Ryan James Jarman is a British musician who is the guitarist and vocalist with English

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

the Cribs The Cribs are a British indie rock band originally from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, that formed in 2001. The band consists of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The Smiths guit ...

The Cribs

Jarman formed

in the early 2000s with his twin brother Gary and younger brother

Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...

. The band is known for their short, punchy tunes with pop riffs and a lo-fi sound – influenced by bands like

Huggy Bear Huggy may refer to: * Huggy (Pillow Pal) *Huggy Boy * Huggy Face *Huggy Leaver *Huggy Ragnarsson *Huggy Wuggy, an antagonist in the horror video game ''Poppy Playtime ''Poppy Playtime'' is an episodic horror video game developed and publishe ...

Comet Gain Comet Gain are a British indie pop band, formed by singer-songwriter and guitarist David Christian (aka David Feck/Charlie Damage) in 1992, with musical influences including post-punk and northern soul. Pitchfork called them "one of the most un ...

and Beat Happening. The Cribs have released six albums on the Wichita label, the first two being ''The Cribs'' (produced by Ed Deegan and Bobby Conn), and ''The New Fellas'' (produced by

Edwyn Collins Edwyn Stephen Collins (born 23 August 1959) is a Scottish musician, producer and record label owner from Edinburgh, Scotland. Collins was the lead singer for the 1980s post-punk band Orange Juice, which he co-founded. After the group split in ...

, singer in influential indie band

Orange Juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. A ...

). The Cribs' third album, ''

Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever ''Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever'' is the third studio album by English indie rock band The Cribs. It was released on 21 May 2007 through Wichita Recordings in the UK and Warner Bros. Records in the U.S. Critically acclaimed, the album pr ...

'' was released on 21 May 2007; the record was produced by

Alex Kapranos Alexander Paul Kapranos Huntley (born 20 March 1972) is a Scottish musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and author. He is best known as the lead singer and guitarist of Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand. He has also been a part of the ...

Franz Ferdinand Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. Fr ...

. Their fourth studio album ''

Ignore the Ignorant ''Ignore the Ignorant'' is the fourth studio album by British indie rock band The Cribs, released via Wichita Recordings on 7 September 2009, following the release of first single 'Cheat on Me' on 31 August. Warner Bros. Records released the alb ...

'', released on 7 September 2009 included ex- Smiths guitarist

Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...

; ''

'' was produced by Nick Launay in Los Angeles. The Cribs' fifth album, ''

In the Belly of the Brazen Bull ''In the Belly of the Brazen Bull'' is the fifth studio album by British indie rock band The Cribs via Wichita Recordings. It was released on 7 May 2012. The band announced the record title and track-listing on 14 February 2012. Background Af ...

'' produced by

Dave Fridmann David Lawrence Fridmann is an American record producer and musician. Career From 1990 onwards he co-produced most releases by Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips. Other bands he has worked with include Weezer, Saxon Shore, Neon Indian, Wolf Gang, ...

and

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

was released on 7 May 2012. The Cribs later released the compilation album ''

Payola Payola, in the music industry, is the illegal practice of paying a commercial radio station to play a song without the station disclosing the payment. Under US law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to play on the air as spons ...

'', which featured some of their greatest hits and rarities. Their sixth studio album, ''For All My Sisters'', was released on 23 March 2015.

Playing style

Jarman is known primarily for his repetitive, high pitched and catchy guitar riffs. In a recent poll of the Cribs back catalogue, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' claimed that "Another Number" was an "early indication of Ryan's status as one of the best – and most underrated – guitarists of his generation" For ''

'', Jarman and

would refer to each other as "axe-bro's", as Marr told ''

Total Guitar ''Total Guitar'' is a monthly music magazine based in Bath, the United Kingdom, that has been in circulation since 1994. The magazine is owned by Future plc, who publish many other magazines ranging from drums and video games to technology mag ...

'' in October 2010: "We're very deliberate about being a twin guitar assault, Ryan is a busy player and I am too, so we both fizz and whoever comes to the top is backed up. Ryan is one of the best guitarists to come out of British pop culture. He's in an elite handful of people doing innovative, unexpected things".

Gear

Up until the Cribs' third album, Jarman played

Fender Mustang The Fender Mustang is a solid body electric guitar produced by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. It was introduced in 1964 as the basis of a major redesign of Fender's student models, the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic. It was produced unti ...

guitars. He discovered the

Gibson ES-335 The Gibson ES-335 is the world's first commercial semi-hollowbody electric guitar, sometimes known as semi-acoustic. Released by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES (Electric Spanish) series in 1958, it is neither fully hollow nor fu ...

in recording ''Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever'', and took to using it almost exclusively live afterwards. He now uses a Squier Venus for his Cribs work, and an

Epiphone Coronet The Epiphone Coronet is an entry level guitar previously manufactured by Epiphone. The guitar has been manufactured a number of times since its first production on the 1950s. History The Coronet was first manufactured by Gibson under the Epiphon ...

for his side project. He has also been seen using a vintage

Mosrite Mosrite is an American guitar manufacturing company, based in Bakersfield, California, from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. Founded by Semie Moseley, Mosrite guitars were played by many rock and roll and country artists. Mosrite guitars wer ...

