The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
the b-side
Thursday, October 29, 2015 — 3B
By CHRISTIAN KENNEDY
Daily Arts Writer
The last time I met Phoebe
Ryan I was wearing overalls, a
Miley Cyrus shirt and a straw
hat. Thanks to that outfit, almost
immediately after describing my
festival get-up from Bonnaroo
last June, Ryan remembered
me, grabbing my wrists in
excitement. Today, she’s sporting
a captain’s hat over her black-to-
green ombre hair and toting a
ukulele as we walk downstairs
before her sound check.
“I always have a little stringed
instrument,” she said. “When
I’m writing, I noodle around on
this to figure out what melodies I
want to use. So that’s important.
And this captain’s hat. I wear
it in the van, even when I’m not
driving. I just love the look.”
Before
creating
her
own
music, Ryan wrote on tracks
for pop artist Bea Miller and
rapper Skizzy Mars. Her solo
career began when she rocked
the Internet by releasing a
mashup of R. Kelly’s “Ignition”
and Miguel’s “Do You ...” on her
Soundcloud in January.
“(The
mashup)
kind
of
happened organically,” Ryan
said. “I was experimenting with
my producer, listening to what
music I had listened to lately
and we were like, ‘Why don’t we
try this over this with this track
and see what happens.’ It was
really random.”
It was a random track that
went on to garner hundreds of
thousands of plays. Later that
month she released her first
original song, “Mine,” followed
by her debut EP of the same name
in June. Since then, she’s been
touring consistently: opening
for Smallpools currently, Say
Lou Lou last month and sets
at Bonnaroo and Firefly over
the summer. After Smallpools’s
American Love tour concludes
in December, she will be headed
back to Los Angeles to work on
her full-length album.
“There’s already enough songs
for a record. We have amazing
songs done, but now we are
trying to beat everything. We
keep writing and writing to get
the most songs to pick from and
have them be the best of the
best,” Ryan said. “It’s going to be
a spring album, definitely. It’s a
really fun record.”
Even on tour, Ryan is constantly
writing for the new record.
“I have to write every single
day, even if it’s just on a notepad,
not a full song,” she said as she
strummed on her ukulele. “I’ve
got to keep my muscle memory
going. I consider that part of
the process because you have a
creative muscle, and you’ve got
to exercise it every day.”
Her songs are personal, often
drawing from the relationships
in life: with people, herself and
the world. “Mine” has been
featured on MTV, topped the
Radio Disney charts and came
second on Taylor Swift’s “New
Songs That Will Make Your Life
More Awesome” list that she
posted on Instagram three weeks
ago. While she doesn’t have a
TV, she watches online when she
knows one of her songs will be
playing.
“It’s so weird seeing your songs
on TV and knowing other people
are watching. It feels so different.
When it’s on the radio it’s just a
song people are listening to, but
when it’s worked into a script it
changes it somehow, in a good
way,” Ryan said.
And as far as her shout out
from arguably pop music’s most
visible artist, Ryan discovered it
at the same time as millions of
other fans.
“That was a complete surprise
to me,” she said noticeably
excited. “It was like Christmas. I
was so honored.”
Before living in L.A., Ryan
grew up in New Jersey by the
shore with her parents and older
brother, to whom she accredits
some of her musical career. As
a child she took piano lessons
while her brother learned to play
the guitar. Ryan would borrow
her brother’s guitar and teach
herself how to play whenever he
wasn’t home.
“(Growing up) I was like, ‘I
wanna play guitar. Why am I at
the stupid piano? I want to play a
freakin’ rock ‘n’ roll instrument,’
” she said. “Just being jealous of
him made me get into music.”
But her musical education
didn’t
stop
at
stealing
her
brother’s guitar. She went on to
study production and engineering
at
New
York
University’s
prestigious Tisch School of the
Arts (other alumni include Lady
Gaga, Woody Allen and Angelina
Jolie). Ryan graduated two years
ago, and left college eager to take
on the music industry.
“(My time at NYU) was
awesome — it was really rad. It
was hard because I saw all my
friends with careers happening
and granted they were a few
years older than me, but I was
just like, ‘I need to be where
they are right now.’ I was very
impatient, but I ended up sticking
it out and I think it was word it,”
she said. “My parents are happy,”
she added with a chuckle.
