Matt, Noah, Gabriel, Srri, Jonathan and Sash of RYOT speak on the value of their bond.
Trust and vulnerability go hand-in-hand. Without the existence of either, it is nearly impossible to progress. It is this vulnerability that allows for independent, individual growth — to be supported and encouraged, uplifted and inspired to pursue what might otherwise be dismissed as folly. From the premise of friendship, strong bonds are hard to come by — especially the ones that have had the privilege of being nurtured and developed in time. But surviving the adolescence to adulthood arc takes more than just good communication and timely proactiveness. It also takes an open mind to accept that the future is on the horizon, and growing up means shedding ways of comfort for new, exciting opportunities.
RYOT — an emerging creative collective — is wide open. Short for “Run Your Own Thing”, it consists of six long-time friends — Matt, Sash, Noah, Gabriel, Jonathan and Srri. Going against the grain of “don’t go into business with your friends”, the sextet are combining their expertise in design, production and editing in a bid to be a self-sustaining collective. And when vulnerability is a natural instinct, all the other pieces of the puzzle seem to fall into place. Communication is honest, and a native synergy can be observed. Like a symbiotic relationship, they finish one another’s sentences, are each other’s first line of hype-men, and extend their ambitions of success beyond their individual selves.
“Together…”
Matt: We are friends first and creators second.
Sash: And people crave genuine personalities. Even in this culture, we don’t see that often. But for us, we’re just being who we are.
Gabriel: We’re just trying, right? And there’s no harm in trying.
Jonathan: We encourage each other a lot —to hype one another up, to get excited, to take risks and trust the process. Creative work may not be such a straightforward and stable thing. But the support really pushes us to go forward to do what we want.
Srri: We each have our strengths and interests, but we influence each other in our own ways.
Gabriel: But we still have the same goal of breaking barriers. To get the industry to merge and collaborate more.
Noah: And when we create together, it can help us gain more opportunities. Showing our love for each other helps us do this. In general, we all want to be vulnerable with somebody, and we can with one another — not just in a heartbroken way, but we also discuss our dreams and goals and stick through one another’s highs and lows.
Sash: We really spent the majority of our teenage years together. It’s about being there. If one of us lands a gig, we all try to go down and show up to support one another, you know?
Srri: And it’s important that we believe in each other.
Matt: Trust is a big thing, but there’s also a lot of intention behind this. The motivation is different. Innately, we want to see each other win. Even if I don’t win, I want to see them win. Even if I don’t do well in my season and they do, I will never ask, “Why him?” but more so, “He really is good”.
Noah: Run your own thing, you know?
Photography Beng
Art Direction Erwin Canuela
Photography Assistant Rigg Ngo
Grooming & Hair Adelene Siow, Mandy Yeo | Palette.inc using Shiseido & KEUNE Haircosmetics
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