Vinyl - Ryan Lerman - Self Defense - Hand numbered edition

For most of his career, songwriter and producer Ryan Lerman has been making music in the shadows. On April 16, he’ll release his solo album Self Defense, recorded in his LA hometown.

Along the way, Lerman produced and wrote songs for Lizzy McAlpine, toured the world as the string arranger and musical director for John Legend, and formed Scary Goldings, the funk instrumental band with keyboardist Larry Goldings. He’s also a co-writer and live guitarist for Vulfpeck and toured with Ben Folds, Tallest Man On Earth, and Michael Buble. In January 2025, Lerman was the guitarist for Timothée Chalamet on SNL, alongside James Blake.

Ryan might be best known for co-creating Scary Pockets, the hit online series that pairs a rotating cast of ace musicians with a different singer every week, turning well known songs upside-down with clever funk arrangements, and the spinoff podcast Dead Wax. That same collaborative ethos made its way to Self Defense; songs like “Missing Girl” were built up during jam sessions with musician-friends, “Community is one of the most important things in my life,” Lerman says.

There’s been plenty of joy for Ryan Lerman in recent years. But there’s also been a striking amount of loss, grief, uncertainty and painfully earned growth — “growth,” Lerman says, “into what feels like adulthood.” He has witnessed his father’s decline due to Alzheimer’s, an experience he describes as “the progression of losing someone slowly, of reality becoming blurred and coming into focus differently.” He also lost his grandfather, one of the “most special relationships in my life.” Throughout it all, he wrote and recorded Self Defense.

“Ryan is a unique musical personality,” adds Vulfpeck’s Theo Katzman. “An excellent songwriter, fearless sonic explorer, expert instrumental craftsman, and one of my favorite voices in music. I love his songs, and I love hearing him sing.”

The making of Self Defense underscores Lerman’s love for his extended family of artists: co-producer, Jeremy Most, whose work Lerman grew to love after hearing singer-songwriter Emily King’s records. “Having Jeremy as a trusted resource to bounce ideas off of, and to tell me when I was cooking things too long, was really valuable,” Lerman says. “He kept trying to get me to scream in my songs, but other than that he was fantastic.” Lerman’s team also includes mixing engineer Cian Riordan (St. Vincent, Lana Del Rey, Paul McCartney), drummer Ted Poor and CJ Camerieri and Rob Moose of yMusic

“All these songs fit together and tell my story of the past four years,” says Lerman. “I’ve learned a few things, I have something to say, and I’m figuring out how to stand up for myself. ”