Photo: Luke Hannaford
With raw-nerved, human lyrics and a genre-bending cinematic sound on the likes of 'Holy', 'Fire' and 'My House', PVRIS have released one of the most refreshing debut albums in recent memory with White Noise. They've spent time on the road supporting Bring Me The Horizon and Fall Out Boy, but now they're preparing to hit the UK for their first ever headline tour in the New Year. It's going to be a victory lap where they come to finally seize their rock throne. 2016 will be the year of PVRIS.
As the year draws to a close, we catch up with frontwoman Lynn Gunnulfsen to talk about Bring Me The Horizon, faith, fans, sexuality, Bring Me The Horizon, work on their next album and a certain run-in with the infamous Westboro Baptist Church...
You've just come off the BMTH tour, and you were awesome. What do you think it is about what you do, that translated so well with Bring Me The Horizon fans?
"I think they've all matured together as they've grown as a band sonically. Their fans have been so open to change, that when they see us they're like 'ah this is cool, I can get into it' -they're open-minded. That's why Bring Me The Horizon are doing so well right now."
But people were still going crazy for you, and the demand for PVRIS is huge. It's hard to believe you've never done a UK headline tour. You've been on the cover of Kerrang and owned so many festivals this summer. What do you think it is about what you that inspires that level of passion and dedication in people?
"I really don't know. Our mindset behind music is to just be real and honest with it - feel good, do what you want to do, take risks and make something that stands out. It's raw, real and that's something that a lot of people seem to be really enjoying.
You've got a very clear aesthetic, attitude and energy to what you do. How would you describe the 'spirit' of PVRIS?
"I guess moody but cryptic but so in your face and bold at the same time, I don't really know. We definitely like to keep things dark but real - a little bit too real sometimes. I hope our fans understand that we don't plan on making the same record twice, we're always going to be evolving but it's always going to be that same creatice process of being ballsy."
What do you think the greatest misconception about you guys might be?
"I've heard a lot of people when they hear the song 'Holy' saying 'oh, they hate Christians, they hate religious people - it's not about that at all. It's just about religious hypocrisy and hypocrisy in general. I think people mistake us for being either religious or anti-religious - we've had moms going 'oh they're a Satanic band, they're anti-Jesus'. Moms aren't always the brightest bulbs in the bunch."
We interviewed Fall Out Boy once and they took fire at the Westboro Baptist Church, then they got picketed...
"Oh my God! We got beef from them one time. We went to their headquarters because we were driving through Kansas on the Warped Tour. Our driver was like 'you're gay, right?' and I was like 'yeah!', so then he says 'we're going to be driving past the Westboro Baptist Church if you want to go stop at it' so we said 'fuck yeah!' We had a rainbow flag so we held it up in front of the Church and took a picture of a big group of us in front of the 'GOD HATES FAGS' sign. We posted it online and they responded 'creepers crawl at night, you're going to hell' or something like that. It was really funny. If anybody hates you, you must be doing something right.
So White Noise came out over a year ago now. How's progress going on new material?
"Pretty good. We're always working on new stuff on the road, we're always on our computers, working on a lot of demoes. We have enough content ready, we just need to get into the studio and actually fully execute it. Obviously White Noise in our priority right now, but we may possibly be thinking of a deluxe edition with some new stuff on it. We may play some new material on next tour too."
Any idea where you want to take your sound from here?
"Not really, we're not aiming for anything specific - we just want to do what comes naturally. We're definitely evolving sonically, but I'm not really sure in what sense. If there's anything I can see, it will sound bigger."
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When you were writing White Noise you said you were in a very 'dark place' in your mind. Do you think the next record might sound more hopefully and optimistic?
"No, from what I've been working on so far I think it's going to sound bigger but I think it might also been darker - I've been in a pretty dark place as of recently as well, so that's coming out in the writing. We'll have to wait and find out but I think there might be some darker stuff on the next record."
Do you find turning the darker moments of life into music quite cathartic?
"Yeah, absolutely. If I wasn't working on it or using that as an outlet I don't know where I'd be. It's my survival method."
PVRIS' upcoming UK tour dates are below. For tickets and more information, visit here.
PVRIS will play:
1 April Concorde Brighton
2 April Waterfront Norwich
3 April Riverside Newcastle
4 April Garage Glasgow
6 April Academy 2 Manchester
7 April O2 Shepherds Bush Empire London
8 April Y Plas Cardiff
9 April O2 Institute 2 Birmingham
