BIO | Riz Story

With over 35 years working in the music industry and 25 years in film production, Riz Story was called “A True Renaissance man” by Billboard Magazine in reference to his wide array of talents and areas of expertise. In music Riz is widely respected by some of the biggest names in the industry for his virtuosity as a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and composer. Jazz legend Herbie Hancock said, “I’ve never heard anybody else do that, play all those instruments on that level.” Riz is also a seasoned audio engineer, record producer, and mastering engineer with six songs having hit the Billboard Charts Top Ten (Hot Singles Sales Chart), including a #1 song. PROG MAGAZINE described him as a "Visionary Prog Maverick". He has been hailed as a musical genius by many critics.

A consensus has emerged worldwide amongst critics that Riz Story's accomplishments in music are unprecedented and that no one in the history of recorded music has displayed such a high level of multi- instrumental virtuosity and compositional brilliance as well as a command of all the technical aspects of music production including engineering, mixing, mastering etc.

Riz began his career as a solo artist before founding the critically acclaimed band ANYONE in 1990 along with Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) and Jon Davison (YES). The band’s debut album received 5 out of 5 stars from Rolling Stone’s Adrian Zupp, as well as unanimous critical acclaim worldwide. The band took top honors as best band in the 1999 Los Angeles Music Awards. In 2016 ANYONE released the single “Fly Away” which became the most listened to rock song on American digital radio when it hit #1 on the DRT National Rock Chart. In 2022 ANYONE released “The Sylvia Sessions”, which is a loving tribute to deceased founding member Taylor Hawkins. The album is historically significant in that it contains the earliest recorded works by the drum legend.

Story has collaborated with such artists as Paula Abdul, Wes Borland, Jon Anderson, Taylor Hawkins, David Silveria and Jon Davison to name a few in his capacity as a composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer.

Riz founded TogethermenT Films and Music in 2000 and has since contributed to a large body of film, music video and television projects in his capacity as writer, director, producer, actor, editor and film composer along with his skills in the technical departments such as post audio, color correction etc. Riz created the film “A Winter Rose” which starred the late Paul Sorvino, Theresa Russell, Billy Zane, Taryn Manning, Edward Furlong and Robert Miano. Riz wrote, produced and directed the music driven film as well as creating the song score. The original music soundtrack spawned 6 Top Ten singles on the Billboard Charts (Hot Singles Sales Chart). Variety said, “Riz Story embodies indie spirit in A WINTER ROSE”.

In 2020 Riz created, developed and produced the television series concept “Unexplored” with noted television producers The Wolper Organization. The show is currently shopping for network placement.

Riz served as producer and cinematographer on the film "Girl Lost: A Hollywood Story".

Riz has created numerous music videos including “Nammu’s Invocation” by singer Kaliyani which has received 2.8 million views on YouTube. Riz also served as Director of Photography for the band JET on their music video for “Black Hearts (On Fire)”. Riz’s music has appeared in numerous film and television projects including his song “Real” which appeared in the hit film “Empire Records”. He was the composer of the main theme for Paula Abdul’s NBC series “Live To Dance”.

In recent years Riz has devoted himself to ocean conservation. In that regard he is currently producing the adventure documentary “Oceana”. The film features stunning footage from the world’s most pristine locations including Tahiti, Fiji, The Bahamas and the Palawan Islands as well as profiles of leading scientists such as Dr. Austin Bowden-Kerby the worlds leading coral authority. Riz has over 50 years of experience as a scuba diver and holds an impressive list of diving credentials including a National Geographic diver card and being a certified underwater naturalist. Riz is also a noted photographer specializing in underwater fine art photography.

Riz remains active in film, television and music. His earliest album “Self Portrait” recorded in 1986 when he was 19 and considered a rare collectable, was released in March of 2024 by the world’s leading archival record label, The Numero Group. Riz also has released a string of critically acclaimed albums with ANYONE including “On The Ending Earth…”, “In Humanity” and “Miracles In The Nothingness”. These recent album’s critical notoriety centers on the fact that Riz performs all instrumentation at an unprecedented level of virtuosity, as well as engineering, producing and mastering.

Riz is currently developing several film and television projects including the television series “Global Warriors” with musician Peter Distefano (Porno For Pyros) and noted television veteran Greg Donis. Riz is also developing an ocean related children’s television series entitled “Delphina: Queen of The Dolphins”.

In addition to his work outlined above Riz is an accomplished author with numerous published screenplays, song lyrics and poems. His first novel “In Humanity” will be released in 2025.