Logan Lynn | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Logan Dennis Lynn |
Born | October 15, 1979 |
Genres | Dance, pop, electronic, techno, alternative music, piano, indie |
Occupation(s) | Musician, writer, producer, filmmaker, television personality, LGBT activist, mental health advocate, public relations, tech |
Years active | 1998–present |
Labels | |
Website | loganlynnmusic |
Logan Dennis Lynn (born October 15, 1979) is an American musician, writer, producer, filmmaker, television personality, mental health advocate, and LGBT activist.
Since 1998 he has released eleven studio albums, and he is the former host of Logo's weekly music video countdown cable television show "NewNowNext Music". Lynn is signed to record label Kill Rock Stars. [1]
Lynn is the spokesperson for the .gay domain, [2] previously founded the Keep Oregon Well campaign to eliminate social stigma surrounding mental health through music and the arts, [3] and launched the PTM Foundation with Alternative Rock Band Portugal. The Man. [4]
Lynn was born to William Dennis Lynn, a Christian minister, [5] and Debra Lynn "Debby" Lynn ( née Stockburger). Lynn's paternal grandmother, LaVanda Mae Fielder, was a piano and vocal instructor who worked out of her home. One of her pupils was a young Johnny Cash. [6] Lynn's father was a traveling preacher and proponent of a Christian touring sermon series known as "The Strong Family Seminar". [7]
Lynn later moved from rural York, Nebraska to Olathe, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City, and befriended Jim Suptic, Ryan Pope and Rob Pope of The Get Up Kids at Olathe South High School from 1995–96 [8] and spent much of his time in Kansas City. The party outlet led him to begin working as a DJ, and he started to write songs after he moved to Portland, Oregon in 1996. [9]
After moving to Portland from the Midwestern United States, Lynn caught the attention of Portland band The Dandy Warhols, Elliott Smith and other local bands who were starting to take off in the mainstream. It's these artists who would shepherd Lynn's career in the early days, with The Dandy Warhols ultimately signing him to their label. [10] [11] In 2007, Lynn was signed to Beat The World Records, a Caroline Records and EMI Records subsidiary, run by The Dandy Warhols. [12] [13]
Lynn performed at New York City Gay Pride celebration in 2007 and his performance was seen by a representative from MTV's Logo network. [9] The LGBT-interest channel was interested in building its offering of artists and acts and recruited Lynn. [14] [15] The following year, he made his first TV appearance as host of Logo's hour-long NewNowNext music video countdown. [14]
During this time, Lynn overdosed on a mixture of crack cocaine and alcohol and suffered a TIA pre-stroke attack in 2008. He spent a large portion of the year in drug rehabilitation [16] in St. Helens, Oregon. [17] He was released later that year and has remained clean. [18]
In 2009 Lynn's album, From Pillar to Post , was released [19] and he was given an industry showcase at the CMJ Music Marathon festival that year. [20] In July 2010 Lynn announced that he was leaving the label and parting ways with The Dandy Warhols. [21] [22] [23] Following his departure from Beat the World Records, Lynn self-released the album he had been working on for the label, "I Killed Tomorrow Yesterday", on August 31, 2010 as a benefit for Portland's Q Center. [24] [25] In the fall of 2011 Lynn contributed a song, "Movies", to Live From Nowhere Near You (Volume 2). [26] [27]
Lynn released a ten-song album on December 4, 2012 titled Tramp Stamps and Birthmarks . [28] The record was named "Album of the Year" by multiple media outlets. [29] [30] [31] In June 2013, Lynn headlined the Queer Music Summer Tour alongside queer rapper Big Dipper and others. [32] [33] Later that year Lynn released a cover of "We Can't Stop" by Miley Cyrus, produced by Gino Mari. New York Magazine called Lynn's version "dreamy, guitar-heavy" [34] and The Huffington Post wrote that it was "bold" and "warmer" than the original. [35] Cyrus went on to perform Lynn and Mari's arrangement of the song on Saturday Night Live on October 5, 2013. [36] [37] [38]
In 2016, Lynn released his eighth studio album, Adieu. [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] Willamette Week called the record his "most uncomfortable album yet". [44] Lynn was then the subject of a story in the October 2016 issue of Innocent Words Music Magazine, in which they called him "a modern day Gene Kelly". [45]
