INTERVIEW: RYAN HAMILTON – August 2025

According to a recent press release: “After a year-long hiatus from the music industry, acclaimed singer-songwriter Ryan Hamilton is back with a powerful new single. “Godspeed” arrives July 11 via Wicked Cool Records, marking a triumphant return for the multi award-winning artist and one of SPIN Magazine’s “35 Best Lesser Known Artists of the Past 35 Years.” Hamilton stepped away from music in 2023, unsure if he’d return. But it was the unwavering support of rock icon Stevie Van Zandt—his longtime champion and label head—that helped tip the scales. Now reenergized and refocused, Hamilton emerges with a song that’s as honest as it is haunting. Known for his emotionally raw songwriting, infectious melodies, and underdog charm, Ryan Hamilton’s return is a welcome one—and “Godspeed” is just the beginning of this next chapter.” I was able to grab some time with Ryan to discuss new music, family, covers, and much more…

Todd: Ryan, thanks so much for taking time out, man. I really appreciate it.

Ryan: It’s my pleasure, and I was excited to see that you wanted to talk again.

Todd: It’s been a hot minute. You stepped out for a little bit, handled some family business, handled life a little bit. With “Godspeed,” you’re back and I am so damned excited.

Ryan: Thanks, man.

Todd: So, let’s jump into “Godspeed,” your new single. It’s been out, I want to say about two weeks now, give or take. What can you tell us about the single that people might not grab the first or second time they listen through?

Ryan: I love that you’re bringing this up. I’ve always been fascinated by the thing, the Cranberries, for me, did it the best where it was like you don’t really realize what you’re singing along to and then one day it hits you. It’s like, hold on, let me just have a moment and think about the words that I’m saying and that I’m singing, and it’s a little bit heavier or sad when you don’t expect it to be sad. It’s just different than what you thought and it takes you a minute to realize that what you’re singing along to, there’s a lot more there than you first realized, and this song is that thing for me because you’re right, a lot of life has happened for me and there are lyrics in this song like ‘angels in the ashes.’ For me, that’s about acknowledging the child that we lost and taking a moment to go, there’s all this terrible shit that happened and we need to acknowledge that there are these angels. For me, it was this baby that’s no longer with us that’s there and let’s just acknowledge it because amongst all the terrible, there was beautiful stuff that is now gone. And it’s also about, I think that our demons, the things that we need to face and really face are just beyond our comfort level. Everybody gets to that place. I think of things like roller coasters or haunted houses, and some people won’t, they won’t get on a roller coaster or go in a haunted house. To really face those fears, you have to go to get on the roller coaster, go do the scary thing, and “Godspeed” is really about that. It’s about getting to that point where you want to say no, and you want to stop but then going further and taking that leap and being uncomfortable and facing those fears or those demons or whatever it is. And the first line of the song is “How fast is too fast for you? That’s how fast I want to go.” It’s just that it’s doing that thing and going too far and realizing that you needed to go further than you were comfortable with.

Todd: You did that. Again, as you know, I’ve been a fan for a long time. I absorb everything that’s out there. I know to listen to your lyrics. Even though the melody and the rhythm and everything might be very pop-ish, I know that there’s always something more in there. It was bittersweet for me to listen to because I was so excited to have new Ryan Hamilton music, yet the message was still there to embrace life for everything it’s worth. So, I thought that it was beautiful.

Ryan: Thank you.

Todd: Ryan, what was it like for you to bare your soul again? I know the music industry has had its highs and its lows, or to use your words, your haunted houses and rollercoasters for you. What was it like for you to strip back and say, “I’m going to do this again,” and bare your soul with a song such as “Godspeed?”

