Student Ryan Stigmon Brings His Brand of Funk to NAMM 2016

Ryan Stigmon and his funk band STIG will kick off the spring semester with a main-stage gig at the winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, California—the largest music trade show in North America.

January 20, 2016

The first week of the 2016 semester will be a busy one for professional music student and saxophonist Ryan Stigmon and his funk band STIG. The band will kick things off with a main-stage gig at the winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, California—the largest music trade show in North America. Then Stigmon and STIG will return to Boston for a gig at the Spot, release a music video recorded at Berklee's state-of-the-art Ark studio, and launch a campaign for an upcoming live record through PledgeMusic—an innovative music platform, founded by Berklee alumnus Benji Rogers ‘92—that gives fans exclusive access not only to the music, but the making of the record as well.

Performing for the Industry's A-List

The gig at this year’s NAMM Show marks a significant opportunity for the band, as its audience comprises the music industry’s best and brightest. According to Michael Bierylo, chair of the Electronic Production and Design Department, “Producers and artists from the Los Angeles area are out in full force looking for the latest innovations, and it’s not uncommon to bump into the likes of Stevie Wonder checking out a piano or Herbie Hancock talking with software developers.” A performance slot at NAMM then, is more than a gig, it’s, as Bierylo commented, “a great opportunity for Berklee students to perform for an influential part of the music industry.”

Laying Down Foundations, Grooves

Only in his second semester at Berklee, Stigmon, a 20-year-old from Flagstaff, Arizona, has been strategic about achieving his goals since before he enrolled as a student. “I saved for three years to come to Berklee,” he said. “And now I’m here and I couldn’t be happier.” In high school, he’d played in a number of groups with keyboardist Thomson (Thommy) Knoles, and their musical partnership set the stage for STIG. Knoles left for Berklee while Stigmon stayed home and recorded an EP. By the time he arrived, the band already had the beginnings of a catalog, and through connections made by Knoles, soon found a full roster in Cecil Alexander on guitar, Jack McChesney on drums, and Artie Sadtler on bass.

“Berklee is full of people that all want to get hyped on each other’s music,” Stigmon said, mentioning that the Berklee culture has completely changed the way he sees music. In just one semester, he credits faculty members such as Omar Thomas, Fred Lipsius, and Tia Fuller for having a deep impact on his approach not just to his instrument, but to his whole artistic vision. “Tia was always talking about 'achieving your greatness' and that really resonated with me,” he said. “She would always say, ‘work hard enough [so] that at your worst, you can still be a source of light for the other musicians.’”

And it’s that same sense of connectivity and light that drew Stigmon to the funk genre in the first place, saying that, “At the heart of funk music, it’s all about how simple it is and how you practice restraint to let all the sounds and vibrations groove with one another.”

Watch STIG perform their track "Sweet Tooth," in Berklee's Ark studio: