For The Golden Mic Season 1 by Raps & Apps Made possible by a $20,000 grant from the Coastal Bend Community Foundation and supported by the Texas Commission on the Arts.
Ryan Garza doesn’t make music you simply listen to.
He makes music you experience.
The kind that moves through your body before your brain has time to catch up. The kind that feels rhythmic, unpredictable, alive. The kind that doesn’t just ask you to pay attention it dares you to move.
“My sound is wild,” he says.
And that might be the most honest way to describe it.
From the Radio to the Rhythm
Long before stages and live sets, Ryan Garza was just a kid obsessed with the radio.
Recording songs onto a cassette player. Replaying them over and over. Studying sound before he even knew that’s what he was doing.
Music wasn’t introduced to him it was always there.
Growing up in Corpus Christi, in a household where music constantly filled the air, he absorbed it naturally. His mom played saxophone. His parents played music often. And somewhere in that environment, something clicked early.
That curiosity turned into instruments.
That experimentation turned into improvisation.
And that improvisation never stopped.
Where Discipline Meets Play
For a lot of artists, there’s a tension between structure and freedom.
Ryan Garza erased that line.
From church bands in high school to leading music in live settings, he learned discipline early timing, arrangement, performance. But at the same time, he never lost the instinct to play.
“I treat it like a toy… I’m always playing with new sounds.”
That mindset defines everything he does today.
His music pulls from everywhere:
Live percussion
Keyboard loops
Funk rhythms
Experimental textures
But instead of feeling scattered, it feels intentional like controlled chaos built on a strong foundation.
Music That Starts With Art
The music industry is constantly shifting. Trends move fast. Platforms change. Attention is harder to hold.
Ryan knows that.
And he doesn’t chase it.
“The art is where it starts… just keep creating.”
That philosophy grounds him.
When things slow down or feel uncertain he doesn’t pivot away from the work. He leans deeper into it. Because for him, success doesn’t come from chasing momentum.
It comes from consistency.
From showing up. From creating. From trusting the process.
The Coastal Bend Creative Surge
If you ask Ryan Garza about the local scene, his answer is immediate:
It’s booming.
What used to be a handful of original acts has turned into a wave of creativity artists collaborating, covering each other, building something together.
“The creativity is off the charts right now.”
And he’s right in the middle of it.
From working with bands like The Tres Matts to sharing stages with emerging artists across genres, Ryan isn’t just part of the scene he’s helping shape it.
More importantly, he understands something many overlook:
Scenes don’t grow on their own.
They’re built.
Creating the Moment, Not Repeating It
Ryan Garza’s performances aren’t meant to be replicated.
They’re meant to be lived.
His focus on live drums, looping, and improvisation means every show is different. Every moment is responsive. Every beat is intentional but never rigid.
“I want people to feel like dancing… to move.”
And that movement isn’t just physical.
It’s emotional.
The Songs That Hit Deeper
For all the energy and experimentation, there’s another side to Ryan’s music.
A more vulnerable one.
Songs like “One Day I’ll Be Perfect” come from real moments stress, growth, reflection. Written in the quiet aftermath of being overwhelmed as a parent, the song carries something heavier beneath its surface.
“I was crying while writing it.”
That honesty translates.
Listeners feel it. They respond to it. They carry it with them.
Because even in his most emotional work, there’s still something else present:
Hope.
Fatherhood Changed the Focus
If there’s one thing that’s reshaped Ryan Garza the most it’s becoming a father.
It’s changed how he thinks. How he moves. How he creates.
“I want my daughter to see me do cool things.”
That shift added something new to his artistry:
Purpose.
Not just to make music but to mean something through it.
The Golden Mic Moment
Being selected for The Golden Mic Season 1 isn’t just validation.
It’s alignment.
A chance to work with other artists. A chance to build something bigger than a solo effort. A chance to access resources that many independent artists simply don’t have.
“I don’t have the team… this gives me that.”
And that’s exactly the point.
Programs like this exist to bridge the gap between talent and opportunity, between creativity and sustainability.
Because scenes don’t grow by accident.
They grow when people invest in them.
Building Something Bigger Than Himself
Ryan Garza understands something fundamental:
Great cities don’t just have music scenes.
They create them.
“Opportunities need to be created… that’s how things snowball.”
That belief ties directly into the mission behind Raps & Apps an organization built to provide education, resources, and pathways for artists to turn creativity into real careers.
Because when artists are supported, communities evolve.
What He Wants You to Feel
If you strip everything else away the genres, the influences, the technical skill Ryan Garza’s goal is simple:
He wants you to feel it.
“I want people to remember the feeling… the waves hitting their body.”
That physical reaction. That emotional response. That moment where music stops being background noise and becomes something real.
Final Word
Ryan Garza describes himself as genuine.
And it fits.
Because in a space where it’s easy to overthink, overproduce, and overcomplicate…
He’s doing the opposite.
He’s experimenting. He’s evolving. He’s staying rooted in the art.
And most importantly he’s making music you don’t just hear.
You feel.
If you want to support local music in the Coastal Bend please consider donating to fund the next season of The Golden Mic.
