BEING MYSELF-SHARING MY STORY
I GIVEEVERYTHING
EXCLUSIVE
NEW musicvideo inside
3 PURPLEHEARTS
FALLING IN LOVE
EXCLUSIVE ACCESS
IN MY HEAD
PLATINUMSELLING SINGLE
2022ALL-STARGAME
NBA
MY JOURNEY
GIVING IT ALL IN THE PROCESS
“I’m just a communicator,” heexplains. “I try to explain mytruth in a way to help youdiscover your truth. I hope tobe a leader. I want toencourage you to be your mosthonest and powerful self, bydoing the same. Those are thecore pillars ofmyexistence.”
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BIOGRAPHY
Ryland James realized hispurpose, and discoveredhimself.
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NBA ALL-STAR GAME
Ryland James Does CanadaProud.
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IN MY HEAD SINGLE
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I GIVE EVERYTHING
I wrote “I Give Everything” in2020 when I was goingthrough a lot of emotions.
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3 PURPLE HEARTS
The actual lyrics of the songtalk about how I met Ryan.
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LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY
I was still hidden from theworld in terms of my sexuality.
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STRONG FAMILY BOND
In an alternate reality, RylandJames might have ended up aprofessional hockey player—likeboth of his parents.
BIOGRAPHY
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After years of releasing music andperforming to packed crowdseverywhere, Ryland James realizedhis purpose, discovered himself,and came to terms with who he is.Of course, he’s a two-time JUNOAward-nominated andplatinum-certified vocal dynamo,and emotionally keen songwriter,and powerhouse performer.However, it goes much deeper thanthat for the Deseronto,Ontarionative. As if guided by an internalcompass, he embraces himself likenever before on a series of 2021singles for Universal Music Canadawith much more to come.
In 2019, Ryland emerged on the globalstage with his breakout single “In MyHead.” It notably soared to #1 onShazam Canada’s Top 200 chart andalso went platinumin Canada.Captivating audiences, he supportedmultiplatinum superstar Alessia Caraon a sold out North American tour andperformed at festivals such as Life IsBeautiful. On the heels of hisself-titled 2020 debut EP, RylandJames, he exceeded 70 million globalstreams. He kicked off 2021 with thesingle “Blame,”which tallied another 5million-plus streams, and thedancefloor banger “Save Me” withShaun Frank. Along the way, he fell inlove for the first time and publiclycame out with a heartfelt Instagrampost. These moments indelibly impactedhis creativity.
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NBA ALL-STAR GAME
Ryland James DoesCanada Proud
Ryland James made Canada proud Sundaynight with his rendition of “O Canada” at the2022 NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland.With stars like Jennifer Hudson, Adele andMary J. Blige in the building, the 22-year-oldOntario singer performed the national anthema cappella.“One of the most extraordinary moments ofmy life,” James later wrote in an Instagrampost. In his Stories, the singer shared severalbehind-the-scenes clips.Source: www.iheartradio.ca
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I GIVEEVERYTHING
EXCLUSIVE
I wrote “I Give Everything” inSeptember of 2020 at a time whenI was going through a lot oftumultuous emotions internally. I’dfallen in love for the first time justa few months prior with myboyfriend Ryan, and he’d had tomove across the province at areally inopportune time due to thepandemic. I knew we’d be able tomake long-distance work, but Iwas still very distraught at havingto be apart. I felt so robbed of thefantasy so many of us have ofspending every waking secondtogether with our first love. I hadenvisioned things going sodifferently for us.
