INTERVIEW: PVRIS release third album 'Use Me': "Don't sacrifice your hard work or your integrity or your vision to make other people happy"

Image: Sasha Samsonova
Interview: Jett Tattersall

American group PVRIS, headed by singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer Lynn Gunn today release their third studio Use Me. The album marks a new era for the band in several ways. Sonically, the album is 11 tracks of glitchy, pop-rock tracks which moves the band further into the synth-electronica realm that has been hinted at on their past albums. Perhaps more importantly, it sees Gunn take ownership of PVRIS as the creative and architect behind the band’s incredible output. “I allowed myself to support a narrative I thought I had to support of PVRIS being a band,” Gunn says. “Coming from a ‘band culture,’ it’s about how the group is always greater than the sum of its parts, and you’re not supposed to take credit, even if you do everything. There’s no template or role model for really owning it as a woman. I wanted to make everyone else happy and uphold an image I thought we had to. Growing up, I learned I don’t have to do that anymore. I’m finally allowing myself to take credit. I’ve got the full support and encouragement of my bandmates. PVRIS is a unit and very much a team, but the heart and soul of the vision and music always has sourced from me. I’m just saying it now. I fulfilled my own vision of what a role model should be.”

Gunn formed PVRIS in 2013 and released their debut album White Noise in 2014. The album made the top 100 album chart in the US and was certified silver in the UK. The follow up, All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need of Hell performed even better, peaking at number 4 in the UK, whilst also making the Australian Top 20 and the US top 50. The band have now achieved over 220 million global streams.

With tracks ranging from hardcore electronica, gentle synth ballads to rock-pop belters, Use Me is PVRIS, driven every step of the way by Gunn, at their most confident creating the best music of their career which can only solidify their international chart success. We recently spoke to Lynn to find out more about.

Hey Lynn! Use Me, your long-awaited third album is here, happy release day. How are you feeling about that particularly in the current global climate?
It's interesting. Our whole team's kind of debating what the best route is. Even though the world is kind of at a standstill I still think people need music and people need entertainment and things to enjoy and if we can be a part of that then I think it can be really special.

I couldn’t agree more. We're all cheering for it. Use Me as an entire album has this incredible range of like airy to dark static guitars and your other realm kind of vocals just pouring out this beautiful pop sound and it's absolutely incredible. However, a clear shift in sound from your previous albums, but it's still very much PVRIS. Can you talk me through the early inspiration and creation for the album?
Yeah, this album took a long time to make.More than White Noise took and more than All We Know of Heaven because on this album I wanted to really push myself as a writer and work with new people and collaborate with new people and just work with people that would really push me to get the best songs possible. That took a lot of trial and error to find the right people and the right connections and collaborators. It's funny because we spent a long time just kind of scrambling around and going into a lot of... a lot of sessions with people that we did not vibe with but as soon as I met JT Daly and worked with him, it was just this immediate comfort. He also really pushes me at the same time. So it was a really good balance with each other and he's very much on the same page as far as just what type of production I wanted. So it was awesome. We had like a playlist that we shared of artists, production and things to reference and that definitely created the cohesiveness. I don't think it's too much of a departure from our early stuff, but I think the main difference is the production because our songs have always kind of leaned pop. When you strip the songs down - the chord progressions and the melodies - they're very pop driven and could be produced a different way. So, it was awesome to work with JT because he is really great at doing pop but he's also really great at producing gritty rock. So he and I just kind of met in the middle and found the right balance and the moments.to put the most impact in to have it be more rock or the moments where we wanted it to lean a little bit poppier. It was just really natural and comfortable and amazing and I'm very, very happy to have been able to do the whole album with him because it's so easy to work with him.

I'm aware that Use Me is almost your platform to be known as the sole architect of PVRIS. It's an incredible statement. I love it. I just wanted to know what does the album, with this in mind, mean to you personally?
A lot of it is, and this is not just in with music but just life, I definitely am a really giving person and have a hard time setting boundaries. I am a people pleaser. I just really give myself away and my time and my energy away to a lot of things and a lot of people and it’s definitely a big reflection of that, as far as how awesome that is and empowering that is and special that is, but also how much that's affected me negatively and how much I need to step into my power a little bit more. It’s an overall energy that has shifted in the last year. It's funny because as far as the visual aspects that's really the only thing that's changing. With PVRIS, it is what it is now. That's just naturally been happening anyway. I think by the time the album was finished this was already where it was and it all just came together really well. 

Now I wanted to talk to you about ‘Dead Weight’, which is the first track of the album. Oh my goodness, what a track. ‘So sick of being your giver... throwing away my soul, all give no take’. Very much like what you've just discussed. Can you talk me through the story behind this song?
I would say ‘Dead Weight’ is the best reflection of what I just mentioned. I've always been a people pleaser. I've always had a really hard time saying no to people and setting boundaries and I really give so much away and don't ever ask for anything in return. ‘Dead Weight’ is about reclaiming that and in the last two years we went through so many massive and drastic changes behind the scenes. A lot of old habits had to be shed and a lot of old relationships had to be let go of just in order to move forward and be stronger. So it’s a reflection of that from the perspective of somebody who's always been a people pleaser.

What was the decision behind it being the first single release from the album?
It just felt like the best song to come first out of the bunch. ‘Death Of Me’ and ‘Hallucinations’ are already out. Those are also really strong songs from the album in my opinion. I think they're some of the strongest and make the most sense for our fanbase. A lot of the album’s is pretty experimental. We definitely took a couple of risks. So ‘Dead Weight’ felt equally forward and progressive, but also similar because it is still really aggressive and gritty and rock. It felt the most refreshing but also the most similar at the same time. 

