Nina Ryser was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and has been based in Philadelphia, PA since 2015. Her interest in songwriting and DIY home recording started when she was in first grade with piano lessons and a Fisher Price tape recorder, and led to her path in composition and scoring for live performance and film, working with a variety of instruments and ensembles including the American Symphony Orchestra.
Nina received her BA in Music Composition at Bard College where she studied music composition and electronic music. She also spent a lot of time in the film building. Nina has engineered and mixed albums for several bands in her home studio, including Old Maybe, B.O. Zeta, and Wilt as well as her past seven solo albums in which she recorded and performed all the instruments herself. She has played in many bands over the years, including Palberta, Shimmer, Data, Fire Roast, @ , Kristine Leschper and Lily Konigsberg, among many others. Palberta was an art-punk/pop trio from 2013-2023 that consisted of Nina, Ani Ivry-Block and Lily Konigsberg, who switched between drums, bass, guitar and performed 3-part harmonies. They released 8 full-length records and several EPs which received reviews by the New York Times, NPR Music, Rollingstone, Vice and Pitchfork among other publications; they recorded live sessions on NPR Tiny Desk and Audiotree among other online platforms; they toured prolifically across the US, Canada, and Mexico, opened for Bikini Kill and Deerhoof, and headlined music festivals; all without the aid of an agent or major label.
Nina's solo experimental-pop project consists of lush synth compositions, vocals and electronics, and has featured a rotating cast of different accompnaying instrumentalists throughout its existence. She has toured with her solo project throughout the US, and has opened for Kikagaku Moyo and The Space Lady. Paths of Color is her sixth full-length solo record: “In line with her past few releases, Paths of Color is characteristic Nina Ryser: dreamy, wonky, synth-based art-pop that’s bubbly, edgy, sweet, and dark all at once; with elements of post-punk, art rock, and free jazz. But on Paths, Ryser has honed her home recording and mixing skills and refined her home studio set-up, making it her most polished-sounding work yet. But she’s maintained that homemade vibe, as well as the freedom of childhood expression that is so crucial to her sound. Her background in contemporary classical music serves to hold it all together in a taut, designful balance.” (Leah Mandel, Cowgirl Records.) Nina’s 7th full-length record (and first studio album recorded by an engineer other than herself) will be released on Dear Life Records in September 2024. As a teacher, Nina has worked with children ages 2-13, ranging from private lessons and group classes in drums, piano, songwriting and recording, to workshops on building sound sculptures and contact microphones.
Nina is currently working on a synth-based film score for a short sci-fi film by Joseph Agresta, as well as a multi-instrumental full-length score for a film by Anthony D’Eredita (release dates for both films TBD). She will be the synth player in an upcoming modern opera, HILMA, at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia in June 2024. In September 2024, Nina will be touring in Europe in support of her upcoming solo record on Dear Life Records, Water Giants, accompanied on the tour by Ani Ivry-Block (Palberta, Shimmer, Fire Roast) on electric accordion.
