Ever since he was a young person falling in love with music, Pacific Northwest songwriter, Noah Gundersen, has been at it. Since 2008, the 31-year-old artist has released 13 studio records and likely many other compositions along the way. It all began at 9-years-old when Gundersen first began taking piano lessons. While he loathed them, he still loved music. So, his father gave him a guitar and he began writing. Gundersen, who was homeschooled, had time aplenty on his hands and, since he felt he could only express himself properly through song, he did so over and over again.
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“I didn’t have a lot of friends,” Gundersen jokes.
The big- and golden-voiced singer, who released his latest LP, Lover, in 2019, surely has more releases in store for fans soon. But, at the same time, Gundersen is now happy to take some much needed time away from the demanding world of music to reflect on his life and career from a fairly secluded cabin in Northern Washington. A little “me time” never hurt anyone, after all.
“It’s been a trip,” Gundersen says. “I recently realized I haven’t been in one place this long since I can remember.”
Prior to the pandemic, Gundersen had been slated for a tour in major markets across the country. That cancelled, however, he returned to his home state of Washington and retreated to the isolated cabin in Bellingham, south of the Canadian border. It took a little getting used to but eventually he fell into a routine and his art began to flow.
“I’m starting to write again,” Gundersen says. “It’s been a lot of examining what my priorities are as a person and as an artist. I’ve felt sort of like I’ve been on a hamster wheel and it’s something that’s really hard to examine when you’re on it.”
Like everyone else on earth, the past few months have been a time for both reflection and reorganization. For Gundersen, this has meant quiet and seclusion. As a young person, Gundersen says he has a “pretty short attention span.” He often gets personally and professionally bored easily.
“So much of my personal and creative life has included a constant search for stimulation for something to keep me excited,” Gundersen says. “Often to the detriment of my health and relationships, which has been a thing I’ve had to examine as I get older.”
As a musician, Gundersen is versatile. That’s what can happen after decades of trial and error work. He’s an expert on the acoustic guitar, offering lilting melodies that bend and break in your ears. Stripped to the acoustic guitar bone, Gunderson’s songs still soar. They’re intimate and lovely. Yet, he’s also a master of the big, booming pop track. Gundersen can stand poised in front of a microphone, belting lyrics on lost love as lasers dance and rhythms loop. In this way, living on both sides of the songwriter coin is something he’s used to.
“A lot of my life and career has been a balance – sometimes an unequal balance,” Gundersen says. “A pursuit of stimulation and a pursuit of sustainability, which are strange bedfellows.”
On Lover, Gundersen offers his seasoned blend of pop, rock and sonic secret whispering. On “Robin Williams,” Gundersen sings, heart fully on his proverbial sleeve, about his life as a melodic philosopher. It’s forlorn but also filled with gratitude. A man telling you about his life, his goals, his achievement, all while mortality and death loom like the moon overhead. On another standout, “Out Of Time,” Gundersen finds himself caught between romantic relationships, needing at least a temporary escape and personal solace.
Gundersen, who grew up in a small, conservative town and began to collaborate with his talented musician siblings at an early age, has been surrounded by song for decades. He’s been composing melodies since before social media. At 18-years-old, he established himself in Seattle before going out on the road for regular regional and national tours. In many ways, as an artist, Gundersen has done it all. Now, looking forward at whatever the world may become in the future, he’s ready to continue working and to do so in an examined manner with as few distractions around him as possible.
“This time away has afforded me the chance to look at what’s important in my life,” Gundersen says. “To look at what helps me sleep better at night, what helps me write music that expresses the growth and things I’ve seen over the years. I’m trying to take advantage of this time and take care of myself as a person, first and foremost.”
Photo by Jeroen Willems
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