It's no secret that you are a true creative excited by the visuals as much as the sound. We can clearly see that in the video. It is everything. There's you driving a hearse filled with various people just pulling up at an eerie dance party. It’s very surreal and it must have been absolute blast to shoot. Can you please talk me through your inspiration behind that monster?
This video was so much fun to film. I had to fly out to Milan on an off day when we were on tour in Europe and I had to go through mayhem to show up for this video and shoot it. I'd wrote the concept back in January when we were finishing up everything and the song is supposed to be a little bit cheeky. There's a little bit of a wink to it. So I felt like the video needed to match that. I was basically listening to a mix of ‘Dead Weight’ and I don't know why it was on my screen but Saturday Night Fever was on my computer for a second and I was like ‘ooh this kind of matches up perfectly!’ So that sparked the idea of what if it is this dead disco type of situation. Also the whole driving the car and everybody kind of dancing in the car was a little bit of a nod to the That 70s Show intro.

I want to ask you, who were your musical heroines growing up?
It's interesting because I didn't have any for a really, really long time and I think a lot of articles have quoted me talking about going to a Paramore show when I was in middle school. Going to see Paramore was definitely an ‘oh wow I want to get up and do that’ moment. But I never… don't get me wrong I absolutely love their music as well, but I never really took inspiration from their music. I didn't really have any musical muses for a long time. But after I went to see Paramore but one of my friends burnt me a bunch of CDs and one of the CDs was Florence and the Machine when Lungs came out. I remember hearing that for the first time. i think i was doing maths homework but i just stopped and was like ‘what is this?’ I had never really heard ethereal orchestral chords mixed with rock before. That to me just blew my mind. And it transported me to such a distinct place but I didn't know what it was. That was so powerful to me. I always have carried that now and I always want to just throw things together that you wouldn't necessarily think about putting together or have weird juxtapositions in production. So Florence and the Machine was definitely a big one for me as far as women in music.

You have as a band always sort of set that benchmark for crossing these gargantuan realms of dark angsty and incredibly danceable pop. It's almost like you've managed to mould this new crevice of old pop without compromising that connection. Has that mesh of the eclectic sound always come from your love of music, or were you just always collectively going, hey, what else can we bring to the show?
I think it's just a natural natural eclectic taste. I always just like good songs. I definitely have albums that I gravitate to and will listen to front to back but as a kid I just grew up making mix CDs and listening to soundtracks and just trying to find the best possible songs I could and just hear them all back to back. Every artist that I will listen to is different and every song that I would add to these playlists or these CDs were also just so different from each other. Naturally I've never felt limited as far what i want to write or how I want our songs to feel. I've always wanted to keep it really diverse and hard to pinpoint to some degree. Obviously, it's cohesive, to some extent, but I always want to leave things feeling open ended so it could go this way or it could go that way. Just leave the door open for more growth and for more experimentation.

On that note, do you think the music industry has become more welcoming in the fact that there are a lot of genres crossing over now and they're getting played on all kinds of radio stations. There’s not so much pigeonholing? Or do you think that's all a facade and they're like ‘no we're metal, no we're pop’?
It's interesting. I think it's getting blurred now. I think anybody for the most part do whatever they want. Obviously someone like Meshuggah or Lamb of God are not going to put out a pop record. But for artists starting out now there is so much freedom to combine whatever you want to combine whenever you want. I think it is a really freeing and open time. It's natural for humans to want to identify things and label things, not just with music but with everything. I think there's a lot of pushing against that. It's like ‘no this can be this, and that’. Don't think about what it is. Just listen to it and enjoy it and be present with it. That's what I want people to do with our band. I don't want to ever be pigeonholed to one thing or one specific sound. That's why I want us to keep changing, I want us to stay open and stay free. I don't want anyone to feel bogged down by any certain labels. 

Now you’ve said regarding this sort of new ownership of creativity within PVRIS you are coming from a band culture that you didn't have a role model for this transition to own it as a woman. What is your advice or what are your hopes for other female artists out there who are struggling with what's expected of them?
The number one thing is, ultimately, just know who you are. Know what you're about, what you stand for and don't compromise that at the end. Don't sacrifice your hard work or your integrity or your vision to make other people happy and just try to align yourself with people that are going to support your vision first and foremost. Don't lose hope, and if anybody has an issue with a woman taking control or taking responsibility, If you're doing it in a healthy way and you're not being a complete arsehole, I think you're good. Just stick with it and stay strong. But also, if someone's being an arsehole to you, fucking go for it back. Life's too short. Deal with that, you know? I think so many women, not just in music but just everywhere, we're tired man. We're tired.

What do you hope that people take away from listening to this album? 
I hope people can connect with it however they need to. Whether they're healing from relationships or situations. Whatever it is, I hope whoever is listening can feel strong and feel empowered. I think that's the ultimate thing. 

You are a creative powerhouse. What is next on the creativity train for Lynn Gunn?
Right now just working on new music. We want to keep putting more songs out. We have a lot more to go. But aside from music, I am kind of obsessed with interior design and conceptualising places. So I would love to do that eventually down the line at some point if anybody is opening something and they need it decorated or conceptualised, hit me up. Putting that out into the stars. We'll see. 

Use Me is our now via Warner Records. You can download and stream here.

To keep up with all things PVRIS you can follow them on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.