Ryan’s American Love tour
made a stop at Webster Hall
in Manhattan’s east side this
month. Growing up in the city,
Ryan was just around the corner
from Webster Hall, making the
show one of Ryan’s favorites.
“The first year I was there I
lived right next door. I used to go
there for shows all the time and I
(knew) someday, I’m going to be
on that stage and there’s going to
be a really big audience and it’s
gonna rule and it happened and
I was in shock the whole time. It
was insane,” she said.
But that doesn’t mean she’s
done taking on the city yet. Ryan
has a few venues in her mind that
she hasn’t gotten to quite yet.
None by name, but she offered
her praise to fellow up-and-
comer Halsey, who recently
announced a show at Madison
Square Garden.
Natural and confident on
stage, it’s clear that Phoebe
Ryan will soon be in the arena
game. Her live show is as
polished as her studio sound
and she’s only got more to
come. Seeing her about four
months after Bonnaroo, her
performance is more cohesive
with her band and backup
vocals, leaving her set with an
enviable smoothness and she
has deftly balanced performing
and crowd interaction early in
her career. Songwriting wise,
she has songs already placed
with artists, her favorites yet
to come and her upcoming LP
is sure to make a splash in pop
music’s 2016 Spring season.
“I’ve been waking up for the
past five years saying, ‘This is
gonna happen, be an artist and
kill it.’ Or at least I’m gonna try.
I’ve been in that mindset for a
really long time and I think that’s
what makes me crazy enough to
even attempt it,” Ryan said. “I’m
so proud all the time, and truly
the best is yet to come.”
ARTIST
PROFILE
IN
COLUMBIA
Ryan broke through with a mashup of “Ignition” and “Do You” by Miguel.
Top costumes for
Halloween 2015
By CARLY COLONNESE and
JULIA DOYLE
Daily Arts Writers
It’s finally Halloween, what
some would call the favorite
holiday among college students,
especially here at the University.
Halloween is a long affair filled
with various festivities, coupled
with an excuse to dress up as
something clever or scary. But
for many others, it is an excuse
to dress down with an extremely
revealing costume — but we hold
no judgments. After all, it’s all a
part of the creativity, the humor
and the life-long regrets that come
with the territory of Halloween.
Halloween has a way of bring-
ing out a vibrant energy around
the University’s campus each
year unlike that of gamedays or
other noteable campus events.
For most of the world, Halloween
lasts for one night. But for others,
the bravest students on campus
(some would argue), Halloween
quickly escalates from one night of
celebration to a full-fledged “Hal-
loweek.” People on campus always
amaze us with their unfailing abil-
ity to brave the cold weather to go
out each night with some new and
undoubtedly inspired costume.
With the costume of the current
night always outdoing the previ-
ous, the University’s campus dur-
ing Halloween is quite the show
for students and Ann Arbor resi-
dents alike.
Each year there are always vari-
ous costume trends among Uni-
versity students. Inspired by the
likes of pop culture, music, classic
films and so on, there are those
who go all-in and conjure up an
entirely new and unique ensem-
ble individually or with a group
(how many Kardashian sisters do
you think we will see on campus
this year?). The other group of
students, what we call the much
less adventuresome individuals,
tend to stick with what they have
in their closet and simply acces-
sorize. Nothing to be ashamed of
there, with being responsible for
up to a week’s worth of costumes,
it’s undoubtedly the economical
choice. Regardless of how exciting
and different a person’s costume is,
there always tend to be those few
select repeat costumes each year.
Let’s take a look.
“The cat” … what some would
call a college Halloween staple.
People are attracted — and often
default — to this look simply
because it requires minimal effort
in most cases. You can wear an
entire jumpsuit with a cat-themed
pattern on it (leopard and cheetah
included, let your inner Cookie
Lyon roar, people) and actually
somewhat resemble a cat in almost
all cases. Others take a slightly dif-
ferent approach. Some people use
this as the excuse to strip down
to the bare minimum of clothing
(with Michigan weather, you folks
deserve an award), slap some cat
ears on their head and call it a cos-
tume. Regardless of which way a
person goes with this, I guarantee
we will see more than a few. We
rate this here at Daily Style as a
more than acceptable costume —
just don’t expect the likes of Heidi
Klum to gush over it anytime soon.
