Stoic’s Handicap

How do you describe an artist that sings and plays like an angel, but has a true penchant for the "devil's music"? Conflicted? Inspired? Maybe a little bit of both. Welcome to the world of Stoic's Handicap. Stoic's Handicap is Jennifer Ryan, a 25 year old singer-songwriter guitarist that hails from the suburbs of Chicagoland, whose music will keep you guessing. "During one of my shows, I asked the audience to play a little game with me called 'Guess the genre.' I asked them to talk to me after my set and tell me what they thought my influences were and what genre they would put me in. I received feedback on everything from a modern day troubadour to ethereal, Irish folk, soft country, dark acoustic, Ani DiFranco, A Perfect Circle, Tori Amos with a guitar, and even Christian- but most importantly it has been called original and undefined. No one has been able to quite put me in a category and I like it like that." Jen started playing electric guitar as a freshman at Purdue University. I know that (music) is the only thing that has kept me from slipping over the edge throughout college. As soon as I picked it up, (the guitar) I knew I should've been playing for years because I've always loved rock music. In high school I listened to a lot of Our Lady Peace because Superman's Dead was the most amazing song to me at that time. I listened to it literally on repeat for weeks. Bands like British alt. rockers Mansun, Metallica, the Deftones, and Tool on late night MTV (when Mom and Dad weren't watching) progressively drew her towards darker rock. In college I discovered Nine Inch Nails and it was over. I listened to everything from Orgy to Korn and Marilyn Manson. The Smashing Pumpkins played at Purdue my freshman year and I was hooked. I started attending every concert that I could and rocking out in moshpits. Jen graduated from Purdue University as a double major in Pharmacy and Biology. Somewhere around the end of her last year in school a series of fortunate and unfortunate events took place and she decided to throw caution to the wind and pursue music professionally. At one point in school, I was asked to come to an audition at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Cananda, but I was still in pharmacy school so I felt like I had to finish what was ahead of me. During my last final at Purdue, I started giggling uncontrollably and when it was over, I immediately played an open mic that night and booked shows like there was no tomorrow. And so it began. It all started with a 3 song one-tracked demo that Jen recorded by herself in her apartment in May of 2005 and gave away for free at her shows. It's just me singing and playing at the same time hoping I didn't screw it up too much. It's hard to believe that only after a year of playing out live, Jen has played over 50 shows, released a live EP, worked with musicians associated with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and been asked to open for the likes of Loudon Wainwright, The Pat McClimans Group, and Carolines Spine. It may be difficult for a listener to see the heavier influences in her music, but Jen is confident that the lyrics speak for themselves. "I think it comes through with my lyrics and people are always shocked once I start playing. I love what I'm doing right now as a singer/songwriter guitarist, but all I've ever wanted was a heavy alt rock/metal band. I started playing on a black Ibanez with double humbuckers and a Johnson J Station with all the distortion ridden effects that you could ever want as a beginner. Some of the first songs that I learned were Deftones 'My Own Summer (Shove It) and Tool's 'Schism'. I moved on to the acoustic because I wanted to improve my skills and because I had no one else to play with but I still wanted to start performing. Playing the electric guitar alone on stage never really seems to work that well. " Some of her influences include Chevelle, Tool, NIN, Deftones, Helmet, Our Lady Peace, Smashing Pumpkins, Ministry, and a few softer sounds like Bright Eyes, Dave Matthews Band and Tori Amos. "I'm all over the page. I love music and I'm always seeking out new sounds and new styles." Songs like "Everclear Angels" and "Sirenspeak" set the stage with very soft chord progressions and ethereal choral voicings, to paint a dream-like atmosphere only to be shattered by "To Chaos (Ms. Pretty-Pretty)", "Jenny", and "Stigmata Holiday", with heavy percussion-style guitar riffing, cutthroat lyrics and raging vocals that remind you of the mosh pit, and on to "Demigod" and "Requiem" with complicated fingerpicking patterns- in other words you don't know where Stoic's Handicap will take you next. Just don't let the "girl with the guitar" fool you.