Worrytime Studios offers tape-based, all-analog audio production, multi-format film photography, and comprehensive curation and communications services in collaboration with like-minded creatives everywhere.
About Worrytime’s Founder, Ryan DeJean
Born in Opelousas and raised in Lafayette, aside from a three-year stint in Ville Platte, I began attending and recording shows in the local DIY music scene at the age of 14. After high school, I spent several years living in Denver and Europe before earning my B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Louisiana, focusing on culture, linguistics, and folklore. Most wonderfully, my son arrived in the middle of pursuing my degree.
While at UL and embracing fatherhood, I was also a member of several popular and distinctive bands. In the years that followed, I founded Sickbay to nurture Lafayette’s “non-traditional” creative community while building bridges between it, local “traditional” arts, and the region at large. Through Sickbay, I curated over 350 events in less than five years and co-produced a series of over 25 studio and live recordings for a wide range of artists from South Louisiana. All the while, I had a seven-year run producing The Diamond Sea, a weekly radio show on Lafayette’s NPR affiliate, KRVS.
After more than a decade of working in creative and strategic communications, including roles as a civil servant at Lafayette Consolidated Government, I launched Worrytime Studios. At the same time, I returned to UL to pursue a Master’s in English, with concentrations in Sociolinguistics and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. My research interests center on Cajun English, contemporary Cajunness, comparative Cajun studies, and the intersection between sociolinguistics and pedagogy.
I am a musician, recording engineer, photographer, curator, and communications professional. I put my heart into everything I do and look for the heart in everything, too. Above all, I love my family and my friends, and I’m a cheerleader for everything and everyone I care for.
Nestled in the heart of Acadiana, Worrytime Studios is first a cozy, all-analog recording studio near Downtown Lafayette, LA. This home away from home within a home can comfortably accommodate solo artists to large bands alike of all genres.
Gear-wise, the core of the studio is a Tascam 246 four-track tape console loaded with new-old-stock TDK and Maxell cassettes. It is perfectly paired with analog FMR channel compressors and a variety of microphones, including Cascade ribbons, and quality preamps. The main effects unit is a museum-grade Roland RE-501 Chorus Echo equipped with fresh Echo Fix loops, though many other vintage effects are available. The studio also has an eclectic selection of electric and acoustic instruments on hand. A comprehensive gear list can be provided.
But Worrytime is so much more than the gear. These tools have been selected because of the beauty and character inherent in the challenges of making the most of limited-fidelity machines. The focus is not on the pursuit of perfection or style over substance but rather on presenting things as they are with warmth and intimacy. My approach keeps things honest and immediate.
Since 2014, I’ve worked with a diverse roster of artists, producing records by Dickie Landry, Louis Michot, Early Day Miners, Sarah Burke, Julie Odell, Tasche & The Angels, Christiaan Mader of Brass Bed, Carbon Poppies, Dustin Gaspard, MacKenzie Bourg, Kleaner, Renée Reed, and Blayze Viator, just to name a few. I also have longstanding partnerships with an excellent hybrid studio and a world-class mastering studio, both of which complement my approach and are conveniently located nearby.
Booking options are flexible, ranging from single, one-and-done sessions to multiple days and overnight stays. Private accommodations are available. Rates include pre-production, tape, recording, mixing, and hospitality.
Hit Contact to discuss how we can bring your four-track, tape-based dreams to life.
Worrytime Studios is also a film-only, travel-friendly photo studio with an eye for documentary photography and portraiture.
I use hearty medium-format and super-fast 35mm SLR cameras, as well as a selection of excellent vintage rangefinders and point-and-shoots. The studio’s film fridge is a treasure trove of professional, experimental, and rare, expired film stocks.
However, it’s not this equipment that defines the Worrytime approach; using these tools requires everyone to be grounded and present, resulting in photos worth making. There is no forced posing, cut-and-paste processing, or “fixing things in post.” Like the tape and analog circuits in the recording studio, the film and lenses in these cameras keep everything immediate and authentic. Whether you are being vulnerable, performing in character, or displaying all of your many multitudes at once, I’ll meet you as you are and capture your unique essence. Similarly, I excel at on-site documentation, capturing events as they unfold without intruding or projecting.
Since 2014, my work has been shown in group and solo exhibitions in Lafayette, New Orleans, Chicago, and San Francisco. I’ve also shot for the Southern Screen Film Festival, Lafayette Travel, various local, regional, and national artists, and a long list of private clients. Visit the Worrytime Studios Instagram to see a selection of recent and occasional archival works.
Services are flexible, ranging from single-roll sessions to multiple- and mixed-roll shoots. Basic packages include planning, the film, the shoot, up to two hours of round-trip travel, developing, high-resolution scans, a year of edits, and indefinite backup storage. Additional options for longer travel, prints, specialty film stocks, and other custom requests are available.
Contact Worrytime Studios for more details to discuss and plan your next shoot.
Last but certainly not least, Worrytime Studios is a boutique communications agency that is passionate about curation and community building.
Good curation goes beyond filling an event calendar, negotiating mutually beneficial terms, executing events on time, or even having great taste. It’s about understanding how to invest in relationships by creating meaningful opportunities for everyone involved. It means maximizing and leveraging available resources to nurture and grow your community. It involves creating a sense of genuine belonging beyond physical spaces, which in turn fosters a greater capacity for connection and engagement. And yes, impeccable taste, timeliness, great terms, and a full booking calendar are essential!
Honed over two decades and more than 400 events, these nuanced principles guide the Worrytime approach to all strategic and creative communications efforts.
Nothing about Worrytime Studios is one-size-fits-all. I assemble a specialized team per project, and immerse myself in your world to design and deliver what you uniquely need. Visit Contact to start the conversation.
“I’ve spent over a decade helping people tell their stories. I specialize in creating and curating projects that bring people together through the warmth of analog recording and film photography and the power of creative collaboration. Whether working solo or with a project-specific team, my studio brings ideas to life in a meaningful and personal way. Currently earning my Master’s in Sociolinguistics and TESOL, I’m always acquiring new ways to connect, create, and inspire. Let’s make something together that matters.”