Pontus Gunve
contact : hitandrunstudios@gmail.com
Sound Designer | Composer | Musician
New York City-based guitarist, composer and technologist Pontus Gunve’s music embraces the theory that music is a multi-dimensional experience and an adventure in wordless storytelling that fully absorbs the audience’s mind, body and spirit. Flowing through time and space, the lush sonic textures he creates evoke the ethereal landscapes of other-worldly multi-media artists such as Jean Michel Jarre and Boards of Canada while still clearly inspired by the thick, dark compositional textures of legendary heavy metal bands like Megadeath. And his energy as a guitarist celebrates numerous influences, from the technical proficiency of Steve Vai and the raw, exotic approach of Marty Friedman, to the minimalistic moments created by legendary blues performers. Gunve’s finely-tuned skills in the studio as both a producer and engineer allow him to seamlessly unify many different musical styles and a wide range of instruments into intricately-crafted, mesmerizing recordings resonating with unexpected surprises.
Gunve was first fully gripped by his passion for music when he saw Jean Michel Jarre’s Rendezvous Houston: A City in Concert on television as a child growing up in Sweden. Blown away by Jarre’s all-encompassing high-tech stage show and the endless layers of his album Oxygene, he began to explore the capabilities of computers to create different sounds and textures. His fascination with rock music led him to electric guitar, which he began to study voraciously, simultaneously imagining ways to expand its boundaries. At the same time, he experimented with sequencing and learned how to build computer and synthesizer modules that could be used practically during performances and on recordings.
Now, Gunve translates his sensual impressions of the universe into intricate, personal and melodic musical passages that vividly illustrate his life’s rich and complex journey and allow him to connect powerfully with his own musicians, the audience and with each space he performs. He has composed music and worked as a sound designer for a wide range of independent films and Web projects as well as for various large-scale art projects in Sweden. He founded his own instrumental project, PHWG in 2007, a group that combines video, electronic instruments, cello, violin, drums and tabla/darbuka and has released two albums, Great Wall of Sound (2006) and Movements (2008). Gunve continues to record and perform with bands throughout the New York City area and released The Observer in May 2013 and was a finalist in the Battle of The Boroughs competition in 2014. The EP - IV was launched in 2016 and the latest album - Black Hole BBQ - was released in 2020.
Starting in August 2024 Pontus is working on an Ambisonic recording project in Sweden and for more information please see the Ambisonic Page for updates and videos.