The T4 Project is much more than a head-turning collaboration consisting of three decades of seminal punk and hardcore musicians. On one side of the coin The T4 Project is a story of one man’s passion, devotion and patience for a project that turned out to be bigger than its brainchild Shannon Saint Ryan could have imagined. On the other side of the coin it is an outright expression toward commercialism, politics and autonomy.
The story begins with Saint Ryan, who was born and spent the early years of his life in an extremely regimented Great Britain. It wasn’t until he got to the states in the mid 1990’s that he realized music was truly a weapon and a way to speak out against anything he wanted.
Saint Ryan was approached by his classmates Chris Campbell and Mike Carter who had gotten word that Saint Ryan owned a drum set. They wanted him to join them for the school talent show. Saint Ryan explains, “The guys from school were like, ‘Hey, we hear you’ve got a drum kit.’ And I was like, ‘So you want me to play?’”
Campbell and Carter gave Saint Ryan two CDs that day that would change his life forever. “One was the Circle Jerks and the other one was Pennywise,” says Saint Ryan. “So I take them home and I listen to them and I thought it was awful.” Saint Ryan couldn’t understand the words and he thought the musical foundation was just too fast and reckless. “I didn’t get it,” he says. “So I opened the booklet, started reading the lyrics and it moved me. It was the first time I saw music as a weapon.” At that time Saint Ryan never could have dreamed that years later he would be collaborating with members of those very bands on a project of his own.
The T4 Project is a community of over a dozen musicians spanning from Jason Cruz of Strung Out to Jay Bentley of Bad Religion and Tony Barber of the Buzzcocks. The album itself, which Saint Ryan says really was in the making for over four years, took two and a half years to complete. It was recorded on two continents in seven different recording studios and even features a 40 person choir. “It took a lot of work, a lot of hustle and a lot of getting people on board for a project that was really nothing more than an idea and storyboard,” explains Saint Ryan.
The underlying theme to the actual album revolves around the “virus,” which infects humanity with the commercial and political garbage that is forced down American’s throats everyday. Wear this, look like that, do what I say, conform to these standards; everything that the American public is made to believe or is corrupt represents the “virus.” “It’s about thinking before you act,” says Saint Ryan.
Saint Ryan wanted to develop the story in an album format so the story that is told on the album, which is written and drawn out within a 24-page booklet features two fictional characters, Phil and Jackie, who could really be anyone in the world. The two characters ultimately end up being attacked by bigots at an anti-war protest, leading to misunderstandings and a series of terrible events that ultimately lead to Phil catching the T4 virus and the eventual death of both Phil and Jackie. In the end the story does have a sobering moment as the torch of autonomy is passed to a young boy.
When reading through the liner notes of the album, the first thing that sticks out is how the entire project with completed without the help of a record label or any commercial funding. Knowing the T4 Project wasn’t really “tourable,” made it difficult for labels to get behind the project so Saint Ryan just kept plugging away. “All of these people came forward for free,” says Saint Ryan. “If someone told me four years ago, ‘this is what you’re going to have to go through and when you’re done, you’re going to be broke,’ I’d say, ‘Fuck that!.’” Ultimately, however, it was never about the money. It was about pursuing a dream and seeing it come to fruition. Saint Ryan notes that oftentimes people have big goals as a child and someplace between adolescence and adulthood something changes and sadly those goals never get carried out. “I believe that anyone can do it and I did it all while working a full-time job,” notes Saint Ryan.
The recording process began at Southern Studios in London, England, where Saint Ryan was able to assemble his rhythm section. “I wanted them to put their thumbprint on it,” he explains. Most of the music Saint Ryan had prepared was simply the framework for the songs, he allowed each of the musicians to put their own twist on their parts based on their perceptions of the music. “Here’s the thing,” says Saint Ryan, “I can write songs, but it’s like the guitar player’s joke, ‘How many guitar players does it take to screw in a light bulb? Two, one to do it and one who says he can do it better.’ I’m not like that. I know I can write, but I’m not exactly a guitar player.” For example, he notes how he could sound out a beat to one of the drummers and they would already be pounding it out on the drums. “I could have done this whole recording myself, but that would have been boring. It’s flat, but by opening it up to other musicians it really takes the songs to a different level.
How Saint Ryan met each of these musicians are unique stories in and of themselves. He had previously worked with Carter, whose other band is Glass and Ashes, as well as Kirsten Patches of Naked Aggression. Saint Ryan met Bad Religion bassist Jay Bentley at a bar, while years prior Saint Ryan, a young Pennywise fan, had done free flooring work for Fletcher Dragge of the band and the two stayed in touch over time. Saint Ryan wanted Porno for Pyros guitarist Peter Distefano on the record, but couldn’t connect with him until talking to the owner of a bagel shop that Saint Ryan frequented. As it turned out the owner had once managed Porno for Pyros. Greg Hetson who has played guitar for both Bad Religion and Circle jerks got involved in the project when he found out Bentley was recording in London with Saint Ryan. Throughout his experimentations in the music world, Saint Ryan landed a spot as a guitar tech for Strung Out and during that time got Jason Cruz onboard to pen the lyrics and sing on Story-Based Concept Album.
When asked if it was hard to allow someone else to write the lyrics, Saint Ryan is quite complimentary of Cruz. “Jason writes his own lyrics. They’re great, not shit, their really good,” boasts Saint Ryan. So he was comfortable with Cruz penning the words, although the two of them would discuss the subject (based on the story of Phil and Jackie) and Cruz would run with it from there.
In the end, The T4 Project is more than just an all-star list of influential punk bands. It is a belief system and a brotherhood of likeminded musicians, who happened to come together for a common goal. “It’s fucking amazing,’ says Saint Ryan. He notes that in the past he was always on the artistic side, so to see it from the “label” side was also an eye opener. “I couldn’t get funding for it,” explains Saint Ryan. “So it took three and a half years to put it together because the other year and a half, believe it or not, no one cared.”
Ultimately, Saint Ryan is extremely humble about what he has achieved. He was the brains behind the project as it relates to the music, the story, some of the engineering and even the design concept and simply cannot wait to see how the public reacts. “It’s not like this is super unique,” says Saint Ryan. “It’s inside everyone.”
By: Adam K. Zakroczymski III - Senior Editor / Founder
