We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ryan Lynch a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ryan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Our first single, The Credit Reel.

Before ever playing live, we wrote our debut record, Kosciuszko, and booked studio time, only playing one secret show to get a better feel for the energy of the songs we were about to record. We finished tracking in February 2020 and ended up mixing the record remotely with our producer as the pandemic began. We weren’t sure when we would be able to actually release anything, so we had planned to sit on the record until we could get back on the road and play again. But then the protests sparked by the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor (and so many others) began and we felt that this moment was pretty much exactly what we set out to support when we made the band. So we released our first single, The Credit Reel, on June 1st, 2020, the day of a protest in my and Nick’s (guitar and lead vocals) hometown, stationed in front of a community center where the two of us had played our first show together, almost 15 years prior. And we split every dollar we got from sales between two organizations: Black Table Arts, a community-driven arts cooperative in Minneapolis and the Louisville Community Bail Fund. The song is about awaiting the end of the world with the ones you love and we continue to push for a world where empathy and kindness are the standard, regardless of how close to the end it feels.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We’re a post-punk indie band from New York called Premium Heart. When Premium Heart first got together, we were all looking to do something different with this new band. We had played together, in various combinations, over the years and wanted to start a band about something, with a real mission statement and a larger sense of community than the standard “write a few songs and start playing the same set until more ideas are ready” kind of band. We wanted to explicitly reject the capitalist and competitive mindset of the local music “grind” that is smothering the New York music scene by fostering an open and safe space at all of our shows. We also planned to donate all proceeds from online sales of our records and singles to charities and/or causes we believed in. We strive, hopefully, to separate the ego from it all and just build a space built on love and empathy.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think anyone looking to support artists and creatives should put empathy first as their focus and try to read art from a good faith perspective. Instead of focusing on technique or flaws first, look for what it says about the artist, their worldview, and their experiences. Even the most basic artistic expression can have a deep, personal value if the audience gives it a chance to express itself.

And just show up. That’s really it. I think the rest falls into place if audiences put themselves in the presence of art, especially local art.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

After we were all vaccinated and boosted, we started feeling more comfortable with the idea of playing live again in the fall of 2021. But unfortunately, we quickly found out that we weren’t as physically ready as we were mentally, and during the second song of our first show back, I (Ryan, bass) tore my ACL jumping off the stage, After a surgery and a long recovery, (which is still ongoing), we came out the other end with new material, a tighter and better live show, some new MRI t-shirts, and a pretty cool knee brace that’s still a crucial member of our live band.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/premiumheart
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/premiumheartny/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PremiumHeartNY/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/premiumheartny
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC91xoJjJbGfzXiKIRlNPyOw
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5YDXjNjUDjURIiXma0GVnT Bandcamp: https://premiumheart.bandcamp.com/

Image Credits
First photo – Holly Turner Photos 4, 5, and 6 – Elle Riccardi Photo 7 – Sean / Internal Vision