 Ryan O’Leary is 22 and lives in Austin, Texas where he will be graduating from the University of Texas this May (2008) with a bachelor’s degree in Rhetoric & Composition with a minor in Creative Writing. Contrary to popular belief Ryan’s father’s name is not also Ryan. Neither was his grandfather’s. But on a calm autumn day in 1994, on the first day of class in third grade, his teacher mispronounced his name, calling him “Ryan O’Leary the Seventeenth.” It has stuck since then. It has a ring to it, much like that of a cat dying (next to a bell). It has become a nickname of sorts – a nine-syllable nickname. Ryan usually does not respond to anyone unless they address him using all nine syllables.
When Ryan began junior high, he decided to see where music would take him, and he joined band. The directors of the band assigned him to play the clarinet which coincidentally made him question his sexuality for about six years. Although resisting the urge to sexually experiment with both the girls and boys in his junior high, Ryan remained sexually frustrated and confused. Ryan gave up the clarinet after playing it for three years in junior high because he hated being so confused. But he knew he still wanted the ability to create music.
So, at the beginning of his freshman year of high school he bought his first guitar, which was just happened to be the cheapest guitar in the music catalog and sounded like the noise that is made when glass breaks. Around the same time, Ryan’s best friend of eight years was given a drum kit for his birthday. They started a band called “Up Top” with two of their other closest friends and began writing songs. After a year and a half, the four-piece band became a three-piece band when they realized the fourth member liked the band “Staind,” and they changed their name to “Diseased Pigeons.” They played at various school talent shows, friends’ birthday parties, and the occasional club.
Ryan joined choir his junior year of high school. He was placed in the varsity choir his senior year and was also a member of the show choir. Despite this, Ryan still vehemently claims he is not gay, but there is really no way to know. Clarinet? Show choir? I’m going to be honest – the guy sounds overzealously homosexual – not that there is anything wrong with that. Ryan also wonders if the people reading this realize he is the person who wrote this entire biography.
During his freshman year of college, Ryan began writing music with his college roommate who he knew from the high school show choir. They began recording songs in their spare time in their dorm room which was probably incredibly annoying to their neighbors. Ryan apologizes. Throughout his sophomore and junior years of college they attempted a few times to put a band together, but it never worked out.
Ryan finally decided his senior year of college to begin writing songs himself since he had the ability to play each part of the song. As of now, Ryan has many songs written, but has only had two of them professionally produced. He is hoping to have a few more produced in the near future. He is unsure exactly where his music will take him, if anywhere, but he hopes the future will bring more musical avenues his way.
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