“Britney” … another college/
life/teenage girl classic. Each year
we are left in awe not just at how
many people go for the Britney
Spears look, but also how people
differentiate each one of Britney’s
many stages of life. Some people
will go with a group of girlfriends,
with each girl mimicking one of
Britney’s
wide-ranging
looks.
From the jean on jean, to the
Catholic school uniform, to the
inevitable bald caps, there really
is no way to go wrong. Oh baby,
baby, we aren’t sure whether Brit-
ney’s PR team deserves an award
or a stiff drink, because this pop
star seems to be providing more
than enough content to keep girls
and boys alike set in the costume
department for days.
“Football Player” … being the
football school that we are (Yes,
MSU, we still are aMazing), this
is yet another look that students
cannot stay away from. Yet again,
the simplicity of the outfit is why
we believe its popularity has never
faltered. All one has to do is find a
jersey, find tight pants (or no pants
in many cases), and put some eye
black on. It’s easy, quick and will
always be universally and Univer-
sity relevant.
This year, we expect to see
many of the same looks. While we
love to see uniqueness, we have
stopped getting our hopes up. But
then again, bald Britney is always
a crowd pleaser. The truth is, with
the wide variety of costumes actu-
ally on the market, students have
no excuse to be wearing the same
costume as anyone else.
Ragstock, a vintage and used
clothing store that opened in
October of 2010, has become
downtown Ann Arbor’s center
for Halloween costume shop-
ping, with the biggest appeal to
students. With hundreds of cos-
tume options, accessories and
individual pieces needed for the
perfect Halloween costume, it
would be hard to leave empty-
handed this time of year. Rag-
stock offers the inventory giving
every student, lazy or inspired,
a chance to find a unique and
Insta-worthy
look.
Students
flock to the store in troves when-
ever the holidays come around,
whether they’re in need for Hal-
loween costumes or ugly Christ-
mas sweaters. We can rest easy
knowing that Ragstock will
never fail to provide whatever
bizarre, outfit-completing piece
a person may need.
“Here Halloween is like our
Christmas; it’s our busiest day of
the year,” said Ragstock employ-
ee Elaine, an Eastern Michigan
University student. Due to the
prevalence of Halloween cul-
ture on the University’s cam-
pus, Elaine discussed how the
store gets overwhelmingly busy
during the Halloween season.
Students, ridden with midterms
and the like during these weeks,
will often come in last minute,
leaving the store flooded with
students, especially during the
week of Halloween. People will
come in groups for their friends’
input or to focus alone, each
looking for that perfect outfit.
Elaine said that the store
starts prepping for Halloween
in the last weeks of September
because there are still those
ever-prepared people who are
ready to get the ball rolling for
Halloween just a little bit earlier
than the rest of us.
Given that some people choose
to accessorize rather than buy a
full costume, Ragstock is pre-
pared for both. Although both
are popular, Elaine believes the
majority of people come in look-
ing for accessorizing pieces,
rather than the whole look.
“They buy both. More popular
are accessories because we have
so many unique things. They
come in with something really
specific for a unique costume
that they’re doing.”
For those Halloween enthusi-
asts who find themselves bom-
barded with exams with just
a bit of light gleaming at the
end of the tunnel in the form of
Halloween festivities, we have
got you covered. If the popular
costumes among students bore
you, or if you are looking to the
bigger picture of relevance and
Halloween legendary-ness, then
look no further. Lucky for you,
2015 has had plenty of Hallow-
een-costume-worthy events.
1. Donald Trump
This
reality
star-turned-
GOP presidential candidate has
gained serious attention in the
media, good and bad, making
him a perfect Halloween cos-
tume. Just imagine the blonde
wig you can buy for this.
2. Caitlyn Jenner
Jenner’s iconic Vanity Fair
cover has already gathered an
abundance of media attention.
While this extremely controver-
sial costume can be construed
as being offensive toward the
transgender community, Jenner
has publicly said that she doesn’t
have an issue with the costume.
Let’s be honest though, how
many people can look as good as
she did on that cover?
3. “Love Wins”
In light of the U.S. Supreme
Court ruling on June 26, legalizing
same sex marriage in all 50 states,
this can be a positive, fun costume
on the historical ruling. Bright
colors and rainbows everywhere,
people.
4. Miley Cyrus
After “Wrecking Ball” took
Halloween by storm in 2013,
Cyrus is the artist that keeps on
giving great ideas and moments
for Halloweens for years to come.
