Biography
Ryan McPhun remains the Ruby Suns' lone enduring member, steering a sound that fuses psychedelic indie pop with global music currents drawn from his far-flung travels. California provided his birthplace and upbringing, yet wanderlust carried him through Africa and Thailand before he put down roots in New Zealand. Auckland's thriving scene welcomed the multi-instrumentalist into several pop outfits—the Tokey Tones, the Reduction Agents, and the Brunettes—while he simultaneously led his own venture, initially billed as Ryan McPhun & the Ruby Suns. After issuing a self-titled debut under that name, the group shortened its moniker to the Ruby Suns, aligned with Lil' Chief Records, and secured distribution throughout Europe and Australia.
American dates followed in 2006, after which McPhun returned to Auckland to compose and track the sophomore album in his basement. Indigenous sounds from Africa and Kenya informed the resulting Sea Lion—titled for a colony of the animals beside California's Hwy 1—which appeared in 2008 via multiple labels, among them Seattle's Sub Pop. The record markedly widened the band's reach, spurring further tours that included a European run in spring 2009. While abroad, the musicians spent ten days at a friend's Hungarian home sketching new material that eventually surfaced on 2010's Fight Slowly, an electro-pop set McPhun produced entirely alone. Early 2013 brought the fourth album, Christopher, whose glassy, big-beat electro-pop tracks received expansive treatment from producer Chris Coady, previously associated with Grizzly Bear and Beach House. McPhun's nomadic path next led him from the Southern Hemisphere to Norway, where immersion in Oslo's local circles shaped the dense 2017 release Sprite Fountain.
American dates followed in 2006, after which McPhun returned to Auckland to compose and track the sophomore album in his basement. Indigenous sounds from Africa and Kenya informed the resulting Sea Lion—titled for a colony of the animals beside California's Hwy 1—which appeared in 2008 via multiple labels, among them Seattle's Sub Pop. The record markedly widened the band's reach, spurring further tours that included a European run in spring 2009. While abroad, the musicians spent ten days at a friend's Hungarian home sketching new material that eventually surfaced on 2010's Fight Slowly, an electro-pop set McPhun produced entirely alone. Early 2013 brought the fourth album, Christopher, whose glassy, big-beat electro-pop tracks received expansive treatment from producer Chris Coady, previously associated with Grizzly Bear and Beach House. McPhun's nomadic path next led him from the Southern Hemisphere to Norway, where immersion in Oslo's local circles shaped the dense 2017 release Sprite Fountain.
Albums
Singles
