Strongly rooted in North East Lancashire with Manchester only a stones throw away. I was heavily influenced by many of the bands that emerged onto the Manchester music scene in the 90's.

 

Happy Mondays, New Order, The Smiths, Inspiral Carpets, ACR were order of the day growing up.

 

Largely influenced by my Dad, my early days were an eclectic mix of Simon and Garfunkel, Tony Bennett, Scott Walker, Jose Feliciano and the Beatles.

 

I later ventured off on my own discovery of more obscure bands and artists such as The Doors, Pink Floyd, Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley and in recent years Grizzly Bear, Rufus wainwright, Radiohead and Scott Matthews to name just a few.

 

Inevitable then, that anything I write musically is going to include some of these elements somewhere down the line.

 

Riz Riley is everything from the above, mixed up with my own emotions, experiences and slant on this crazy world we live in.

 

Riz Riley