Lynn Gunn Facts.

#59

Lynn is not a big fan of lyrics.

"I've never been a big fan of paying attention to lyrics,'' said Gunn, the stage name Lyndsey Gunnulfsen uses. "It's always been paying attention to the music and the way the melody fits into it, at least for me personally.

"That's the first instinct when I write,'' said Gunn. But the thought process and method may not be as antithetical as it first seems on the surface.

When she does it right, when the sound alone of the music, melody and lyrics flow together like currents in the same stream, the song's emotion is understandable "even if you don't speak English,'' Gunn said.

That's how the band's current album, "All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell'' came to be.

"I feel like we went into it with a light set of intentions and a lot of trust that whatever was going to work out WAS going to work out,'' she said in a call from a rehearsal hall in Pennsylvania in January. "A lot of serendipitous things happened [by] trusting in your intention, trusting where your energy is at and letting things happen.''

That is why the album's opening song, "Heaven,'' has such a reflective, honest feel, especially with the poignant line "You took my heaven away.''

"I was just kind of feeling it one day,'' Gunn said. "A lot of songwriting or any type of creation in general is a pulling it from your subconscious even if it doesn't make sense to you at the time.''

The best songs always come from deep inside the writer, whether consciously or subconsciously, and that's the case with this album. Paradoxically, those personal views make the songs more relatable, even if the actual facts are wildly disparate.

For example, a lot of the PVRIS material comes from Gunn's own life as a gay woman, and the difficulty she and the band encountered when they came face to face with success. In the latter case, that's because sometimes, the most troublesome times stem from getting what you've worked for because invariably, there are side issues you didn't expect.

"It's a lot of work and is a full-time job for sure,'' said Gunn, elaborating on the surprise issues that she's faced in light of the band's rise in popularity. "I think I underestimated the things it can do to you mentally and emotionally and how much it can scramble your brain around.

"It can be really lonely and really isolating, so you have to be around good people and have a good team around you,'' she said, mentioning her band mates, guitarist Alex Babinski and bassist Brian McDonald, as well as the touring members of the group and her management and publicity team.

Not that she's complaining, not at all.

"You have to step back some time and have fun with it,'' she said.

Writing is just one way of dealing with the stress of life in the glass bowl for her.

"It sounds cliche, but it just feels right,'' Gunn said. "It feels right, and it is a really crazy form of instant gratification and therapy for me.''

Beyond that, she has other outlets, as well.

"I'm a creative person all the time,'' Gunn said. "If I'm not working in one area, I'm working in. another and trying to explore that.

"I take random pictures old black-and-white disposable cameras,'' she said. "I like to read.''

But it all goes back to the pen, even when PVRIS, which has been one of the ultimate road warrior bands since its founding in 2012 as Operation Guillotine, comes off the road.

"Off-tour, I really, really love songwriting,'' Gunn said. "Starting projects that aren't PVRIS and stretching my creative tentacles.

"We had two months off between our U.S. and European tour and I spent the entire two months writing,'' she said.

With lyrics included, of course.

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