Ohio State student known as “Anto” explores his passion for electronic dance music through producing original music and performing. | Credit: Molly Goheen | LTV Arts and Life Producer
Dancing the night away with friends in clubs is an experience many college-aged students covet. In the haze of the bass, most don’t pay attention to the person behind the deck.
Ryan Corman, a fifth-year in marketing, can be frequently found on-stage spinning remixes for crowds. Professionally known as “Anto,” Corman said electronic dance music, more commonly known as EDM, has become his life.
“I can listen to it sleeping, doing homework, dancing,” Corman said. “Making it is kind of a way to express myself through a way that most people won’t really understand.”
Corman said he will be visiting Midwest and southern cities in April — including Lexington, Kentucky; Oxford, Ohio; Mt. Pleasant, Michigan; and Charleston, South Carolina. More information about upcoming shows can be found on Corman’s social media.
The Redondo Beach, California, native said music has been a long-standing passion of his, though he only recently delved into the world of EDM.
“I’ve been a guitar player since I was 4. I have been in jazz band in high school. When I got to college, it kind of just started to take a shift,” Corman said. “I started finding from going to clubs and stuff, being like, ‘Oh my God, I really like this dance-type music.’ It’s really fun, and it’s really cool.”
Corman said he began his mixing journey as many students do: making playlists for his walks to class. The idea to take this into a more professional direction was not his own idea, Corman said, but from one of his fraternity brothers at Pi Kappa Phi.
“One of my brothers got a hold of [my playlist]. He was like, ‘Dude, this actually sounds really good. Have you ever considered maybe getting into deejaying at all at any point?’” Corman said. “‘I was like, ‘No, not really.’ He’s like, ‘You should. I think you’d be pretty good at it.’”
And so, the love affair began, Corman said.
“I bought my first board for 100 bucks, started experimenting, testing stuff out and then from there, it just started gaining a lot of traction exponentially,” Corman said. “I went from mixing in my room to starting to do a couple of frat parties to getting a couple of bars, to now traveling around the country and playing at these different venues in different states, which is awesome.”
At the beginning of 2022, Anto landed his residency at Brick Street, a bar located in Oxford, Ohio, near Miami University.
“To this date, it has been my favorite place to play. I would have never guessed that a college town in the middle of Ohio would be as crazy as it is,” Corman said. “The place is packed every single night I’m there.”
As for what type of sets Corman plays, he said there are several subsects of the EDM genre, but the past year has been when he has found his niche. Corman said when he plays a set, whether at Brick Street or somewhere else, he aims to get the crowd moving.
“I’ve started to fall into the category of future house, which is like really bouncy expression, like, just bouncy type music,” Corman said. “Basically where it’s like emotional vocals with a really fun, upbeat melody that gets people moving. It makes you kind of want to jump around.”
Milan Radonjich, a third-year in mechanical engineering and Corman’s videographer, said it’s not only Corman’s sets that get the audience moving but his charisma on stage.
“Ryan does a thing where he connects with the crowd super well,” Radonjich said. “He’s able to essentially like, feed off of their energy and re-energize them with it too. He engages with them a lot.”
Radonjich said as much as Corman gives to the audience, it seems the audience gives it right back to him. Corman said his overarching dream in pursuing producing and deejaying is to perform at the Tomorrowland Festival in Belgium, citing the large crowd size as a major motivating factor.
“I’ve grown up watching sets from some of my favorite artists playing there year in and year out. Every time I watch it, it just motivates me even more to be playing for 50,000 people in this giant outdoor venue like big stages and everything,” Corman said. “It gets me so excited because that’s what I want to ultimately end up at.”
Corman said he is currently focused on building a team, a larger fanbase and creating some more of his own original productions.
“I feel like on top of this, me being a student right now, having to work during the week as well and then having to also make the music, play the music, promote myself, manage myself it’s just a lot to deal with,” Corman said. “I feel like having a couple of people in my corner would be able to help me do that, would make it a lot easier.”
Corman said one of the biggest challenges he’s faced throughout this journey is blocking out the noise of people who doubt him. He said the best thing aspiring musicians can do to stay on track is to believe in themselves.
“Some people may not believe that you’re talented enough, that you’re not this, you’re not that, but you’ve just got to keep your head down and pushing,” Corman said. “In my own eyes, I’m giving myself really no other option, like, ‘I’m going to make this happen.’”
