anyone can come in and feel safe, respected, and taken seriously. I think sometimes people think a producers job is to tell you exactly what to do and then you do it, but if I wanted that I’d just make my own songs. I think it’s more important to create a space in which someone can be the most authentic version of themselves, and encourage and mold what comes from that. I want to know what you like, and what you want to sound like and I’ll use what I know to make sure you achieve the best version of that.
As a DJ what sets me apart is not only my scratching ability but the way I play the songs, whether it be my blends or word plays, juggling or scratch routines or how I structure my sets. A dance party on weekend night somewhere is usually an escape of sorts for the people attending. They want to forget the week and whatever struggles they are going through for a handful of hours and just have fun. So my goal is to give you that, I want to take you somewhere else for a bit. I’m gonna play your favorite songs, but I’m also gonna show you something you probably haven’t heard.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
It’s hard to pick just one so I’m gonna give two. Work ethic and integrity. My work ethic got me good at what I do, I never stop working at it, learning and striving to be better. Integrity is equally important cause in an industry like the music industry your integrity will be tested and it’s how you handle those moments that define your success and your character. Basically, just being a kind and respectful will get you further than any amount of talent.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fairplayentertainment.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djhayesmpls/
- Other: For booking reach out at [email protected]
