Rival Consoles has been shaping the electronic music landscape for decades and yet, I discovered him only recently. It was my wifey Toni who first mentioned he was coming to Sydney. After just a few tracks she played for me, I knew I wasn’t missing that show.
Later, while reading the Spectaculare Festival press release, I noticed his name again — scheduled to perform in Prague this March. That felt like a small, quiet alignment. Sydney and Prague suddenly connected through one artist.
When Spectaculare later asked whether I’d be interested in interviewing one of their headliners, the choice felt obvious. In collaboration with my friend Dimitri, this conversation was born.
Before the Sydney concert, I even wrote Ryan a handwritten letter. From what I understood about his love for analogue processes, drawing, and thinking away from screens, it felt like the right gesture. Old-school. Slightly more personal, perhaps.
He never replied to that one.
And somehow, that makes this interview feel even more special.
Kouzelna: Your Sydney concert left a huge mark on my musical heart. I know it’s only the beginning of 2026, but so far it’s my favourite live performance of the year. For our readers: it was a seated show and luckily so. In Czech we have an expression that translates roughly to “I had to sit on my bum because it was so good.” Your music had exactly that effect. How do you experience the energy of a seated audience, and how does it shape the way your music unfolds live?
Ryan: I want to take people on a journey and to do that meaningfully, I first have to make it convincing for myself. Seated venues are quite challenging because there is no visual feedback, and the formality of them influences audiences to behave in a more restrained way. I try to think of it as offering a long form experience of sound and image, which borrows from lots of things like cinema, installations, and warehouse raves.
You spent quite a bit of time in Australia around three weeks on tour. What stood out as the highlight for you?
We were lucky to play some sold out shows in Australia in wonderful venues. I think the thing that stood out was how much the people cared about the music in a time where it feels like caring long term is under threat. I was also lucky enough to see The Necks live the day before my show at the same venue, Melbourne Recital Centre.
Did you manage to squeeze in any sightseeing, ocean swims, or other classic Australian experiences?
Yes! Swimming in the sea at various locations, hiking around beautiful lakes and waterfalls, visiting galleries in various cities, and of course lots of coffee.
And I’m curious: did you try kangaroo meat, or are you vegetarian?
Actually no, though the food was amazing all over Australia!
Watching your Sydney performance, I was struck by how physically expressive you are on stage. You seem to perform with your whole body, almost as if you’re carrying an entire world of sound on your shoulders. How do you take care of your wellbeing physically, mentally, and creatively when you tour and perform so intensely?
In the past this was much more of a problem. I was always uncomfortable around shows, which made every moment stressful. It’s only in the last 5 years that I have begun to feel comfortable on stage and at peace. I think a big part of that is getting older and I am also very fortunate to have a great team of people always helping me when touring so I can focus on the music with space for being grounded.
In a previous interview, you spoke about burnout from making so much music. How do you recognise when you’re reaching that point, and what helps you reset or protect your creativity?
I have a tendency to constantly explore ideas, for good and bad. My nature is very much a stream of consciousness of making. So much so that I forget what I make. I think one issue with time-based art forms like music and film is they never feel like they are set in stone, they always feel different from moment to moment and so if you deeply investigate music it is very exhausting on the mind. Many artists struggle to find a balance between being obsessive about making and living and existing outside of that. I think the best thing to do with making is kind of accept things and just continue or not and don’t try to force anything. When I was younger I remember artists in their 40s telling me that “making art gets very weird as you get older” and I kind of understand that now.
Dimitris: What does it feel like to release and tour an album like Landscape of Memory at this stage of your life and artistic evolution?
I think all records are just a snapshot of a moment in time. Landscape from Memory is a very diverse set of ideas that doesn’t try to be music that functions in a club and also doesn’t try to be home listening. I think I have always been interested in things between clearly defined areas. I feel like pieces like Gaivotas are charged with urgency and ideas that reflect my desire to be bold and human, and works like 2 Forms show a more methodical, designer’s craft. I am drawn to many things and so my records tend to reflect that.
Dimitris: You combine analogue and digital production methods. Do you feel that this hybrid approach creates a kind of synaesthetic effect in your music? If so, how do you experience that?
I thinkfor me the difference is precision with digital vs the painterly brush marks of analogue, and they of course compliment each other in this light. I love contrast and really want it to be present in my work in a strong way, and so a hybrid approach allows for that. For example the digital synths in Gaivotas contrasted against the lo-fi acoustic guitar for me is a wild moment.
Your album Articulation was created through a very visual process drawing shapes, structures, and patterns by hand as a way to think about music away from the computer. You’ve said that sketching helps you solve problems without the overwhelming possibilities of digital tools. How has this visual approach evolved for you over the past few years? And what does drawing give you that music software can’t?
Even when I’m not experimenting with graphical scores, I tend to think of music in terms of shapes, colours, and form, like a painting in motion. Whenever you do something in a different medium it gives you a framework for thinking differently. For example, how would I/you make sound that reflects the imagery of Jackson Pollock? The results of this thinking always reveals something unexpected.
This interview is for rave.cz an online music platform that still believes in the magic of reading. What was the last book, magazine, or article that really caught your attention?
Having and Being Had by Eula Biss.
Dimitris: Staying with the theme of reading: is there a book that has most influenced your music or your way of thinking about sound?
I’d say the academic work Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music (2004), which opened up my mind to the experimental and avant garde at university.
You’ll be performing at the Spectaculare Festival in Prague this March. I’m curious what does the word Spectaculare evoke for you?
It evokes things beyond and newness of ideas.
Speaking of words: how do you come up with the titles for your tracks and albums? Do names arrive early in the process, or do they reveal themselves once the music is finished?
A combination of the two.I like how words can imply things without being exact, likeUntravel seemed to evoke the feeling of experiencing change without moving, perhaps like time makes us change whilst standing still. I think of language quite a lot. I thought of the titleLandscape from Memory long before there was a sense of the album because it evokes the way I feel about music.
You started your musical journey very young, first with guitar and later moving into electronic production and it seems like you’ve been making music ever since. If you could try any other job for just one day, completely outside of music, what would you choose and why?
Film editing, as I am obsessed with structure in time-based art. I love how you can influence and change so much with the structure and pacing alone. It can be so abstract and non-linear but also make sense because the human mind is always searching for meaning in information. I like to be in these waters.
You’ve probably done a lot of interviews recently. Is there a question you’ve never been asked before but wish someone would ask you?
Too difficult to answer!
Rival Consoles and Ben Lukas Boysen will open the 13th edition of Spectaculare, the Prague-based audiovisual festival unfolding from March 5 to April 10.
The full programme will be gradually revealed at spectaculare.cz.