Ryan: Honestly, Todd, I didn’t want to, I had no interest. I was in Waco, Texas at the Half-Price Books Discount Store, so it’s like the discount, discount half-price books where I like to go to those places and search for rare CDs or stuff that I’ve never heard before because I’m still that music obsessed teenager in my mind. I was in that Half-Price Books discount store in Waco, and my phone rang, and it was Stevie [Van Zandt] and I knew that he was on tour with Bruce and E Street were in Europe. He doesn’t just call me, we’ll text, he’s been on my ass for God, two years about getting back to music. I was just like, “No, no, no, no, no.” But on that phone call in Waco, he said, “I just heard a Beach Boys song, and you could have written it.”  It was like, “What are you doing?” That song just, it did something to him, it tipped the scales for him to just really give me that extra kick in the ass. That was the thing that made me, just the timing. I don’t know, it was just weird the way it all happened. After I got home that day, I was like, let me just see if there’s anything inside of me that’ll come out, because there was also writer’s block. I didn’t want to write a song. I didn’t feel like I had any more in me. I sat down, and “Godspeed” just came out. The first verse in the chorus, as you hear it just came out and I sent it to Stevie and he sent me a text back, sent him a voice note and it just said, “You’re back.” And that series of events made me feel like I could do it again, and it made me feel anxious. I was excited, but I was anxious. I was just like, there’s something interesting that also happened because I’m older, as you know, I’ve been through a lot of shit now, and I just don’t care as much as I used to about certain things. I’m not obsessively going to check the Spotify stats and things like that. I’m just like, you know what? I’m going to do my best. I know I’ve been given this gift as a songwriter and I have people like Little Steven believing in me, so I’m just going to put it in the world and be happy with whatever it does. And that’s where I’m at now. It’s just like, okay, I’m good. I’m back doing it, it feels amazing. The response is incredible. I feel like everyone is rooting for me, which feels really good, and I’m not stressing about the bullshit minutiae that I would have three years ago.

Todd: I was going to ask three years ago, four years ago, five years ago, I can remember the conversations where Spotify numbers, iTunes clicks, if it isn’t linked between your name or you and the band you had or-

Ryan: That’s right.

Todd: Just all that weird shit that’s involved in what we’ll call what is now the music business. If you look back on that and then look back now at your new, we’ll call it a new attitude, how much of that do you think you’ve derived or just pulled out of slicing back and doing the family thing and figuring out what really was your focus?

Ryan: Great question. Becoming a dad, and my daughter, Della, is about to turn two, that obviously changed me. It would change anyone. Your priorities change. It’s all about her now and it just completely changed me. Before, where music and this thing became a priority and then the music business started changing to a point where all of the artists like myself were panicking because we couldn’t pay our bills, and there was a level of just freak out because what do we do. Everybody started talking about you also have to have a side hustle and have friends that have hot sauce or their own coffee or things like that. There were all these side hustles happening and I was laser focused on, well, what do I have to do to still be okay and play music? Now that same level of focus goes to my daughter. What does she need? What do I need to do to make sure she’s okay? And getting back to music and doing this again and finding out how that fits, it all goes back to her. It’s all like, okay, how is this going to be good for me and her or just her or put some money in savings for her. It just completely changed me as a person and the way I think about life and money and all those things.

Todd: Absolutely. Interesting choice for a cover [AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long”]. If I’d have thought Ryan’s going to drop a cover, not in a million years would I have thought it would be AC/DC. Where did the inspiration to cover that song come from?

Ryan: It’s funny because that’s a love song. It’s a dirty love song, but it’s still a love song if you really think about it. It’s guy likes girl at its core, that’s what it is. I had a moment where I realized that years ago, and there was a version of that cover a while back that just got done and then sat around and when I was getting ready to do “Godspeed” and they wanted a B-side for this, a cover song for the B-side, I was looking through old hard drives because I knew that I’m sitting on hundreds and hundreds of songs and I played, I was like, what is this? I didn’t even remember that I had covered AC/DC and when I hit play like, oh my God, this is really cool. This is really different. I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song like this. I sent it to Dave, my producer, who I’ve stuck with forever. Loyalty is important in the music business. And Dave was like, “Let’s do it. This is really cool. It’s really different.” We just went for it. It’s hard to do some of those lyrics with a straight face in this beautiful sad tone that the song took on, but it was important for me to really do that. “And she told me to come, but I was already there,” to sing that sweetly was a little bit of a challenge, but it was important to me to keep the song the way you hear it now. I love it.