The 2015 Miley Cyrus thoroughly
enjoyed showing plenty of skin
and, frankly, bizarre outfit choices.
Seek inspiration from one of her 10
outfits from the VMAs.
5. Kylie Jenner
This freshly legal “famous”
person is always at the forefront
of entertainment news. Break out
your shot glass and do the Kylie
Jenner Lip Challenge, add some
black or blue lipstick and your cos-
tume is complete.
6. Stephen Curry and daugh-
ter Riley Curry
The Internet went crazy after
videos of Riley surfaced being,
well, a boss-child, at a press con-
ference. You come up with the rest.
7. “Fifty Shades of Grey”
The excitement that came with
this book wasn’t enough to mask
the pure horror that came from
watching the movie. However,
this can be your opportunity for an
exceptionally punny costume, as
all one needs to wear is a multitude
of gray colored clothing and maybe
some leather …
8. Left Shark
It’s weird to look way back on
the Super Bowl because it feels
like forever ago at this point, but
hey, it’s still 2015. Left Shark took
the world by storm after botch-
ing his dance moves in “Teenage
Dream.” Memes galore and GIFs
followed suit. Be creative, be you,
become the Left Shark.
9. Chanel from “Scream
Queens”
Emma Roberts plays a fash-
ionably bitchy (scary similar
to her character in “American
Horror Story Coven”) soror-
ity president named Chanel in
ABC’s “Scream Queens.” She’s
known for wearing immaculate
outfits that are always acces-
sorized with fur. This can be
especially fun as she has min-
ions, Chanel #1, Chanel #2
(dead), Chanel #3, Chanel #4
(dead), Chanel #5 and Chanel
#6. Sorry for the spoilers, but
just think of the #squadgoals
outfits that can come as a result
of this?!
10. “American Horror Story”
It is Halloween after all;
“AHS Freak Show” and “Hotel”
have scary and interesting char-
acters alike. With more than 10
million viewers of the FX series,
these haunting, gory costumes
would surely be a hit. We never
thought we would say this, but
we give you all full permission
to channel your inner Gaga.
VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily
Kinesiology junior Mitchell Tuttle looks for a costume at Ragstock on Wednesday.
MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW
I stand by my accurate, private
and irrelevant theory that a col-
lege student in her final year
of studies
can draw an
immediate
comparison of
her collected
experiences
and growth
to that of the
rambunctious Justin Bieber. I’m
speaking to you especially, Class
of 2016, who has aged with the
beloved Mr. Biebs. Remember
when you were lying on the
bathroom floor of Markley at 3
a.m., just moments after vomit-
ing? Bieber was, concurrently,
performing some comparably
dumb scenario, like pissing
publicly in some backstage mop
bucket. From there, the size and
breadth of the mistakes and suc-
cesses made by both parties only
grew. You failed however many
tests (hopefully not that many)
and Bieber collected ticket after
ticket on that lovely yellow Lam-
borghini. Together the Class of
2016 and Bieber have drank too
much and, subsequently, made
some fairly wretched decisions.
They were never life altering,
but for both parties, they came
pretty close.
We’ve been with him
through it all: from the pre-
pubescent, floppy haired,
Ludacris-laced days of “Baby”
to the excessively popular
“Deport Bieber” petitions
to the matured post-Selena
Bieber. Modern Bieber,
still undeniably sexy and
vaguely feminine, positioned
himself as a pop star with
enough taste and humility
to place two New Zealand
dance crews, ReQuest and
Royal Family Mega Crew,
in the dance video for his
most recent single, “Sorry.”
Clothed in fluorescents remi-
niscent of some deliciously
trippy ’80s explosion, New
Zealand’s finest dancers
present sets of mesmerizing
choreography that lets no
bodacious body go unnoticed.
Perfectly on par to every
single one of the song’s heavy
bass beats, the dancers keep
all eyes glued to the screen.
Polka-dotted, spectacled,
red-lipped and monochro-
matically dressed, each of the
dancers is uniquely dressed
in what will surely become
someone’s last minute Hal-
loween costume.
Bieber’s decision to remove
his physical self from the
“Sorry” dance video is some
sort of calculated brilliance. Not
only does he appear less eager
to the public, but his music now
assumes a versatility that tran-
scends his previous work.
- AMELIA ZAK
DEF JAM
A
Sorry
Justin Bieber