Welcome! My name is Ryan Leyva, and I am a musician, mix engineer, producer, composer, and performer from Seattle, WA. I am a multi-instrumentalist endorsed by Gibson Guitars who is dangerously gifted at guitar, excellent at bass, good at piano, decent at drums, and well-versed in faking it with most other instruments. I make music and most folks call me Nails.

I began playing guitar at the age of 8 and never put it down. Countless hours were spent in front of the radio learning every song. Every note, bend, slide, strum, chord, melody, and hammer on to all genres of music. When I got my first Tascam 4-Track recorder, I instantly loved it. i had no idea what “buss” meant, but I knew if I flipped the tape over I could get some cool backwards guitar solos happening. Since my childhood discovery of capturing sound, I was hooked on making noise and I haven’t stopped since.

After playing in the renowned Roosevelt Jazz Band, I took a short stint at Berklee College of Music before joining Michael Shrieve’s band, Tangletown. Cutting my teeth on world music, rock n’ roll, and jazz, my ability flourished and my focus into the music industry grew exponentially. 

I have toured around the globe with grunge heroes, American Idol pop stars, soul singers, punk rockers, star rappers, metal heads, western folks, and jazz bands. I’ve composed music for many licensing companies including but not limited to License Lab, Killer Tracks Universal, Mega Traxx, Sonoton, DL Music and more. My work has been featured in movie trailers and soundtracks for the live theater and the silver screen. Mixing records for other artists has become my primary focus and musical passion.