Hello, I'm Ryan Watts
And I operate under the Akira Film Script artist banner.
Hello. My name is Ryan Watts, and I operate creatively under the Akira Film Script artist banner, sometimes stylized as 映画アキラの世界 which roughly translates to: The World of the Film Akira - an obvious nod to the 1988 classic by Katsuhiro Otomo, however the English variation of my name also carries connotations of Akira Kurosawa’s film works as well - I’ll do a deep dive into what’s in an artist’s name in my eyes, and why I chose the one I did - plus the various iterations in which I use and stylize mine in the near future.
I’ve seen posts like this to introduce one’s self to their audience, and I want to callout specifically I was inspired here by an artist I enjoy, and share a few labels with, Glacis. Big thanks to Euan as I’d not quite known how to start this whole Substack thing, but he was kind enough to show a way, and for that, I’m grateful!
I was born in 1981 in the San Francisco Bay Area, I’m currently 44 (almost 45), and I’ve been actively writing and producing music since I was 14-years-old, having started my current musical path via a high-school-freshman-elective-based class in 1995 that was new curriculum called Digital Audio - a course that introduced me to the Korg TRINITY workstation, Korg Prophecy lead/solo synthesizer, MIDI, microphone recording, drum machines, rack units, Cubase (of which we got home versions for the Mac-owners in the classroom), and DJ/live sound techniques. Prior to that, I was first introduced to playing music (reading/writing/performing) through my middle school’s band were I played a few years of concert & jazz trombone, alongside concert tuba, and sousaphone for marching band.
In high school I leveraged my bass-clef skills by picking up the bass guitar in rock and hip-hop bands; this was the mid-to-late 90s. In the late-90s/early-00s I graduated into the writing, producing, and lead-vocalist role for a MySpace-era electronic artistic collective called Royal Pine Industries alongside some very good friends, most of which I’m still in contact with today, and have operated with across other musical, artistic, and professional adventures over the last 20+ years. During that same period I was doing live sound and studio recordings for a local reggae-rock/punk band, Shrinkage, from Union City, California. In the 10s I was the DJ, co-producer, and artist manager for a Bay Area Hip Hop collective called Dominant Genetikz - this led to me working more specifically with Brookfield Duece on his projects through the Coordinates album that released in 2022, acting as Executive Producer and Executive Composer on his albums over the last decade or more, leading to him joining the Oakland-based supergroup, Grand Nationxl.
From all my learnings, I began to focus on solo projects around 2019/2020 behind the scenes, picking back up on my previous years of electronic music writing and production experience, and began investing in my own personal studio setup. Around this same time I’d also just come off a 10-year, deep-dive study of Modal Jazz, specifically studies on the “voices” of the late, great Bill Evans that defined his solo works, Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue era, and the Chet-era of Chet Baker.
I’ve long enjoyed all forms of music (granted my deepest book-based knowledge is in jazz, rock, hip-hop, experimental, classical, and electronic), with a particular interest in exploring electronic stylings through my own works, and more specifically the extremes of it; field recordings, noise music, ambient, tracker-based, drone, modular…if you’ve deep dove on my catalog, you might see a theme. There was no linear path to exploring my interests. I’d done techno, then drum & bass, then house, then experimental, then, then, then…I don’t think I’ve ever really understood the differing scenes, or sub-genre guardrails - it’s all electronic music to me. Anytime I tried to play “by the rules” I wound up throwing it all in the bin, then making something I truly enjoyed.
I went to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco in the early-to-mid-00s, with a focus in 3D animation (Maya) and visual effects (AfterEffects), however after graduating, I was pulled into hospitality via restaurants due to my family’s ties within the wine world, being from northwestern Italy - Piemonte region, to be more specific. Yes, I bear a Welsh last name, but I am not Welsh - my understanding through my father’s side of the family, going back to my great grandmother is we’re directly tied to the namesake of the North Italian region’s communities: Alba, Asti, Cuneo (I’m a Cuneo) but due to sociopolitical stuff in the United States around the time my family came up from Argentina (post-WW2), they took on a Welsh last name to get jobs. Ancestry.com has confirmed as much as well, which floored me - no relation to any Watts outside of the Cuneo family line of Wattsi(sp?).