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I imagined what it would be like tospend our first fall together after asummer of so many happy newemotions and experiences - things likegoing for long walks in our heavysweaters, seeing the leaves changecolours, getting cozy with some hottea on the porch, just all the reallycliche things I’d heard and seen othersexperienced that I really wanted to feelfor myself. The first few weeks he was gone werethe worst. These feelings inside mewere clawing their way to the surfacethat I had no idea could exist. I washeartbroken, jealous, and angry at theuniverse that something so goodcould be taken away from me soquickly. I hated that I’d have to waitmonths for us to be together again.Our connection was unlike anything I’dever experienced before. No one couldmake me feel the way he could. I waswriting a lot for the first time in a whileafter he left. Raw emotions werepouring out into the songs in a way I’dnever been able to capture before. “IGive Everything” was one of them. Iwent into Mike Wise’s home studio inToronto with DCF and GeoffWarburton and we started on aconcept. Someone started talkingabout the feeling you get when you’rein a
relationship and want to give your allbut also don’t want to lose yourself inthe process. It was perfect. I’d beenexperiencing that exact pattern ofemotion in my own relationship withRyan for almost the entire time we’dbeen together. I didn’t want to think about anythingelse but him at the time. I was soenveloped in the bubble we’d createdin the summer, and I couldn’t ever getenough of it. Things that seemedimportant to me before took abackseat to us, and I knew it. I’dconstantly catch myself worryingabout losing myself in ourrelationship, but I wanted it so badlyat the same time. I wanted to give inentirely. It was like a drug that neverlost its effect - too good to be truetype territory. That’s what the song isall about. It’s about that push-pulldynamic I had with myself. I wantedto give everything I had to investing in“us”, but I had so much to focus onoutside of the relationship that wasimportant too. I didn’t want to loseanything that was meaningful to me. I now realize that losing myself in ourrelationship was a good thing in thelong run. I learned so much aboutmyself by letting it happen the way itdid. It’s been the greatest personalgrowth experience of my life, and now“I Give Everything” gets to live a life ofits own in the world because of it.
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In an alternate reality, Ryland James mighthave ended up a professional hockeyplayer—like both of his parents. In a normaltimeline, the Canadian pop crooner—who’sbeen pouring his heart and sandy voice intoevery one of his soulful pop ballads—mightbe planning a tour. But instead, he’s at hischildhood home, looking through the windowand past the front yard, with its three giantpines, to the empty street in Deseronto, abouthalfway between Toronto and Montreal alongthe bank of Lake Ontario.Source: www.riffmagazine.com
STRONG FAMILY
BOND
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His grandmother, wholived a few doors downfrom his parents, was aformer church pianistand would play himgospel and soul music ather house.She taught him to singharmony and was theone to notice how hewas drawn to music.When he was 10, he sawanother boy sing aJackson Five cover on“Britain’s Got Talent,” andhis parents and grandmadecided he could do that,too.“I just kind of copiedwhat he did. I belted outthis song, and didn’t evenknow I could sing likethat,” James said.
“They’re like, ‘You should keepgoing with this.’ From that age,10 years old, I just knew Iwanted to do it. I becameobsessed with it. I followedand started posting coversand doing stuff online.”
He, his two youngersisters and their parentsare passing time togetheruntil life resumes again.
MY JOURNEY OFACCEPTANCE
I was still hidden from the world interms of my sexuality, and my ownacceptance of myself was in itsinfancy at that point. Id just beenthrough a hellish year or so in terms ofmy relationship to myself and to thestructures Id believed were true mywhole life. I was good at hiding theinternal turmoil from people in public,but when I was alone the despairconsumed me. My mental state wasnot in a good place by any means. Iwas relying heavily on externalsources to fill the void I felt, and I wasliving a double emotional life. Oneside was high-functioning andpleasant for the world to see, but theother would crash and spiral when noone was around to see. It wasexhausting, and I thought it might lastforever. I had no idea how to handlewhat I was going through, and thepeople closest to me really didnteither. I learned a lot about myself inthat time, and I tapped into a strengththat can only come from facingadversity head-on with no way out.
LGBTQ+
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yan felt like a saving graceat the end of the tunnel. He feltlike someone I could count on in away Id never really experienced.No one had ever shown me howto love myself for who I really wasbefore. When we met I was stillfacing the repercussions from themini coming outs Id beenhaving with closer familymembers and friends. There wasa lot of acceptance, but there wasjust as much push-back andmisunderstanding. I come from avery conservative, religiousbackground so it was expected,but it didnt make it any easier todeal with the feelings of rejection.I felt free with Ryan for the firsttime in my life, like I could just bewithout thinking. I felt like therewas hope for a fresh start, thatmaybe there was an escape fromthe perpetual darkness Id facedfor so long. I drove to the cityfrom my hometown two hoursaway every chance I got to seehim. I imagined what our lifewould be like in the comingmonths, even years, the changingseasons,
the adventures wed have together, allby each others sides. It was thedefinition of being on Cloud 9. Butthose ideals I held were shatteredwhen Ryan told me hed need to movehome with his family in Thunder Bayindefinitely due to circumstances thepandemic had brought on. I took it instride. I wasnt a stranger todisappointment or my internaldialogue having to be altered, but thesinking feeling didnt take long to setin. I tried hard to distract myself fromthe painful truth that wed be apart injust a couple of weeks. The intensityof my own feelings surprised me. Inever considered myself a jealous oroverly emotional person, but all of myrationality seemed to go out thewindow when love was involved. Icried a lot the day he left. I tried toprepare myself for his absence, butnothing could stop the tidal wave ofheartbreak that ensued. For the firsttime in my life, I understood what thatword meant. My heart literally felt likeit was forcibly splitting into a millionpieces like it could just tear itselffrom my chest at any given moment,the pressure of a ton of bricks sittingon my ribcage.
