Biography

Plutonic Lab born Leigh Roy Ryan, is an award-winning Australian music producer, sound engineer, and multi-instrumentalist, celebrated for his eclectic approach to electronic and hip-hop music. With a career spanning decades, he has established himself as a versatile and pioneering figure in the Australian music scene. His contributions have not only shaped contemporary Australian music but also earned him widespread respect within the industry.

Plutonic Lab’s career highlights include multiple award nominations and wins, multiple world tours as drummer for illustrious group Hilltop Hoods (a position held for well over a decade) as well as several acclaimed records and hundreds of projects spanning a much-storied career.

An RMIT alumnus with an honours degree in Media Arts, his academic background in film, music production, and sound design has significantly influenced his expertise and innovative approach to sound. His work is characterised by a rich blend of genres, atmospheric depth, intricate rhythms, soulful melodies, and experimental sounds, skilfully blending hip-hop and live instrumentation with elements of jazz, soul, dub, and electronic music.

Achievements

APRA Music Award winner 2020 “Most Performed Urban Work” for producing Hilltop Hoods’s multi-platinum-selling single “Leave Me Lonely”.

Nominated for "Engineer Of The Year" at the 2019 ARIA awards for his work with Hilltop Hoods, engineering/mixing several releases for the group.

His album "Deep Above The Noise" Won “Best Hip-Hop Album’ at the Victoria Music Awards 2016, and attained feature album status on Double J & 3PBS. The singles “The Crib” ft. Guilty Simpson & “Sliced Bread” ft Notes To Self BBRC received rotation on Triple J and Double J nationally.

He is a UK Mercury Prize Winner, producing 2 lead singles for Speech Debelle's LP “Speech Therapy”.

Notably he produced two albums for Dialectrix including his 2013 album, “The Cold Light of Day” which was a finalist for the Australian Music Prize

As one half of the hip-hop group Muph & Plutonic, Plutonic single-handedly produced several successful releases for the outfit, their song “Heaps Good” becoming an instant Australian hip-hop anthem, cementing The duo as pioneers in the Australian music landscape. While performing extensively around the country at major festivals, events, and headline tours, they were nominated for ‘Best Urban Release’ at the 2008 ARIA Awards for their LP “And Then Tomorrow Came”, also placing 2 songs in the Triple J’s “Hottest 100” and landing the highly coveted ‘Triple J Feature Album’ placements multiple times. 

‘The New Ruins’ EP: Plutonic Lab’s latest release “The New Ruins” featured Detroit Producer/rapper Black Milk, Oddisee bandmate and artist Olivier St Louis and a frequent collaborator, Natalie Slade. The EP was a feature record on PBSFM and gained high praise from media and airplay across Australia, USA, and the UK on stations such as Double J, RRR and KCRW, Huey Morgan (BBC 6 Music) Jyoty (Rinse FM), Worldwide FM to name a few.

”this is a highly anticipated project accommodating an impressive set of collaborations” - DMC World Magazine
“One of the truly great pairings in modern Australian music” Dan Condon (Double J)
“Plutonic Lab delivers a striking take on modern soul” Okayplayer
“...he has produced some of the greatest Australian hip hop tracks of all time...but take away the rappers and the voices and Plutonic Lab still stands on high ground…”Howl & Echoes