In March 2017, Lynn appeared on an episode of Jay Mohr's Mohr Stories podcast. Lynn and Mohr discussed music, addiction recovery, overcoming childhood trauma, and mental health at length, as well as a forthcoming Lynn album that was inspired by Lynn's relationship with Mohr. [46] [47] [48] In October 2018, Lynn's Jay Mohr-produced, ninth studio album My Movie Star was released. In a review of the record, Billboard said "For nearly 20 years, dance-pop artist Logan Lynn has made a career out of crafting catchy, disorderly songs that almost all include big beats, fun melodies and cheeky lyrics. But on his latest album, My Movie Star, Lynn has traded in his signature sound for a more somber, melancholy tone — a dynamic new album consisting of Lynn's new piano-driven songs and filled with remixes and covers by other industry greats." [49]
In 2019 Lynn released a single titled "Name Your Trouble", which was written and produced with Styrofoam (musician) for the EastSiders season 4 soundtrack on Netflix, one of 5 songs by Lynn on the soundtrack. [50] In 2020 Portland, Oregon-based record label Banana Stand released a live Logan Lynn EP featuring Glasys on keys titled "Unpeeled". Toronto's Disarm Music Magazine premiered the first two live performances videos from the release. [51] [52] In October of that year, Lynn released a music video for the "Rich and Beautiful" single. [53]
In 2021 record label Kill Rock Stars announced that they had signed Logan Lynn and that they would be releasing Lynn's 10th studio album, titled New Money, in 2022. [54] Lynn's first single for the label, a cover of Gossip (band)'s Standing in the Way of Control was released on June 17, 2021 and also appears on the Kill Rock Stars 30th anniversary compilation. [55] In August of that same year Kill Rock Stars released the album version of Logan Lynn's "Rich and Beautiful", followed by the second single from New Money, titled "Eat&Drink&Smoke&Shop&Fuck". [56] In September 2021 Kill Rock Stars released the third single from the album, titled "Here's To Us", [57] [58] followed by an original song titled "It's Christmas, Motherfuckers!" on the Kill Rock Stars Winter Holiday compilation album, "It's Hard To Dance When It's Cold And There's No Music". [59]
In January 2022 Logan Lynn released the fourth single from New Money via Kill Rock Stars, a cover of Elliott Smith's Baby Britain. [60] [61] That same month Kill Rock Stars released the 5th single and video off the album, "Is There Anyone Else Like This In The World?" [62] [63] On January 21, 2022 Kill Rock Stars released Logan Lynn's debut record for the label, New Money. [64] [65]
In 2023 Logan Lynn announced a collaboration with production duo Yellow Trash Can. [66] On July 21, 2023 Kill Rock Stars released the Distracted EP, which featured 5 new songs by Logan Lynn X Yellow Trash Can. In a review of the EP, Bearded Gentlemen Music said the release was "A sublime example of contemporary pop" and that "Lynn's clear tenor flirts openly with crisp musicianship to create catchy music packed with big '80s and '90s radio vibes." [67] In their review, ListenBoise wrote "Logan Lynn teams up with Yellow Trash Can to turn big pop into big emotion on Distracted…a beautifully personal EP that explores the unexpected and sometimes painful journey through love, loss, and happiness." [68] Kill Rock Stars also put out a short film by the same name alongside the EP, created by Lynn and filmmaker Katie Marks. [69] Lynn also announced that he was in the studio working on a full-length follow-up for the label at this time, slated for release in 2024. [70]
In March 2024 it was announced that Lynn's 11th album, titled SOFTCORE, would be released by Kill Rock Stars that following summer. [71] It was also revealed that there would be a short film released by the same name at that time. [72] The first single To Be Of Use, a cover of Bill Callahan SMOG's original song, was released alongside the music video on March 20, 2024. [73] In their review of the new song, Last Day Deaf wrote "Lynn's version of To Be Of Use is an Indie Electronic masterpiece…a testament to his bold creativity and fearless approach to music-making, blending pain with style in a way that is uniquely his own." [74]
After releasing four subsequent singles ahead of the album, Lynn released SOFTCORE on June 7, 2024. [75] [76] [77] In their album review, Willamette Week called the record “triumphantly vulnerable and unapologetically horny”. [78]
