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Q: We’re very excited to have some time today with Joel Ryan, member of the acclaimed Folk-Country band School House; greetings and salutations Joel, and thanks for taking time from a very busy schedule to speak with us here at Vents Magazine! Before we dive into the Q&A mosh-pit, could you say ‘hi’ and introduce yourself and the other members of School House to our ever-inquisitive readers?
- Hello! Thank you so much for having us! I’m Joel Ryan, and I play guitar in School House alongside Mitch Jackson on banjo and guitar, and David Campbell on bass and harmonica. We all take turns singing and try to harmonize with each other as much as possible. We’re three friends from Ottawa who moved in together to form the band in 2021, and we haven’t looked back since!
Q: Major kudos and accolades on your forthcoming and eagerly anticipated new single Live While I’m Alive which is set to light up record charts and listener’s faces when it premieres this January 16! Starting at the tip-top, can you talk about what inspired the best single of 2026?
- This song was written many years ago, right after the writing of our first album. We came up with it while sitting on the couch in our living room at the school house, just having fun and messing around singing about our problems in life. Suddenly the song started to take shape, and we buckled down to finish it that night. We actually played it live for the first time 3 years ago – almost to the day. It was February 2023 and we had a gig on the same night as the Super Bowl. We played this song for the first time to a crowd of about 10 people including the workers – good times haha. Since then it’s become a staple in our set – our big finale. It’s been a long time coming, we’re pumped that it’s finally coming out.
Q: Hot on the heels of the January 16 release of the new single Live While I’m Alive, School House is poised to drop the mic on the world of music with the super-anticipated sophomore LP Homeland on February 27, 2026; congrats again! Can you give audiophiles a hint or three as to what they can expect and look forward to with this new album?
- Thank you! This album has been in the works for a long time. We feel like we really found our sound during the process of making this record. We dialed in our craft on our instruments, our vocals, harmonies, and recording techniques. We found out what works for us. Homeland is School House at its most authentic. Almost all of this album was recorded live off the floor with us sitting in a circle with no metronome or anything. We wanted to sound as organic as possible and I think we accomplished that.
Q: How is the upcoming Homeland album similar to School House’s freshman LP? How is it different?
- That’s a good question. As I said, we’ve kind of had a change in our sound between our first record and Homeland. After our self-titled record we didn’t know what direction we were going to go in. We had a bunch of song ideas but they were all over the place stylistically. Luckily, we ended up honing in on our new style very organically. We started picking up the banjo more, the mandolin, focusing on our harmonies, and leaning more into our traditional folk roots. It’s not a huge departure from our last album but there is a difference. So to answer your question, what makes this album similar to our first LP is that it’s made by us. I sometimes worry that a song idea “doesn’t sound enough like us” or “what if it’s too different” but at the end of the day I think that whatever we produce will sound like us. We’re just going to keep going with the flow artistically and see where we end up!
Q: What makes Live While I’m Alive from the upcoming Homeland album the best choice of all the amazing music on the album to see release as a single? Do you feel that it tonally represents the rest of the album?
- Well, to be honest we’ve actually released about 7 singles off this album already (haha) – you know…new music marketing tactics. Live While I’m Alive just so happens to be the last one but we think we might have saved the best for last. This was one of the first songs written for this album. It’s an upbeat, fun tune with some real School House-y sounds – loads of harmony, picking banjo, strumming acoustic guitars, a good groove, and a guitar solo. We’ve hung on to it until the very end because we wanted to make sure we did the song justice. I personally think we did just that!
Q: Who did the producing honors on the new Homeland LP and what did the in-studio collaboration between artists and producer look like while fashioning and shaping this new gem of an LP?
- On our first record, we produced everything ourselves from home. With this record, we wanted to expand a bit and work in different ways to try and get the results we wanted. On Homeland, we did most of the production ourselves at home again but we called up our good friend Dom Louis for a few tracks and he helped us get the secret sauce we were looking for – which was recording ourselves live off the floor. We also ended up working with Nixon Boyd from Hollerado (Ottawa natives) on two songs in his studio in Orillia. As a band from Ottawa, that was really cool. Working with him was awesome and he has the coolest studio space. We tracked guitar, drums, and bass at the same time there. Actually, the bed track for Live While I’m Alive was done there! Lots of fun.
Q: Word ‘round industry campfire has it that School House is set to have quite the presence on the touring/performing scene! When and where can enterprising School House fans catch you all with a live performance?
- That industry campfire sounds like fun – and a good source of info! We’re hitting the road with our good buddy and fellow artist, Braden Lam, in March for the Freewheelin’ Field Trip! It’s our first big-boy tour – we’ll be starting on the east coast in Nova Scotia, travelling through New Brunswick, PEI, Quebec, and Southern Ontario from Ottawa all the way down the 401 to Windsor! Braden is an amazing artist and we’ve been lucky enough to become good friends with him over the past year or so – we feel like our shows will pair really well together out on the road. In terms of the music, we can’t wait to play the songs from Homeland live in so many places we’ve never played. It feels like there’s been a lot of work leading up to this moment and we’re super happy it’s all finally happening. We’re going all-out on these shows – so come out and see the Freewheelin’ Field Trip! Tickets available on our website.
Q: What’s the VH1-Behind the Music origin story on School House? How did the three of you come together to form the amazingly tight and harmonious group which we hear to such glorious effect on the upcoming Live While I’m Alive single?
- We moved in together in 2021 – into a 100+ year old schoolhouse to which we owe our band name. We didn’t have the intention of forming a band when we moved in, but it just happened naturally. Living together was a great time and really helped us develop as a band and make as much music as possible. To speak on how we “became tight and harmonious”, we have to mention our time spent on TikTok Live. We’ve spent many, many hours singing our songs and cover requests on Live and that helped us tighten up a lot and just get to know each other as musicians. It feels like we all have the same brain when we’re playing live together. It gets quite hectic between fan interaction and taking requests but we always have a great time.
Q: Who are some of the bands and artists who have informed and influenced the style of School House?
- Individually we all have our own influences, but there are a few common ones that we owe a lot to. To name a few, The Beatles, The Band, Bon Iver, Caamp, Wild Rivers, and The Eagles come to mind. We were all good friends before making music together so we never really had to discuss our influences too intently. It just kind of went without saying that we all liked the same music and found a common genre within which we could create our music.
Q: At the end of the day, what do you hope listeners walk away with after giving many-a-spin to the new single Live While I’m Alive, as well as the forthcoming LP Homeland?
- I hope they walk away thinking “damn that was a good tune let me listen again!” hahaha. In all honesty, I hope they walk away feeling like they can relate to the music and see a part of themselves in our music. At the end of the day, that’s what makes music special and why sharing music with people is unlike anything else out there. It feels like magic sometimes and if even one person feels this away after listening to our music then we’ll be over the moon. We can’t wait to share Homeland with the world. Thanks for having us!
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