Listen to Ryan Vail's debut album 'For Every Silence' - premiere

Ryan Vail

Derry-born Ryan Vail is an artist who draws his inspiration from the worlds of electronic and modern classical music.

So far he has released three EPs on Belfast label Champion Sound and a collaborative album with singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery - and last year he composed a solo piano piece for World Piano Day, which was chosen for composer Nils Frahm’s Piano Day playlist.

He's performed alongside an impressive range of artists including Nils Frahm, Jamie xx, Jon Hopkins, Tycho and Todd Terje.

His debut solo album For Every Silence was "89 years in the making" - the story of a piano that was made in England in 1927, shipped to Derry in Northern Ireland, cherished by Ryan's wife's family and restored for use on this stunning album, where the warm, well-loved character of the instrument takes centre stage.

You should hear clear influences from the likes of Nils Frahm and Max Richter, Einaudi and Dario Marianelli. (Note the Public Service Broadcasting-esque sampling as well.) Overall the album is a daring and emotionally affecting work that deserves your full attention.

Listen to For Every Silence below and let us know what you think:

Q&A with Ryan Vail

What have you been listening to recently?

I've been hooked on Max Richter 's “From Sleep” album since last year. Radiohead’s “King of Limbs” has also been on heavy rotation since they announced their world tour.

What are your plans for summer 2016?

Playing quite a few festivals in Germany , UK and Ireland. I’ll also be playing in London in the next few months so keep an eye out for that. I'm also travelling to Canada to work on a potential collaboration project that I can’t say much about at the moment but it’s pretty exciting.

When I find time in the studio I’ll be working on my next release. So it's going to be very busy this year.

How are you feeling about the album?

Really happy with the end result. My goal was to produce something that covered every genre I loved listening to myself. I think I've pretty much done that.

It's been getting a great reaction so far on radio with strong support on BBC Radio One and 6 Music – I'm very happy about that . I'm also really grateful to Help Musicians UK and Arts Council NI who aided me in getting it all together.

What was the first gig you ever played, and what’s been the best so far?

One of the first gigs I played was in a local bar in my home town called Sandinos. The gig was for BBC Radio Foyle’s Electric Mainline show as part of Derry's Celtronic Festival.

The best show I've been a part of would have to be in Belfast supporting Nils Frahm for RedbullMusicAcademy City Takeover festival in September 2014 in the prestigious surroundings of Belfast City Hall – it was the first gig in the building , the room was amazing. Nils was an absolute gent. His performance was jaw dropping, I learnt a lot and was really happy when he chose one of my tracks for inclusion on his 2015 World Piano Day Playlist.

Ryan Vail's debut album For Every Silence is out on 1 April