Ryan was born in 1984 (Brooklyn, New York). Then, he moved together with his parents to Mastic in the same city. Ryan started playing the guitar at the age of fourteen. He as well learned at SUNY Stony Brook during next six years. His teacher was Jeff Denny in that period. However, the greatest inspirer for Ryan has always been Steve Vai. His dream is meeting and study with Mr. Vai. Other inspirations are the likes of: Michael Angelo Batio, Jason Becker, Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani.

Ryan took part in Guitarmageddon (2003), arriving regional stage. He tried again his hand at the competition in 2004 and won the regional final in the East Coast. He went to Dallas for a central final and gained the sixth position. It should be considered a great success for a young musician, especially as there were three and a half thousands competitors and he had the opportunity of playing in front of fifteen thousands people.

Apart from his solo activity, Ryan played together with his brother in punk rock band - Not Quite Rebels and art rock group - Serenity. Mr. Formato is also a session musician and teaches playing the guitar through the Internet. He describes his style as "instrumental metal with heavy and neoclassical influences". I must admi that there are the least heavy elements in his music, but contests of the debut - "Out Of This World" - could be qualified in such a way. All the tracks were recorded at private studio when Ryan was nineteen.

The first track is dedicated to his girlfriend - Patricia. Its structure is simple, but guitar melodies are really catchy. "Lambdog" tells a story set on farm in which Ryan participated. Then he had seen an animal reminding of a lamb with dog's ears, haha. The composition is played in the similar style of Jason Becker's "Perpetual Burn" (plus wonderful acceleration). Ryan was inspired by his teacher's playing (Dionasio Aguado) and composed "Out of Purgatory". That track proved that classical music isn't strange for Ryan at all. The title track leaves no doubts as to Formato's inspirations, because his style is not far away from Mr. Vai's. The following "Purgatory" is dedicated to Jason Becker, but musically it's closed related to Michael Angelo. A co-author of "Dad's Song" is Ryan's father. Daddy hummed melody, and a son played it on classical and electric guitars. "Arpeggio Autopsy" is typically neoclassical, but most original track is "Shred Dominates" in which Ryan presents a superb duel of two genres - blues against shredding metal. Heavy touches are audible in the beginning of "Black Hole", but, as I recently mentioned, there are not many ones on the album.

If I can hear blues, neoclassical and shredding metal in Ryan's music, I feel allowed to qualify his style as fusion. In my opinion, Ryan is on the long road to gain his masters' status, but taking his age into consideration, he has already managed to overtake many peers and has a chance to equal the greatest. For the meantime, I recommend his CD to the fans of Steve Vai and Michael Angelo.
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Formato's guitar really seems to be singing words to you.  The "feel" recalls Randy Rhoads and Steve Vai, but is still individual.  Formato knows when to let simplicity rule instead of boring the listener with self-absorbed finger acrobatics like Yngwie Malmsteen is sometimes guilty of.  Bottom line, this CD rocks.  If you like electric guitar at all, give him a chance!
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This album was made with a lot of feeling.  It is reminiscent of players like Vai and Satriani but in a good way.  He's doing his own thing and is constantly growing.  Looking forward to hearing more from Ryan in the future.
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young ryan formato's instrumental cd effort is a sizzling
blend of awesome guitar virtuosity and fine musicianship
that is stunning considering the short time he has been
playng the guitar.i highly reccomend it to fans who appreciate great guitar playing and the dedication it
takes to attain it.
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