StayLoose

Stayloose is the moniker of Denver’s Ross Ryan, a DJ/producer combining trap, EDM, and rock influences into a style known as future bass. On early releases such as 2014′s Home, he made himself known as one of the style’s pioneers, then expanded his music on later works like 2017′s self-titled album and 2019′s Illusions EP, both of which took a poppier approach.
Ryan grew up listening to bands such as Metallica, Tool, AFI, and the Prodigy and began playing in rock bands in high school. One of his bands, Boys, won a Guitar Center contest in 2011 that offered a gig opening for Jane's Addiction on their Nothing's Shocking 20th anniversary tour as well as $30,000. Ryan spent his share of the money to buy the laptop and programs he used to become a producer, and spent several years immersing himself in learning how to make electronic music. He began posting remixes of songs as StéLouse in 2013, and released his debut album Home in 2014 on Celldweller’s Subterra Records label and the more experimental The City EP later that year on Die High Records. Remixes of Viceroy & Penguin Prison’s “The Life” in 2014 and a version of Rozes’ “R U Mine” in 2015 continued to boost Ryan’s profile, and he signed with Casablanca Records in early 2016. That year also saw him collaborating with the Static Age’s Andrew Paley on “It’s Over,” with Nick Leng on “Been So Long,” and with Devault on “All I Need.” Ryan returned in 2017 with the deep house-tinged “Lovers” and “Shivers n Gold,” which incorporated touches of rock into its EDM framework. That May, StéLouse’s self-titled album arrived and reflected the more song-driven side of his music. In 2018, Ryan officially changed the project’s name to Stayloose with the single “Fight Back,” a collaboration with Nevve that was also his first release for Dim Mak Records. That year, he also worked with Taheran on the track “Hey Mama” and reunited with Rozes (“Mean to Me”) and Paley (“Let Go”). The following year, Stayloose released the Illusions EP and a deluxe reissue of The City. ~ Heather Phares