In 2018, Lynn directed and released the short film Nothing's Ever Wrong, which featured actor Jay Mohr fully nude for the first time in his career. The resulting speculation about the nature of their relationship led to a barrage of online harassment towards both, including a coordinated misinformation campaign by thousands of fans of the Opie and Anthony radio show. [79] [80] In March 2019, People magazine published an exclusive piece on Lynn, detailing the months of targeted harassment and homophobic abuse, which stemmed from a since-deleted hate group on Reddit about shock jocks Opie and Anthony. Regarding the widespread bullying, Lynn told People "It's been my experience that nothing triggers this type of toxic masculinity culture more than a gay man who isn't afraid, and I can't think of anything I am less afraid of than a bunch of fragile dudes who can't deal with my existence." [81] [82] [83]
In 2019, Lynn partnered with internet company Top Level Design to help create a safer internet through the global launch of the .gay domain, for which he is the brand spokesperson. [84] [85]
On July 12, 2018 Billboard published a story about Logan Lynn and Portugal. The Man going on tour together to promote mental health awareness. [86] The partnership between Lynn and Portugal. The Man was also featured in Broadway World magazine, in addition to several other music news outlets. The band announced that Lynn had officially joined the Portugal. The Man team shortly after. [87] [88] [89] [90] [91]
Lynn has been featured on the Logo TV channel, through his videos, in hosting roles, and commercial spots, since the channel launched in 2006. [92] [93] [94] Lynn's songs have also been featured in filmmaker Mark Jerako's film Feeble In Fuchsia, on the soundtrack for Episode 6 of Brandon Semenuk's show "Coastal Crew" [95] [96] with Mutiny Bikes [97] for their "Battle Los Angeles" special on ESPN, [98] in "One Day With Jordi Tixier" a 2013 short-film featuring French motocross star Jordi Tixier, and [99] other sports events and videos. The fashion houses of Oscar de la Renta, [100] and Nicole Miller have also used Lynn's music for their campaigns. [101]
In 2017, Lynn starred in Last Meal Series, a TV show from Two Penguins Productions and the writers of Search Party on TBS. [102] The show's cast also includes Hutch Harris of The Thermals, Sabrina Jalees, Nicole J. Georges, Brent Knopf of Menomena and El Vy and other Portland and LA-based artists and actors. [103] [104] In 2020, Logan Lynn co-created and starred in a .gay and Two Penguins-produced web series, "The Library", which premiered on Revry TV. [105] [106]
Logan Lynn has written for HuffPost Gay Voices, HuffPost Green, HuffPost Healthy Living, Huffpost Celebrity, HuffPost Entertainment, Just Out Magazine, The Portland Mercury, [107] [108] and Moviefone. [109]
In May 2015, Logan Lynn launched the "Keep Oregon Well" Concert Series, a campaign to fight stigma surrounding mental and behavioral health, with Trillium Group and Alpha Media, where he interviewed bands backstage before the shows, about their own self care and experiences of mental health. [110] In 2017, the National Council gave Lynn the Award of Excellence for Artistic Expression. [111] [112]
Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in February 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally known for its commitment to underground punk rock bands and the Olympia area music scene.
The music of Oregon reflects the diverse array of styles present in the music of the United States, from Native American music to the contemporary genres of rock and roll, country, rhythm and blues, jazz, pop, electronic music, and hip hop. However, throughout most of its history, the state has been relatively isolated from the cultural forces shaping American music. Much of modern popular music traces its roots to the emergence in the late 19th century of African American blues and the growth of gospel music in the 1920s. African American musicians borrowed elements of European and Indigenous musics to create new American forms. As Oregon's population was more homogeneous and more white than the United States as a whole, the state did not play a significant role in this history.
The Dandy Warhols are an American psychedelic/alternative rock band, formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1994 by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström. They were later joined by keyboardist Zia McCabe and drummer Eric Hedford. Hedford left in 1998 and was replaced by Taylor-Taylor's cousin Brent DeBoer. The band's name is a play on the name of American pop artist Andy Warhol.