Ventures, and a Pawn Shop series

(well known as Fender Pawn Shop Mustang Special) in 'Lake Placid' blue as well as a Sonic Blue Fender Mustang with a black hotrails pickup.

Signature Squier Guitar

After using Fender guitars for many years, Jarman was given his own signature model in 2016, released through the

Squier Squier is an American brand of electric guitars owned by Fender. The former manufacturing company, established as "V. C. Squier Company" was founded in 1890 by Victor Carroll Squier in Battle Creek, Michigan, producing strings for violins, ban ...

brand. The Squier Ryan Jarman Signature includes Duncan Designed single-coil Jaguar neck pickup and a 'high output' humbucking bridge pickup, blended with master volume and tone controls along with phase and on/off switches for each pickup, and a toggle killswitch. An adjust-o-matic bridge with Fender Jaguar tailpiece, large '60s-style headstock and metal control plate offer vintage looks and practical usage. Combining elements of the

and

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

guitars, the Squier Ryan Jarman Signature Guitar is more commonly referred to as the 'Mus-Uar', as it was influenced by, and almost resembles a reverse Jag-Stang.

Amps and effects

Although sparingly spotted with Vox amplifiers in the early days of the Cribs, Jarman has almost always played through

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

amps. Jarman has been quoted as saying that, out of habit, he runs both an AD30 combo and head at the same time with the combo on top of an Orange cabinet and the head hidden out of view. In situations where taking both would be impractical, he uses just the AD30R Combo. As of 2012, Jarman has started using a Green Matamp head alongside the Orange head. For effects, his regular pedals are the Fulltone OCD and the

Ibanez Tube Screamer The Ibanez Tube Screamer (TS808/TS9) is a guitar overdrive pedal, made by Ibanez. The pedal has a characteristic mid-boosted tone popular with blues, rock and metal players. The Tube Screamer has been used by many guitarists to create their signa ...

, which was his pedal of choice until 2008. Primarily using just distortion, Jarman has however recently started using an

Electro Harmonix Electro-Harmonix (also commonly referred to as EHX) is a New York City-based company that makes electronic audio processors and sells rebranded vacuum tubes. The company was founded by Mike Matthews in 1968. It is best known for a series of gu ...

Poly-Chorus regularly both live and in the studio. Jarman also claims to use the thickest possible strings, both for tonal reasons and to minimise any string bend, giving his playing a more robotic feel.

Rotosound Rotosound is a British guitar and bass string manufacturing company based in England. History Rotosound was started in the late 1950s by James How, a musician and engineer by trade. How started manufacturing music strings for many famous arti ...

custom make his own gauge for him.

Production

As well as producing/co-producing many tracks with the Cribs, Jarman has also produced records by various other bands. From Springtime Studios, which Jarman set up with his brothers in Wakefield in 2002, he engineered and worked with various local bands as well as numerous records for Leeds-based noise label

Squirrel Records Squirrel Records is a UK-based record company based in Trumpington, Cambridgeshire, founded in 1994 by Simon Squirelle, former manager of the 1990s artists Candyman, The U-Krew, and the Funhouse presenter Pat Sharp. Squirrel Records was dec ...

. In 2010, he produced the

album '' Howl of the Lonely Crowd''. More recently, he has produced tracks for

Frankie & the Heartstrings Frankie & The Heartstrings are a Sunderland-based indie rock band formed in 2008. The band's debut album, ''Hunger'' was released on 21 February 2011, and debuted at No. 32 on the UK albums chart. Known for their partying, they were labelled as ...

Kate Nash Kate Marie Nash (born 6 July 1987) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. Nash launched her music career in 2005. Her 2007 single " Foundations" became a hit and brought her to public attention in the UK. Her debut album, '' Made of Bricks ...

and has produced the debut record by This Many Boyfriends.

Professional history

Jarman has made some memorable TV appearances, including music panel show ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hoste ...

'', where he took credit for inspiring

Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 200 ...

, by texting

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Rock music in Ireland, Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved ...

and suggesting a

Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...

2. At the 2006 ''NME'' Awards, Jarman was seriously injured when he collected an award on behalf of

. In his haste to accept it, he jumped across the

Kaiser Chiefs Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 2000 as Parva, releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their current name that same year. Since their formation the band h ...

' table, breaking a large jar containing '

Flying Saucer A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has g ...

' sweets and stabbing himself in the back on one of the shards. He spent 4 hours in hospital receiving 15 stitches before returning to party at the awards. He subsequently went missing and was found slumped in a hallway by

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

. Jarman was bleeding profusely and another ambulance was called to return him to hospital. He received both external and internal stitches to repair a rip to the membrane around the kidney that the first surgeon had missed. Jarman was discharged the next morning.

Personal life

Jarman was in a four-year relationship with

, however it was announced in 2012 that the pair had split. In 2015, it was reported that Jarman had been in a two-year relationship with musician Jen Turner. Jarman now resides in Brooklyn, New York, United States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarman, Ryan 1980 births Living people British identical twins English male singer-songwriters English record producers English rock guitarists Musicians from Wakefield Twin musicians English expatriates in the United States The Cribs members English male guitarists 21st-century English singers 21st-century British guitarists 21st-century British male singers