Todd: It was crazy for me because I thought, I genuinely thought, because I go back to the stuff you’re doing with the Harlequin Ghosts, and then the solo stuff after that, and I’m thinking, okay, it wouldn’t have been this track. It was a cool twist fact that you took on something so heavy and made it so fun.

Ryan: Thank you. I pride myself in those covers I have done with Wicked Cool and those B-sides, and taking songs you wouldn’t expect and doing something different with them.

Todd: You brought it up, so with Wicked Cool… how much rope does Stevie give you to run with?

Ryan: Oh man, another great question. Now it’s a little bit different. They’ve always been great to me. The big dramatic blow up with my last full-length album was not on Wicked Cool. It was on the manufacturer. For people that don’t know the wrong audio went on my album, it had to be recalled. Thousands and thousands of records. So now we have been through that together. I’ve left the music business. He encouraged me and supported me to the point where I decided, okay, I’m going to do it again. So now I feel like I have, not that I didn’t have freedom before, because I absolutely did. They’re an amazing record label. I feel like there’s a little more faith in me, I don’t know. Or just a little more like, okay, look, he’s just back now. Let’s give him a little grace. I can’t really tell which way that goes, but I feel it. I feel it from Stevie and from the label. He’s amazing to me because he will send me, he’ll sit down, he’ll figure out my song in 30 seconds. You’ll hear him on his phone because he records voice notes for me. He’ll listen to the song, he’ll find it on guitar, and then he’ll play through it after hearing it once, which is incredible. Then he’ll send notes, he’ll be like, “Okay, this is great. Maybe change this or do this.” And that’s how he works with me. And that’s what he did with “Godspeed.” I’m working on a full-length album now, and that’s what’s happening. There’s a really interesting dynamic because of our history and our friendship, and he’s been a mentor to me for years now. I feel a little bit of, I’m going to use the word grace. It does feel like grace. There’s just a little bit of grace there because I’m rusty, I think a little bit, or I feel like it, even if other people don’t notice that I feel it. And we’re back in that groove we were in back in the day, and it’s a newer version of it.

Todd: Makes sense for sure.

Ryan: I hope so. I hope that answered your question.

Todd: Let’s turn to your family, to your daughter for a second. Looking back through your catalog, what do you want to be your first meaningful introduction to your music for your daughter?

Ryan: Great question. I don’t know. I have instruments all over my house, so I’ve never forced her like, ‘here’s the guitar, here’s a piano, here’s whatever.’ She gravitates toward them. She’ll point at a guitar and then she’ll point at me, and she doesn’t understand the difference between ‘me’ and ‘you’ yet. She’ll point at a guitar and then point at me and say, “Me.” So, then I’ll have to go, “You want me to play guitar?” And she’ll say, “Yes.” So, she’s already had that introduction because I’ll get the guitar and I’ll make up a song or play a cover song. So as far as my stuff, I really don’t know. But what I do know is there are certain songs I don’t want her to hear.

Todd: Now I want the answer to that question!

Ryan: Man, there’s some stuff. I think of a song. The first one that comes to mind is “Respond To My Email (You Bitch)” which is, it’s not my proudest moment, but it was just fun. It was a fun song. There’s some stuff there at the height of touring the UK, playing theater-sized venues, and selling them out. I had a cover on that first solo record of “Take It On The Run” by REO Speedwagon, and I didn’t know that there was a joke in the UK where instead of “Take it On The Run,” they would sing, “Take It Up The Bum.”

Todd: Oh, I didn’t know that either.

Ryan: Anyway, I’m playing this cover on this tour, and I see some people laughing and I stop and it’s this thing. And then it became a thing in the UK for everybody when I covered that song to sing the “Take It Up The Bum” version. So it would be, I don’t know, hundreds or thousands of people singing this. And I think that I’m like, my daughter’s going to see that someday or hear about that, and I’m going to have to explain it. So those are the two that come to mind when I think about her trying to keep her from certain songs.

