| Bryyn | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Bryn Andrew Martin |
| Also known as | Bryyn |
| Born | July 1, 1980 |
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Genres | Indie folk, new wave, folk rock, alternative, electronica, experimental, American Folk Music |
| Occupations | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | voice, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, banjo, micro moog, piano, xylophone, harmonica, chromonica, drums, winded accordion, musical saw, kalimba, balalaika, zampoña, autoharp, kena, singing bowls, melodica |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels | independent |
| Associated acts | Ophur, Pinkle, Facing Forward, Third Half, The Sweet Anchovies |
| Website | www.bryyn.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| voice, acoustic guitar, micro moog | |
Bryyn (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈbrɨn ˈ]; born Bryn Martin, January 31, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Lausanne, Switzerland formerly known as Pinkle. His music has been described to be a new wave and independent[1] folk pop intertwined with experimental and creative sounds.[2] Bryyn is noted for self-recording and producing all of his music and providing it for free download under the creative commons music license.[3] He has released more than 250 songs under the creative commons license.[4]
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Bryyn was born in Woodridge, Illinois and homeschooled during elementary school. He learned piano under the Suzuki method from the age of five and also studied flute. At age 14 Bryyn began playing guitar and started the Chicago based alternative rock band Ophur with neighborhood friend singer-songwriter Benson Krause. Bryyn performed as the lead guitarist and backup vocalist in Ophur, opening for national acts including The Plain White T's, Sum 41, Violent Femmes, Local H, Lucky Boys Confusion, Veruca Salt, Two Skinee J's, Duvall, and Sleeping at Last. Ophur held their final performance in 2003. The lead singer, Benson Krause, died of apparent suicide on January 22, 2008 after his car was struck by a commuter train.[5] Bryyn also performed in the Downers Grove North High School jazz lab band and joined the College of DuPage Jazz ensemble. During high school and college, Bryyn worked as a clarinet, flute, and pipe organ repair technician and started a garage recording studio.
Bryyn relocated to Akron, Ohio in 2007 and then to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2008. In Pittsburgh, Bryyn collaborated with a local filmmaker and musician Michael Savisky of the Pittsburgh band Colonizing the Cozmos and Buddy Nutt, a musical saw player and multi-instrumentalist. Bryyn relocated to Lausanne, Switzerland in 2009 to explore the European music scene and work as a post-doctoral fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. In 2010, Bryyn formed a band in Lausanne, Switzerland for live performances called Pinkle and the Polygons with vocalist/pianist and wife Rachel Martin, percussionist Nicola Cettou, bassist Jens Ingensand, and Ukelele player Aurelie Rewki.
The first Bryyn single, First Comes Rug Burn Then Comes Fire, was released in December 2009 by the blocSonic netlabel.[6] A second single, Fractals, was released by blocSonic in December 2010.[7]
In 2010, Bryyn started working with Twenty Ten Music,[8] a Nashville music publisher led by Charlie Peacock working with The Civil Wars, Switchfoot, The Daylights, and Sleeping at Last, but was dropped in 2011 due to lack of commercial interest. Bryyn officially released three albums of music with Smartsound in 2010-2011 under the artist name Pinkle.[9] In November 2010, Bryyn released the House Plants album with Berlin based free music netlabel Aaahh Records,[10] home of the creative commons indie artist Entertainment for the Braindead, Keyboard Rebel, Uniform Motion, Emilie Lund and The Wind Whistles. All songs on the House Plants album were released at the internet archive [11] under a creative commons license and are open for remixing by other artists.
As a child, Bryyn was influenced by the Andean music of Los Calchakis, classical music of Carl Orf, and experimental improvisational music of Morton Subotnick. In high school, Bryyn's musical taste was shaped by checking out large quantities of random compact disks from the public library. Bryyn also claims to be influenced by a number of Thrill Jockey record label artists including Trans Am and Tortoise, the alternative music of Nirvana, Beck and Pearl Jam, and Wes Montgomery.