SUNY Purchase has been a hotbed for musicians in recent years. Bands and artists have thrived in the college’s music scene, from talented jazz musicians to notable indie rock names like Mitski. Joining that list is Ryan Shea.
Shea is a guitarist and singer-songwriter who is the lead singer and guitarist of the alternative rock band Mildly Allergic, as well as a guitarist in hardcore band Blouse. Originally from Madison, Conn., Shea splits his time between playing shows in Connecticut and at SUNY Purchase, where he is studying studio composition.
Shea’s musical journey began when he started playing drums at age 10. In his early teen years, he attended School of Rock Madison, a live performance-based music program that gave him on-stage experience at a young age. By the time he was 14, Shea started playing his own paid shows at restaurants and bars, giving him a level of confidence on stage that can take years to develop for others.
“That definitely taught me how to play shows, be comfortable playing an instrument in front of people and know how to show up to a venue and set up your gear,” said Shea. “So by the time I started playing my own shows with my music, it was a more comfortable experience for me.”
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Shea picked up a guitar for the first time, as he wanted to start writing songs to play live. He had previously been trying to write on piano, but wanted to make guitar-driven music. With ample free time, guitar quickly became his main instrument. Though moving from drums to guitar seems like quite a jump, he started to learn bass around the same time, allowing his fingers to get used to playing strings and pressing down on the fretboard on bass.
As he learnt his way around the six-string, Shea began writing songs. His early songwriting attempts involved him sitting down with a guitar and playing until he found an idea that stuck with him. Today, this is still where most of his ideas begin, but he noted that he’s more aware of song lengths and structure, leading to a more fine-tuned process where he considers these aspects more.
One of the songs he’s written that stands out most to him is his debut single “Bobby Snaps,” which was released in July 2021. Shea labeled it as “almost like a song that fell out of me,” as it represents his early creative process.
As the world reopened in 2021, Shea started going to local shows and was inspired to get back on stage. With an arsenal of songs he wrote over the past year, he assembled some friends to learn them and bring them to life on stage under the name Mildly Allergic. Shea came up with the name back in July 2019 as a joke, and even had photos stored that he thought would make for good album art.
Since the band’s inception, Mildly Allergic has consisted of Shea and a cast of rotating lineups that join him on stage depending on who’s available. The constant changes can be hard to manage, with Shea noting that “sometimes it won’t feel like a very solid band,” but it’s a cycle that’s helped him as a musician.
“It’s been a way that I’ve gone out of my comfort zone to learn how to interact with people that I play music with and learning how different people play the songs,” explained Shea. “It’s always fun and for that reason, it never gets stale.”
In January 2023, the group released their self-titled debut album. The release was the culmination of a three-year process that started while he was in high school and finished at SUNY Purchase. Shea said that the album represents aspects of both his high school and college experiences.
Since starting his studies at SUNY Purchase in Fall 2022, Shea has split his time between doing shows in Connecticut and his college, located in Westchester County, N.Y., right near the New York-Connecticut border. When he got to Purchase, he found that “starting the band back up with new people playing the songs felt really easy because so many people are making music here.”
Unlike many college music scenes in Connecticut, there aren’t any prominent house venues at Purchase, so bands set up everywhere from quads to classrooms to stairwells. Shea has played a few times at these unlikely settings for live music, adding that “people get more excited to go to things like that, or any secret location.”
In addition to his work with Mildly Allergic, Shea also plays guitar in Blouse, a hardcore punk group. He admitted that when he joined, he wasn’t into hardcore or screamo music but has greatly enjoyed playing shows in the bustling New York hardcore scene. Balancing between both bands hasn’t been a major issue, as there’s been an ebb and flow of one band being more active at any given time. Being in Blouse has also helped him grow as a songwriter and bandmate.
“The difference between Blouse and Mildly Allergic is that I’ve learned to write songs with other people and be so cemented,” said Shea. “Every Blouse show has been with the same four people, we’ve never had someone fill in. I feel like that’s been a really great experience to learn how a band can function like that.”
Blouse is set to play their final shows, as some members are graduating in the coming weeks, giving Shea more time to focus on Mildly Allergic. The group’s next album, “everyone tells a good lie” is set to release on April 30.