Birth name Ryan Loftsgaarden Years active 2015–present Record label Future Vega | Genres Tropical House Genre Tropical house Albums Tourists from the Future | |
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Occupation(s) ProducerSongwriterMusicianDJ Instruments PianoTrumpetBass GuitarDrumsLogic Pro Associated acts Mansions on the MoonCasey AbramsBonxRich JonesBestfriends Similar Mansions on the Moon, Casey Abrams, Bestfriends, Dream Cult, The Holy Coast Profiles | ||
Ryan Loftsgaarden (born May 19, 1988), commonly known by his stage name Ryan Lofty, is an American producer, songwriter, musician, and DJ. He is best known for his original tropical house songs and remixes which have garnered over one million streams on Spotify and SoundCloud.
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Early beginnings
Lofty was introduced to piano and trumpet at a young age by his mother who is a piano teacher. A near-death accident at the age of 15 inspired him to pursue music as a career. He studied music business at Columbia College Chicago during which time he held an internship at a small record studio. After college Lofty worked as a composer at Disney's creative campus in Los Angeles eventually leaving to facilitate a songwriting contract in India. Throughout this period he performed with multiple groups including a national tour as drummer with indie-electronic duo Bestfriends.
2015–present
In 2015 Lofty announced his solo project, releasing four singles and one remix over the course of the summer. His single The Mountain (feat. Bonx) won Insomniac Events' Discovery Project with the award of a one hour DJ set at Life Is Beautiful (music festival) in Las Vegas, opening the stage for Felix Jaehn, Robin Shulz, and Porter Robinson. On the day, Lofty performed a surprise collaboration with Bill Nye the Science Guy who was booked to speak at the event about climate change. The appearance was covered in major electronic music blogs and after the festival Yahoo! Music named Lofty one of "Five Rising Acts to Watch".
In early 2016 Lofty released eight-track album Tourists from the Future which featured American Idol alumni Casey Abrams and Mansions on the Moon vocalist Ted Wendler. The album contains heavy lyrical references to space and time travel which are recurring themes in Lofty's music. Popular music blog EARMILK called the album a "cosmic pool party" with "nothing but good vibes", and singled out track Dimensions (feat. Casey Abrams) as an example of Lofty's focus on melody. Global Dance Electronic (GDE) called the album a "cinematic experience" and dubbed the genre "tropi-galactic" - a play on Lofty's blend of tropical house and space themes.
Shortly after release Lofty performed in the capacity of an official artist at SXSW and Beyond Wonderland SoCal.
Film and TV
The Mountain (feat. Bonx) has been featured on television programs such as Dash Dolls and MTV's Real World: Go Big or Go Home. Higher (feat. Bestfriends) was featured on Season 14 of Bad Girls Club. An unreleased track from collaborative project BabeWave was licensed in an Apple Music Guided Tour. Lofty has also completed custom work for brands such as Mountain Dew, Microsoft and Los Angeles Kiss Football via Future Vega, a publishing house he co-founded.
Songs
The Mountain2015
Universe + Me2015
Say It to Me2015