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 very little 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 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, Old Maybe, Kristine Leschper and Lily Konigsberg, and @, among several 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.
Their 8 full-length records were released to critical acclaim by the New York Times, NPR Music, Rollingstone and Pitchfork. 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 synth-pop project has taken on many forms over the years, but at its core are lush synth compositions, drum machine, various electronics, and pop-leaning vocal melodies. Her live sets and recordings usually incorporate instrumental soundscapes and noisey interludes. She has performed with a variety of bandmates over the years, ranging from one bandmate to a septet, including strings, bass, keyboard, drums accordion, and woodwinds, among others. She has toured throughout the US, opening for Kikagaku Moyo, The Space Lady and Kristine Leschper. Water Giants, released in Septemebr 2024 on Dear Life Records,is Nina’s eighth full-length solo record,
and her first studio album recorded by an engineer other than herself:
“(Nina Ryser’s) latest effort Water Giants signifies a departure in both sound and artistic practice - her first solo release recorded outside of her home studio, with a myriad of first time collaborators, it's Nina's most pristine and expansive experimental pop offering to date, centering Nina as a dynamic performer and lyricist without foregoing the surreal qualities of her previous work. Lyrically, Water Giants stands as Nina's most personal work to date. Nina approached the writing process with unbridled honesty and chose not to edit or overthink her words as she had in the past. The result is a number of candid, heartfelt reflections on love, illness, addiction, anxiety, and the beautiful absurdity of a trash pile on the street. Interspersed throughout the album are Nina's signature woozy instrumentals, which add some escapism to the grounded nature of the material. By putting faith in a newfound collaboration without straying from her natural instincts, Nina has crafted the most dynamic album in her discography, an exciting testament to her songwriting prowess and what can be accomplished by stepping out of your comfort zone as an artist. ” (Charlie Dore-Young).
Nina performed as the synth & organ player in HILMA, a modern opera at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, June 2024. In September 2024, Nina toured in Europe in support of her latest solo record, Water Giants, accompanied by Ani Ivry-Block (Palberta, Shimmer, Fire Roast) on electric accordion. She has written and recorded several scores for film over the past few years -- including a synth-based film score for a short sci-fi film by Joseph Agresta, a multi-instrumental full-length score for a film by Anthony D’Eredita, and a cello & flute based score for a short film by Zane Pais (release dates TBD). Nina and her husband Gabe (Data, Fire Roast) are expecting a baby in July, at which point Nina will be taking a break from playing shows...for a little while ;)
