Chris O'Ryan (born July 6, 1980), known professionally as Tek, is a Grammy Award-winning

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

and

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...

. He is best known for sound engineering and doing vocal production for multiple major music artists, including

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Qu ...

Ciara Ciara Princess Wilson ( ; Harris; born October 25, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. She was discovered by record producer Jazze Pha in the early 2000s, and rose to prominence with her debut studio album, ''Goodies ...

and

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

Early life and education

O'Ryan began studying music at the age of eight when he took up

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

. In 1992, at the age of 12, he sang in Opera Australia's production of

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch ...

. He then studied music for two years at Box Hill College of Music in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

Career

O'Ryan relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

after completing his studies to pursue music in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He began working as an unpaid intern for a small label and worked his way up to the position of lead engineer. While at this company, he connected with multiple producers and songwriters from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, including

Tricky Stewart Christopher Alan "Tricky" Stewart (born January 4, 1974) is an American record producer, record executive, songwriter, and music publisher. Stewart, a five-time Grammy Award recipient, began producing music in 1992 and has contributed to unit s ...

, The Dream &

Poo Bear Jason Paul Douglas Boyd, known professionally as Poo Bear, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his songwriting work for Canadian singer Justin Bieber, having been credited on each of his albums since hi ...

, whom he would later collaborate with. In 2006, O'Ryan reunited with

and over the next few years, he engineered records for Usher,

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

, and

, for which he won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

. During this time, he began using Melodyne for vocal tuning. He has tuned over 1,000 releases and network television shows. In 2011, O'Ryan incorporated his entertainment company Tekzenmusic Inc., and in 2013, started building his studio TZM Studios. In early 2014, TZM Studios was operational with its first major clients being

and

. In 2017, O'Ryan signed the

n music producer Black Summer and released his debut single "Young Like Me (feat. Lowell)" under the label Tekzenmusic. The music video, directed by Tim Maxx, was filmed in Los Angeles and released on national television in Australia on

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

Discography

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

, - , 2009 , '' Mary J. Blige's ''Growing Pains'''' , Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album , , - , 2011 , '' Katy Perry's ''Teenage Dream'''' ,

Grammy Award for Album of the Year The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is an award presented by the The Recording Academy, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the r ...

, , - , 2016 , '' Jack Ü feat. Justin Bieber's

Where Are Ü Now "Where Are Ü Now" is a song produced by American EDM duo Jack Ü, composed of DJs and producers Skrillex and Diplo, with Canadian singer Justin Bieber. The song was released as the second single from the duo's debut studio album, '' Skrillex a ...

(single)'' ,

Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...

, , - , 2017 , '' Justin Bieber's ''Purpose'''' ,

, , - , 2018 , '' Justin Bieber's ''Despacito'''' ,

Grammy Award for Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

, , - , 2019 , ''

Chromeo Chromeo is a Canadian electro-funk duo from Montreal, formed in 2002 by musicians David "Dave 1" Macklovitch and Patrick "P-Thugg" Gemayel. Their sound draws from soul music, dance music, rock, synth-pop, disco and funk. As of 2024, the band h ...

''Head Over Heels'''' , Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical , , - , rowspan="4" , 2020 , '' Justin Bieber's ''Changes'''' ,

Best Pop Vocal Album The Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality vocal pop music albums. Awards in several ...

, , - , '' Justin Bieber's ''Intentions ft. Quavo'''' ,

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance The Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 63rd Grammy Awards category rules, "this categ ...

, , - , '' Justin Bieber's ''Yummy'''' ,

Best Pop Solo Performance The Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guides, the Best Pop S ...

, , - , ''

Dan + Shay Dan + Shay is an American country pop duo composed of vocalists and songwriters Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney. They are signed to Warner Records Nashville and have released six albums, '' Where It All Began'', '' Obsessed'', '' Dan + Shay'', '' ...

''10,000 Hours ft. Justin Bieber'''' , Best Country Duo/Group Performance , , - , rowspan="4" , 2021 , '' Justin Bieber's ''Justice'''' , Album Of The Year , , - , '' Justin Bieber's ''Anyone'''' ,

, , - , '' Justin Bieber's ''Justice'''' ,

, , - , '' Justin Bieber's ''Lonely ft. benny blanco'''' ,

References

External links

Tek Official Website

The Recording Academy - Chris "Tek" O'Ryan
{{DEFAULTSORT:ORyan, Chris 1980 births Living people Grammy Award winners Australian expatriates in the United States Australian record producers