Guitarist / engineer / producer Ryan Mackstaller was born and raised in Metro Detroit and since 2005 has called Brooklyn, NY home.  He has performed and recorded with an eclectic range of artists, including Matthew Crosby (Common Linnets), Nicky Francis (The Majorleans), Tim Kuhl (Goastt, Margaret Glaspy), Kenneth Aaron Harris (Panic! At The Disco), Christian Gibbs (Lucinda Black Bear), Julie Kathryn (I am Snowangel), Geoff Bankowski, Tam Lin, Paul Sigismondi, and Anita Maj. 

In 2016 he played guitar and electric oud in the NY City Opera production of "Fallujah." His guitar work also can be heard on the cast recording of the off-broadway rock musical, “Lizzie.”

Ryan also moonlights as an improviser and noise-maker in New York performing with artists including Rick Parker, Dave Treut, Gerald Cleaver, Mat Maneri, Tony Malaby, Michael Formanek, Andrew Bishop, Jon Irabagon, James Ilgenfritz, Geoff Kraly, Jacob Sacks, and Vinnie Sperrazza.

Rick Parker, Tim Kuhl and Ryan comprise the trio Little Worlds, which has released two EP's of Bela Bartok's Mikrokosmos pieces re-imagined for trombone, guitar and drums.

Ryan works out his production studio, Red Panda Recording, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

The musical arm of TOTANIORA.

Visit the website: 
www.totaniora.com

Lucinda Black Bear are a NYC-based and buzzed-about indie folk rock/orchestral pop band. They are currently ranked as one of the Top 11 Brooklyn Bands to See in 2011 (Paper Spaceship) and ranked in the Top 3 Alt Folk Emerging Artists by the Deli Magazine.The band just finished a mini-tour of New England and Mid-Atlantic and will be heading down South and then to Europe. The band's first two albums, "Knives" and "capo my heart and other bear songs" were released on the band's label Eastern Spurs.

We drove 22 miles into the country around Farmington. There were meadows and apple orchards. White fences trailed through the rolling fields. Soon the sign started appearing. THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHED BARN IN AMERICA. We counted five signs before we reached the site. There were 40 cars and a tour bus in the makeshift lot. We walked along a cowpath to the slightly elevated spot set aside for viewing and photographing. All the people had cameras; some had tripods, telephoto lenses, filter kits. A man in a booth sold postcards and slides -- pictures of the barn taken from the elevated spot. We stood near a grove of trees and watched the photographers. Murray maintained a prolonged silence, occasionally scrawling some notes in a little book. 

"No one sees the barn," he said finally. 

A long silence followed. 

"Once you've seen the signs about the barn, it becomes impossible to see the barn."

He fell silent once more. People with cameras left the elevated site, replaced by others.

We're not here to capture an image, we're here to maintain one. Every photograph reinforces the aura. Can you feel it, Jack? An accumulation of nameless energies." 

There was an extended silence. The man in the booth sold postcards and slides. 

"Being here is a kind of spiritual surrender. We see only what the others see. The thousands who were here in the past, those who will come in the future. We've agreed to be part of a collective perception. It literally colors our vision. A religious experience in a way, like all tourism." 

Another silence ensued. 

"They are taking pictures of taking pictures," he said.

Contact: noah.gund@gmail.com

Booking: brian@highroadtouring.com

"Long bios tend to be penned by men with overblown egos" - Vito Fun

Brooklyn, NYC where they paint pictures of Biggie was a perfect place to raise a young musician.  The city's elaborate melting pot of music proved an irresistible challenge - how do you please a generation of kids who grew up listening to whatever those mean streets could throw at them?  The answer is simple - Vito Fun knows what you like, because he likes it too!

"Never trust a man who quotes himself, or writes his own bio" - Vito Fun

luthier, multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer, photographer

Chad Hammer is following