Hello people! It's been a loooong while since I last posted on this site. I saw this thread and I am a fan of Ryan's works, purpose, and playing. I am also proud and honoured to have him as a close friend to this day.
Ryan Peralta bio? Here it goes (it may not be that accurate. It was a long while back):
Ryan started playing drums at 1st year high school. He studied at Musar-Yamaha School of Music in Baguio. He studied at approximately 4 years (approximate, because he wasn't continuously enrolled due to many unavoidable circumstances) and finished all the drumming curriculum (and beyond) that would take a much longer time.
Ryan was/is a sponge. He picked up things very quickly. He truly is a prodigy.
He had the opportunity to teach at Musar because the people there saw his talent. During the "2nd" year of his schooling there, he began teaching drums, making him the youngest drum teacher.
Beyond the classroom, Ryan, together with his teacher and friends hang out and share ideas, drumming-wise. Everyone also shared musical likes, which include Rush, Dream Theater (even way before they became famous in Baguio), and The Dave Matthews Band. Then the barkada started venturing to jazz, which led to The Rippingtons, John Tesh, and Allan Holdsworth, to name a few.
If that wasn't enough for Ryan to grow, Benjie Mendez (a.k.a., Bagets) came to town for the very first time in the mid 90s. He was able to hook up with Bagets and he started absorbing some of the stuff Bagets was pulling out every gig night. There even was an informal lesson with Bagets at his "hotel" room during the day time. Ryan would always hang out him and try to "steal" as much as possible from Baget's out-of-this-world drumming, which was also very new and fresh for all Baguio drummers and musicians alike. That time opened doors for Ryan.
Also in the mid 90s, Ryan started to get into the music scene in Baguio. He then joined Access. This particular group played a variety of music (club music), but it was an opportunity for him to "experiment" all his ideas that he got from all those lessons and from watching Bagets. Their performances, most especially Ryan's, was no less than electric. His regular gigs in Baguio help him develop his stuff, deepen his pocket and his sense of groove, because then, he didn't have a drumset- ever (it's so unfair. He plays better than anyone who sheds with their drumsets in their homes!
.png "lol")
). The stage was his practice room!
Ryan occasionally went down to Manila and jammed with a few people there. And whenever he returns to Baguio, there was always something new that he picked up while he was out-of-town.
Then, in the late 90s or early 2000, Ryan decided to go to Manila in search for "milk and honey"... (I don't know the story there already. Maybe sir Mark can add more details to that, because he is one of Ryan's "first" friends in Manila... and best man.
)
And yes, get yourselves a copy of Ascension. It's a GREAT album! I still enjoy listening to the songs... I remember him letting me hear his demo tracks (director's cut, if you will
) months before the final editing and all when he went up to Baguio during a holy week.
Nice thread!
ps. I'm sure I missed some of the details. Maybe we can ask him?
