For Hub City Times

MARSHFIELD — Ryan Summers is an eclectic musician based in Marshfield. In 2013 he produced a synth-rock album with a local guitarist. Summers then began a folk-rock collaboration with Arizona-based musician and friend Nate Cherrier. The project was a long-distance collaboration called Midwest Soul Xchange. The duo self-released its debut LP titled “New American Century” in 2015.

In 2017 Summers decided to release his first solo album. He drastically changed pace for this project, this time creating ambient music.

“My interest in ambient music grew after struggling with insomnia for several years. It helped keep my brain occupied on the nights when I couldn’t sleep. Only certain ambient music worked, though. I wanted to see if I could make more of that music,” Summers said.

Summers composed his songs using software synthesizers. He added an extra element to his songs by playing them through amplifiers and recording the resulting room noise. He performed this process of “re-amping” at the Chestnut Center for the Arts.

“The Chestnut Center has some really wild sound spaces. The chapel hall is amazing, but even the corridors have some cool reverbs. Sitting quietly, listening to those sounds in such spacious rooms was a truly meditative experience,” said Summers.

Summers feels the music has an “otherworldly yet relaxing” quality, one that those on the cusp of sleep might find useful.

The album is titled “F51.01” after the ICD-10 code for insomnia. It is a digital only release and will be available on Spotify and Apple Music Feb. 10.