Meet... Gunnar Gehl

California singer-songwriter, Gunnar Gehl might be breaking a few more hearts as he continues to do everything right to become a hit within the music scene.

Photo courtesy of 1824

At only 19-years-old the artist has come a long way since playing in a garage band as he works around the clock with a collection of hit songwriter-producers such as Julian Bunetta and John Ryan.

From making his official live debut by opening PRETTYMUCH to his debut EP 'One Second of One Day' hitting over one million streams on Spotify, we at Vibez caught up with Gunnar to talk everything in between.

Firstly, how is life in America and, how have you been overall through these unprecedented times?

I mean I’m sure you see, our country is a little chaotic right now but, we will always get through it. I've been good! Covid obviously is tough, and put some limitations on what normalcy is, but I've been lucky to be as productive as I have been during all of this.

Over a year ago, you hit the stage and made your official live debut, opening PRETTYMUCH in Seattle. What was that experience like for someone who was breaking through the industry and have you kept in contact with the group?

It was the perfect entry point for me. The crowd at all of those shows were incredible and really helped everything start to take off. Of course, I keep in contact with the boys. We had so much fun on that tour. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. They were so helpful, and it was just the perfect storm.

Growing up, you had a lot of musical influences, but what was the main thing that made you start out in music?

I think the feelings and emotions that I associated with music was the real reason I started. Music just was ALWAYS my escape and, the fact that another person lyrics and emotion could mean so much to me was something I needed to be apart of. That and live performing are the foundations of this. I found an obsession with live shows and the energy of a show.

From playing the piano at seven to performing in a garage band to now rocking stages. How much do you believe you have grown in the past eleven years?

Haha, I mean tons. I think a lot of who I am is the same person, but the amount of development during all those years made me grow up really fast. I think, in the last two years, I've learned more about myself, my music and just life in general than any other time in my life.

Your debut single ‘Ocean Blue' which was released back in 2018 reached over 100,000 streams on Spotify and, it started your career. Could you give us a little detail of that journey and how important that song is to you?

Haha oh my, that song is a good one. I put that song out as my first song before the tour because I needed music for the fans to be able to sing along to. That song was PERFECT for what it was at the time, but I just feel like it was premature to Gunnar, the artist that’s here now.

Over the past two years since your debut, you have released a series of singles and continued to evolve but how would you describe your sound?

I would say a lot of my music I base around thinking about live shows, so big anthemic choruses with honest songwriting are what I really strive for. Genre wise I would say it's Pop / Pop Rock.

Recently you have released your debut EP ‘One Second of One Day' - how has the reaction been like and what is the story behind the overall project?

Oh my, the reaction has been beyond what I could have hoped for. I just woke up to see that the EP reached 1 million streams on Spotify in just over three weeks… it's mind-blowing. It just feels so good to have these songs that mean so much to me finally be out for the world to hear and be apart of.

You have worked with stars such as Julian Bunetta and John Ryan within the studio in the past. However, due to the pandemic how have you coped with producing music and, what is the one thing you’ve learnt over these times?

Over the last two years, I've written so many songs and right about the time that covid hit, I was in full release mode, so I haven't been doing many zoom sessions. But about a month ago, I and some of my favourite writers and producers all got tested and went for 10 days straight in Tahoe and wrote an incredible batch of songs. So, I’m really, happy about that but what I would say I learned the most during this time is just patience. The whole world is kind of on pause right now, so just understanding that we’re all in it together and to be patient has been the biggest thing.

In addition to your music, you have worked with WE Charity which, have seen you travelled to Africa and India. Overall, what has that experience been like and do you hope to expand your work with them?

Working with charities and We has been one of the most eye-opening things I've been able to do. Being hands-on in places like that, I learned things that I could never learn in school. I absolutely plan to stay involved doing work like that for the rest of my life.

Finally, in the past, you have said you would like to collaborate with Dua Lipa, do you still hope for that to happen and what is the plan for 2021?

Haha DUAAAAA!!! I think she’s incredible I will work with her any day - any song SIGN ME UP! There are so many artists I would love to work with right now. I’m in a deep Lany album dive right now, so maybe in the future, I could do something with them!