Photo courtesy of Thomas Wood
Cleveland native Ryan Winnen spent his high school career playing drums with a metal band in small Columbus clubs – he had no idea he’d be returning to Ohio one day as a part of one of the most popular up-and-coming indie rock bands.
COIN originates from Nashville, though nothing about them is country. The three-piece band consists of vocalist Chase Lawrence, Ryan Winnen and lead guitarist Joe Memmel. Their first single “Run” really pushed them into the spotlight, with Billboard calling them,“a new wave crash-course survivors, destined to break the Nashville mold.”
Winnen has come a long way from his days in underground Columbus bars, that’s for sure. Since COIN began their journey when they were only 19, they got to watch the music industry take a few twists and turns. Luckily, they held on for the ride.
“When we first started, there were just music blogs and Soundcloud, which was really beneficially for bands like us who were just popping up in the space,” Winnen says. “That was really before Spotify became popular.”
He says steaming has definitely been the biggest change in the way music is shared, as nowadays listeners don’t buy music as much as they listen on streaming platforms. Although this new format takes away a bit of revenue from bands like COIN, Winnen says it’s beautiful that people across the world are now becoming fans and listening to their music on Spotify.
“As soon as we started making music just to make it, and considered it outside of the context of what COIN was ‘supposed’ to be, we started succeeding just for ourselves.”
Regarding Spotify, it’s not uncommon for an artist to release a single and become an overnight sensation on the platform, their success tracked in numbers. COIN, however, has never really been that kind of band.
“We’ve grown gradually – we’re kind of like a blue-collar band that’s had some success on popular alternative radio and Spotify,” Winnen says. “We keep our heads down and keep writing music to beat ourselves – it’s not a competition with other artists.”
Speaking of beat, as a drummer, Winnen explains how his writing style is a bit different than the other bandmates.
“Being a drummer is a lot of listening really hard,” he says. “The vocal melodies I write tend to be really rhythmic because that’s how I think about music.”
With climbing success, especially after their worldwide popular hit “Talk Too Much”, it would be easy for COIN to succumb to the pressure of what consumers want to hear. However, Winnen says they’re comfortable with who they are.
“It’s important to disassociate with the trends and do what just comes to you naturally,” he explains. “As soon as we started making music just to make it, and considered it outside of the context of what COIN was ‘supposed’ to be, we started succeeding just for ourselves.”
The drummer is excited to come back to his home state, where, oddly enough, he has experienced his most embarrassing moments onstage. From toppling off of his drum throne to accidentally piercing their bright neon COIN sign, it’s always Ohio that brings the funniest memories. The band will be at EXPRESS LIVE! on June 28 performing before Young the Giant and Fitz & The Tantrums.
While we wish nothing for the best for him, we can’t say it wouldn’t be a riot to see him leap off his drum set again. And if he falls, we’re sure COIN fans will be the ones to lift him back up.
FIRE QUESTIONS WITH RYAN WINNEN
Preteen music hero?
“Jerrard Way from My Chemical Romance.”
Most embarrassing moment onstage
“I fell off of my drum throne in Cleveland the first big proper show we played there. As you can imagine… there was just because there was this moment in our set where I would jump up, and it was just so dark that I kind of couldn’t see where I was landing. Then in Columbus, I actually punctured the glass on our neon sign that we used to tour with. I’ve only embarrassed myself in Ohio.”
Preshow tradition?
“Jump roping. It’s the best way to get the blood flowing and it makes me feel like im floating before I go on stage.”
Can you dance?
“I’m somewhere in between. I would say yes, under some circumstances, but a professional dancer would look at me and say absolutely not.”
Pizza or burgers?
Burgers.
Song on replay?
“Nilufer Yanya: Melt. I’ve been playing that song religiously since my friend showed it to me.”
Mallory Arnold is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at marnold@cityscenemediagroup.com.