Corin Lisa Tucker is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for her work with rock band Sleater-Kinney. Tucker is also a member of the alternative rock supergroup Filthy Friends, and previously recorded with the punk band Heavens to Betsy as well as The Corin Tucker Band.
Quasi is an American indie rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1993 by former spouses Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss. Joanna Bolme performed and recorded with the group as a bassist from 2007 to 2011.
Rachel Chaiya Blumberg is an American musician, artist, and filmmaker, best known for her tenure as the drummer for the indie rock band The Decemberists.
The Shaky Hands were a Portland, Oregon-based rock group, formed in 2003 by musician Paul Culp, and Colin Anderson. Nicholas Delffs joined soon after on vocals and guitar. They spent the next three years gradually building a following in the Portland area and self-releasing two CDs, one informally called The Skidmore Days, which is a lo-fi full-length album recorded in future guitarist Jeff Lehman's North Portland basement and mixed by Alex Arrowsmith. They also released a self-titled EP informally referred to as the Bonnie Doon EP, in reference to the location it was recorded. The Shaky Hands were signed to Holocene Music in late 2006. By this time, the lineup had changed considerably, with Mayhaw Hoons replacing Culp on bass and the addition of second guitarist Jeff Lehman. Nathan Delffs joined shortly thereafter on percussion and lap steel. Their sound is a fusion of 1960s style British Invasion bands such as The Kinks, The Who and The Zombies and American folk-rock in the vein of Neil Young. The result is what many have described as a loose, jangly, rootsy style of indie rock. The Delffs brothers also perform Shaky Hands songs under the Death Songs moniker, a more experimental and folk-oriented side project.
From Pillar to Post was the first official release by Logan Lynn from Beat the World Records, a Caroline Records / EMI 3rd party label and was Lynn's first record to be released on a major label. A special pre-release and digital release was issued from Beat the World on September 4, 2009. This was followed by a physical release in selected stores, as well as a debut on iTunes, on November 24, 2009. The mass release in all stores nationwide happened in February 2010.
Radiation City was an American indie rock band that began in Portland, Oregon, in 2010. The band consisted of Cameron Spies, Elisabeth Ellison, Randy Bemrose, Matt Rafferty, and Patti King. There were two couples in the band. The band released four albums: Cool Nightmare, The Hands That Take You, Animals in the Median, and Synesthetica. The band was signed to the Polyvinyl Record Co. label.
Everything You Touch Turns To Gold is an acoustic EP of new music released by Logan Lynn on December 6, 2011.
Tramp Stamps and Birthmarks is a ten song album released by Logan Lynn on December 4, 2012.
I Killed Tomorrow Yesterday is the fifth studio album by American musician Logan Lynn, released August 31, 2010 on his own label, Logan Lynn Music.
The Gentry is an American band from Portland, Oregon, formed in 2003 by DJ/producer Gino Mari. The band is most commonly classified in the electronic, alternative rock and rock music genres.
Beat the World Records is a record label founded by The Dandy Warhols in Portland, Oregon, in 2008.
The Turn Me Out Remix EP is a five-song EP of new music released by Logan Lynn on August 14, 2012. It featured previously unreleased remixes of Lynn's "Turn Me Out", released earlier that same year.
Dogheart is a garage/indie rock band, formed in Portland, Oregon in 2014 by Matt Jenkins, Gray Hildreth (bass), and Cameron Hering (drums).
Ruth Radelet is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She is best known for her work as the lead vocalist in the electronic band Chromatics, formed in 2001. A native of Portland, Oregon, Radelet joined Chromatics in 2006 after the band relocated to Portland from Seattle, Washington. The band's first album to feature Radelet as vocalist and guitarist was their cult release Night Drive (2007), the record which marked a notable shift in their sound, incorporating elements of synth pop and post punk.
Adieu. is a fifteen-song album released by Logan Lynn on September 23, 2016.
My Movie Star is a 20-song, 2-disc double album released by Logan Lynn and Jay Mohr on October 12, 2018.
Flawless Shade is the stage name of Tajh Jordan, an American drag performer and make-up artist based in Portland, Oregon. A former Miss Gay Oregon, Flawless Shade has been featured in campaigns by Adidas, GLAAD, and Top Level Design.
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