Today I’m a father of three with my lovely, patient, and beautiful wife, Shannon. As of this writing, we have a small farm of 4 outside/barn cats (Mama Kitty, Snow, Spot, and Star), three in-door cats (Sally, Zelda, and OBI), our amazing dog Darla, two lovebirds (Parker & Olivia), and our incredible kids whereby the two eldest are in elementary school, while the youngest is luckily-able to be home with us currently (usually, culturally here, you send them to daycare that’s quite honestly prohibitively expensive). I still work professionally in the wine world, now doing executive marketing and production maneuvers for an online wine company. It’s the coolest job you could imagine, it’s engaging, and has helped my music knowledge immensely, both direct, and indirect. I love what I do, day and night, and now understand the enthusiastic version of the expression “there just aren’t enough hours in the day.” - I used to count down hours, now I can’t find enough!
Musically, the last half-decade or more has been very kind to me. I’ve been able to be a part of a number of well-regarded musical projects and I’ve released my own solo albums (as of this writing) on labels such as Whitelabrecs, Shimmering Moods Records, Off Record Label, SeeHear Recordings, reset networks, D-Trash Records, Evergreen Music, Mabui Music, Shit Robotics, and the label I co-founded, Green Chair Music. I also have upcoming albums from Driftworks + Audiobulb, ROHS!, Machine Tribe Recordings, and more, as well as having just played in a larger global ambient-jazz band…can’t say anymore, but damn I want to - album coming soon!
I’m so blessed.
I’ve also been played on KEXP by DJ Alex on Pacific Notions, including the first-hour epic bliss-out slot, had multiple premiers on the CFK Show via FM Belowground, opened the premier of the CFK set for Tokyo’s PLAIN.FM, regular placements in The Ambient Hour on JEMP Radio (including a few mixes and takeovers), and others I can’t recount now, which makes me sound pretentious, but I’m not. There’s just so much information nowadays, it’s unsettling. I was also nominated for Cyclical Magazines best of 2025 for my Autumn’s Dawn album on SeeHear Recordings.
If I show you something personally (release, backend link, social link, cover image, whatever), I’m proud of it - even if it’s not my project directly; from time to time I’ll post about other folks’ music as though I know how to review music…just go listen to them and not me, the music is the reason! I love, love, love to share music, releases, packaging, formats, etc. of other musicians (and myself). I’m a collector at heart.
For a long time - too long in fact - I was fully DIY. I learned so many production techniques in this time. Also made some really cool, über-limited stuff that might be worth something one day if I can climb high enough before the proverbial bucket hits my toe. That said, it’s so rewarding to leave physical production to the labels I’m blessed to work with nowadays. Each has their own crowd; their own mission, and I get to marvel in my work being a part of their greater visions.
My New Year’s Resolution in 2025 was to ask for more help. I did. I received a massive wave of help from the entire musical community. My resolution in 2026 is to collaborate more. So far, I have no less than 5 collaborations in the works as of late-January alone, and I could not be happier with where they’re all headed currently.
I was told to surround myself with good music, good people, good purpose; to lose myself in it, and do so for a decade, and I’d find myself at the end of that decade surrounded with those doing it as much or as passionately as me. I must say, it was great advice, and I’ll keep going; each decade wields new fruitful results; as I’d once heard it, “Climb one mountain, find yourself at the base of another…how far are you willing to climb?”
Words to live by: just keep climbing.
I’ll be back soon with other thoughts, musings, recommendations, and I’m even looking to suss out a regular format like a once-a-month roundup email or the likes - just need to figure out the formula I want to work form to share updates with you all without being all up in your inboxes. As this is new for me, I’d love it if anyone could spread the word and let folks that might be interested know I’ve got this channel now, so feel free to follow, and you can always reach me via email too - I’m not an unreachable artist, and love to connect!
Cheers for now, and chat soon everyone!