Lynn Gunn
Lyndsey Gerd Gunnulfsen (born March 15, 1994), usually known by her stage name Lynn Gunn, is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Gunn is best known for fronting the American rock band Pvris. She has also collaborated with artists such as Tonight Alive and A Loss for Words.
Lynn Gunn | |
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Lynn Gunn at Rock am Ring, 2018 | |
Born | Lyndsey Gerd Gunnulfsen March 15, 1994 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Occupation |
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Years active | 2012–present |
Musical career | |
Origin | Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Genres | |
Instruments |
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Labels |
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Associated acts | Pvris |
Website | pvris |
PVRIS
Gunn is one of the founders of the electronic alternative rock band PVRIS (pronounced "Paris") in 2012, which was then named Operation Guillotine. By 2013, Gunn had replaced Kyle Anthony as lead vocalist and guitarist. For legal reasons, the name of the band was officially changed to Pvris on July 26, 2013.[3]
In 2018, Gunn opened up about vocal issues which she had been struggling with during her recent tours, and stated that she was undergoing vocal coaching to relearn how to sing. [4] Gunn had previously acknowledged difficulties with "vocal kinks" and apologized if she had not "seemed herself" during live shows. [5] In a 2019 interview with Kerrang!, Gunn stated that she had visited several ENT doctors who found that there was nothing physically wrong with her, and she felt that she was dealing with psychological blocks which prevented her from singing.[6]
Other work and collaborations
She has collaborated with author bands and musicians as a singer and songwriter. In 2013, Gunn collaborated with American pop-punk band A Loss for Words on the single "Distance".[7] She co-wrote two tracks for Dissonants, the 2016 album from Australian rock band Hands Like Houses.[8] In 2017, she was featured on the track "Lose Myself" on The Throes of Winter by Seven Lions,[9] and on Circa Waves' album Different Creatures.[10]
In 2016, it was rumoured that Gunn was going to collaborate on new music with her friend Jenna McDougall, frontwoman of the Australian rock band Tonight Alive.[11] Gunn was featured on the single "Disappear" which appeared on Tonight Alive’s 2018 album Underworld[12]
She briefly filled in for Katie Henderson of The Aces as a guitarist when the band was supporting 5 Seconds of Summer on their Meet You There Tour.[13] In 2019, she collaborated with From Indian Lakes on the single "Did We Change".[14]
Personal life
Lyndsey Gunnulfsen grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts. She has spoken about her lifelong fascination with graveyards, death, and the occult, stating that this was the inspiration behind many of the paranormal and macabre themes in her song-writing.[15] Spiritually, she has said she is "into astrology and life paths and weird energetics stuff". [16] Gunn has stated that she has struggled with depression, and that this was a major inspiration for much of her song-writing.[17] Gunn has also cited bands such as Paramore, Radiohead, Florence and the Machine, and The Weeknd as musical influences.[18][19] Lynn Gunn is a graduate from Lowell High School. Participating in Battle of The Bands at the school with some fellow classmates, she graduated in 2012, was originally going to attend MassArt but ultimately backed out to pursue music, Gunn has spent some time working at Hot Topic and Guitar Center.
Public image and LGBT activism
Gunn is one of the most visible women in rock and a prominent LGBT voice in the alternative music scene.[20] She stated in an interview for Rolling Stone that she first came out as gay to her parents when she was 18, by leaving a letter under her mother's pillow before she went on tour.[21] "First and foremost I want to be known as is an artist and creative before anything else," she explained in an interview with Playboy. "I think my sexuality is the last thing to check off on that list."[22] Gunn explained her decision to be vocal about her sexuality in an interview with Newsbeat in 2015: "I never had someone to look up to and be like 'oh that person is OK and they're gay.' If I can be that for someone then it's why I'm open about it."[23]
Gunn was one of several artists invited by GLAAD and Billboard to talk about her coming-out story for National Coming Out Day in 2017.[24] Gunn cited her family's supportiveness while she was coming out and encouraged others to reach out for the support around them.[25]
Gunn presented the Icon Award to Laura Jane Grace of the American punk rock band Against Me! at the 2017 APMA Awards.[26]
Discography
- Studio albums with Pvris
- White Noise (2014)
- All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell (2017)
- Use Me (2020)
Extended plays with Pvris
Title | Extended play details |
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Hallucinations |
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Acoustic |
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Paris |
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Other songs with Pvris
Year | Title | Album |
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2017 | "Are You Ten Years Ago" | The Con X: Covers |
"Fire That Burns" (Circa Waves featuring Pvris) | Different Creatures | |
2014 | "Chandelier" | Punk Goes Pop Vol. 6 |
2013 | "Rain" (Love, Robot featuring Pvris) | Non-album song |
"Follow" | ||