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3 PURPLE HEARTS: FALLING IN LOVE
3 Purple Hearts was written in November of2020, a few months after my boyfriend Ryanand I started doing long-distance at the endof August. The two of us had beeninseparable throughout the summer. Id methim at the end of June in Toronto, and therewas an immediate knowing between us thatour relationship was something greater thanourselves in some way. It felt like wed knowneach other for lifetimes. The world just feltlike it fell into place around us wherever wewent. This was my first time falling in love,so you can imagine how high I was on thefeeling of it all. There was joy, and euphoria,alongside fear and disbelief at the idea thatsomething so good could just fall into my lapso effortlessly. All these unknowns werehitting me at once. One moment Id be on topof the world at having found someone thatunderstood me like no other, but then thenext Id be crashing into doubt and worry atthe idea that it could all somehow slip awayfrom me in an instant.
The actual lyrics of the song talkabout how I met Ryan.
he actual lyrics of the song talkabout how I met Ryan and how ourrelationship evolved over the summerof 2020. I opened myself up to thepossibility of meeting someone inearly 2020 as it had never been afocus of mine before then. I wasdoing a lot of internal reflection andgrowth at the beginning of thepandemic, and my perspective on mylife and the greater world beyond wasexpanding rapidly. In April I noticed acomment with three purple heartemojis under one of my photos withRyans name and profile picture nextto it. For whatever reason I tapped onhis profile to check it out, which I veryrarely did at the time. There wasinstantly something about him that Iwas drawn to in his photos. I couldfeel a kindredness without havingeven met him. He DMd me and westarted chatting back and forth overthe next few weeks. We discoveredvery quickly that we were interested ina lot of the same things and that therewas a lot of chemistry in the way wecommunicated. June came along andI happened to be in the city recordingfor my holiday EP one day.
I messaged Ryan asking if he wasopen to meeting in person for acoffee. Hed just gotten home from along road trip with friends and agreedhe could definitely use one. I wasslightly nervous, but more excited toget to feel his energy in person.Theres always the fear that someonewont be what you expected them tobe when you meet them offline, but Ihad no doubt in my mind that therewas something special between us.When he came out to meet me in thepark I just knew. We clicked almostinstantly. The evening went on and on,and we ended up spending around 8hours just talking. I left the city in theearly hours of the morning filled witha sense of wonder and butterflies. AsI said before, the rest of the summerwas filled with an ample supply ofexcitement and curiosity. So many ofmy old negative habits and feelingswere shedding, and I was becomingsomething completely new anddifferent altogether. My emotions ranhigh as I discovered parts of myselfId put away for so long, parts ofmyself I couldnt access on my own.
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It remains themost specialsong and videoIve ever created
I worried that Id be banished back to that grey,dreary world I lived in before, and that hed rideoff into a much better life without me. I fearedId miss those precious moments every coupleexperiences at the beginning of a newrelationship. Months went on without him, andthere were a lot of growing pains. They weretumultuous days, but thats how 3 PurpleHearts came to be. Its my first love story in itspurest essence, and Im beyond proud of it.The video for the song was actually recorded atthe end of our long-distance journey. It was thebeautiful conclusion to the end of that difficultperiod wed just faced together. In May of 2021,Ryan and I finally decided to move in together,so he packed his things and I made a road tripto Thunder Bay to bring him home.
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BEING MYSELF-SHARING MY STORY

Ryland James - Bio Mag

Ryland James - Bio Mag

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