Todd: Sure. You answered another question in that you said there’s more material coming. Looking at your albums, you make them fun, you make them poppy, you make them absorbable. We’ll use that word because so much music today isn’t. There’s always still a lot of you in the lyrics and in the presentation. I know that’s part of how you did it, but are you intentional with that now? With the new material you’re working on now, are you going to bare your soul on some of the stuff? As always, I am sure some of the stuff’s just going to be tongue in cheek, but are you being meticulous in presenting the right lyrics and everything else so that you don’t venture too far from where you’ve been?

Ryan: Another good question. It’s different now. The songs are heavier. I’m still a stickler for saying things the right way and making sure the lyrics are right, and if something doesn’t feel right, making sure that it is addressed. Never being like, “that’s fine.” I’m trying to think. There’s this song called “Wasted,” another song called “Take Me With You” that are really heavy. That song “Wasted,” we’ve been working on it, so it’s fresh in my head and the lyrics are “All alone, getting higher, getting closer to the fire, feeling lost, feeling lonely, feeling like you don’t know me.” And it’s that, it feels more like I don’t know what’s happening. Am I going to hell? Nobody knows me, I don’t even recognize myself. And for the record, I know I’m not going to hell. But there’s that thing when you grow up in church the way I did, there’s that guilt. Are you being a good enough person? And it’s going to be different moving forward. “Godspeed” is a good example of how pop rock it’s going to get. It won’t get any more pop rock than that. And it’s just going to be different. I think it’s better. I think the songs are better.

Todd: Well, I, for one, can’t wait to get my hands on it. I’m patiently waiting every day when I check the mail for my vinyl of “Godspeed.”

Ryan: Yeah, I think the last one just went out yesterday. It took me forever to sign them. Now they’re all in the mail.

Todd: I’m glad that it took you that long to do it because it means there’s enough people out there that give a shit and still want to hear your music. I know why you stepped back. We had conversations leading to you stepping back and one last interview, you and I talked afterwards saying this is going to be it for a while. Once I saw something out there, I lost my mind. I got hold of Mike [Ryan’s publicist] and said, “I’ve got to talk to Ryan.”

Ryan: Thank you. I’m glad.

Todd” Any parting words, Ryan? I know you’ve got life to attend to and everything else, so any parting words you’ve got looking forward? Not looking back, because, as you said, you may not be going to hell. I’d agree with that because you’ve already done your time.

Ryan: Well, thank you. Thank you.

Todd: What are your words moving forward? What are your thoughts?

Ryan: Right now, I’m just feeling very grateful, like you said, that there are people out there that still do care, because that was the big thing for me. It was like, I don’t know. I really don’t know. Never did I ever think I was going to be traveling the US with the Vice President of the United States speaking at events about reproductive rights and this terrible nightmare thing that happened to me and my family here in Texas. It’s been an interesting journey to go from that all the way back to music and for that experience to influence what I’m writing about. I think my parting words would be, wherever people found me, whether it was at an event with the Vice President of the United States or at a house party in the United Kingdom a long time ago, whatever that is, I’m just glad that there are enough people out there that care, and I really am doing this for the right reasons. I don’t know what I would do without music. I was lost without it, in a way, even though I was focusing on being a new dad. I’m just feeling really grateful that all this insanity and all these people from all over are paying attention and rooting for me.

Todd: That’s awesome. Well, let me not be first, but one of the first to say welcome back to the circus, man, because you were missed.

Ryan: Well, thank you very much. I’m happy to be back and little bit older. What’s the quote? It’s not the years, it’s the miles.

Todd: There you go. And you’ve packed those on over the last few. You’ve earned your stripes, man, you really have. I can’t wait to hear the next singles while you’re prepping the album, and I’ll make sure I circle back, and we’ll talk after you drop more music and we’ll help spread the word and the gospel a little bit more.

Ryan: I appreciate you so much. It was great to talk to you.

Todd: Always, Ryan, thank you so much.

Ryan: Talk to you later.

RYAN HAMILTON LINKS:

OFFICIAL SITE

FACEBOOK

X – TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

APPLE MUSIC

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Category: Interviews