2012 | "Gemini" (featuring Kyle Anthony) | |
"Mind Over Matter" | ||
2010 | "It’s Not That I Don’t Trust You" (as Operation Guillotine) |
Featured tracks
Year | Title | Vocals | Writer | Single | Album |
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2013 | "Distance" (A Loss For Words featuring Lynn Gunn) |
Yes | No | Yes | Before It Caves |
2014 | "Obsessed" (TBMA featuring Lynn Gunn) |
Yes | No | Yes | Obsessed |
2015 | "Lose Myself" (Seven Lions featuring Lynn Gunn) |
Yes | No | Yes | The Throes of Winter |
2016 | "Degrees of Separation"
(Hands Like Houses featuring Lynn Gunn) |
No | Yes | Yes | Dissonants |
"Motion Sickness"
(Hands Like Houses featuring Lynn Gunn) |
No | Yes | No | ||
2016 | "Begin" (Elliot Middleton featuring Lynn Gunn) |
Yes | No | Yes | N/A |
2018 | "Disappear" (Tonight Alive featuring Lynn Gunn) |
Yes | No | Yes | Underworld |
"Last Light" (Tonight Alive featuring Lynn Gunn) |
Yes | No | No | ||
2019 | "Did We Change" (From Indian Lakes featuring Lynn Gunn) |
Yes | No | No | Dimly Lit |
Awards and nominations
Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Boston Music Awards | Female Vocalist of the Year | Herself | Won |
2017 | APMA | Best Vocalist[30] | Herself | Won |
2018 | Rock Sound Awards | Rock Sound Icon[31] | Won |
References
- Kraus, Brian (November 14, 2014). "PVRIS - White Noise". AltPress. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
- "Album Review: PVRIS - All We Know Of Heaven. All We Need Of Hell". SoundFiction. August 24, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
- Hixon, Shalene. "Band Spotlight: PVRIS". Cal Times. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
- "PVRIS' Lynn Gunn Has Opened Up About the Issues With Her Voice, and Relearning How to Sing". Rock Sound. December 10, 2018. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- "PVRIS' Lynn Gunn: "Sorry if I Haven't Seemed Myself at Our Shows This Summer…"". Rock Sound. August 1, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- "Death Becomes Them: Lynn breaks down the making of Death of Me's video". Kerrang!. Kerrang!. July 20, 2019.
- "A Loss For Words - Distance ft. Lynn Gunn]". October 24, 2013. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
- Staff 2016-02-26T20:03:36Z, Guitar World. "'Dissonants': 10 Questions with Hands Like Houses". guitarworld. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- "Seven Lions – The Throes of Winter – EP « Tuned Up". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- Gogia, Nikhail (March 17, 2017). "PVRIS' Lynn Gunn guests on new version of a Circa Waves track—listen". Alternative Press. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- "Jenna Mcdougall and Lynn Gunn to Make Music Together". Kerrang!. February 6, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
- Domiguez, Erica (January 5, 2018). "Tonight Alive and Lynn Gunn "Disappear" on new song". AXS. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
- Shoemaker, Whitney (September 9, 2018). "Lynn Gunn joined the Aces onstage and our hearts can't handle it". Alternative Press. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- "From Indian Lakes // Dimly Lit – Fluorescent Magazine". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- "PVRIS' Lynn Gunn talks cemeteries, exploring the "mysterious, remote or taboo"". Alternative Press. March 8, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
- "Death Becomes Them: Lynn breaks down the making of Death of Me's video". Kerrang!. July 20, 2019. Missing or empty
|url=
(help) - Young, Simon. "PVRIS Went Through Hell To Bring You This Album". Retrieved November 25, 2018.
- "Death Becomes Them: Lynn breaks down the making of Death of Me's video". Kerrang!. July 20, 2019. Missing or empty
|url=
(help) - "Hayley Williams Comments On PVRIS' New Song, Video". Alternative Press. February 22, 2016. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- DeGallier, Thea (July 23, 2015). "PVRIS: The arena rockers fighting for gay rights in Trump's America". The Guardian. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
- "The First Time with Lynn Gunn". Rolling Stone. August 25, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
- "Lynn Gunn rewrites the rules of sex appeal". Playboy. April 11, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
- Sharp, Tyler (September 7, 2015). "PVRIS' Lynn Gunn On Being Gay: "It's Something That Needs to Be Shared Publicly"". Alternative Press. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
- Crowley, Patrick (October 11, 2017). "atch: PVRIS' Lynn Gunn Shares Her Coming Out Story". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
- Benjamin, Jeff (October 11, 2017). "PVRIS' Lynn Gunn Shared Her Coming Out Story for National Coming Out Day". Alternative Press. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
- Pettigrew, Jason (July 17, 2017). "Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! Achieves icon status". Alternative Press. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
- "Hallucinations - EP by PVRIS on Apple Music". Retrieved October 25, 2019.
- "Acoustic-EP". parisofficial.bandcamp.com. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
- "Paris EP". parisofficial.bandcamp.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2013. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
- Wendowski, Andrew (July 18, 2017). "Review: APMAS 2017: The Complete Winners/Nominees List". Mayhem Magazine. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
- "Introducing Your 2018 Rock Sound Award Winners". Rock Sound. November 30, 2018.