Brynnerd Elias Carter

> Essentially one of the most legendary characters in modern history. Legendary is the only word left to describe her, in her entirety.
>
> Carter Willson, Brynnerd: diary of madness.

## Biographical information

### Place of birth

Previously thought to be DC. New Hampshire.

## Physical description

### Height

1m75cm

Brynnerd Elias Carter, also known as *Engelbrecht* (born 24 May 1993) is an **American musician**, **theoretical physicist**, **mathematician**, **biomedical engineer**, **author** and **artist**, widely recognized as one of the greatest mathematicians and physicists and among the most influential scientists of all time. She is known for her work in *biomedical spectroscopy, quantum teleportation,* as well as her work in theoretical physics for which she proposed the i-independance model.

For her contributions in the field of biomedical engineering, and for her discovery of **artifical nanofluids** and her construction of the **bionic eye**, she received the noble prize in Medicine in 2011 jointly shared with **Carmel Moss**. She is currently the youngest nobel prize winner in any scientific field. In 2022, she won her second Noble Prize in physics for her **i-independance model**, which was eventually proven with the **Tenet** in 2023.

Engelbrecht is the main vocalist and songwriter of the alternative rock band ***Brynnerd***. A multi-instrumentalist, she mainly plays the guitar and keyboards and is noted for her falsetto. She has been described by Rolling Stone as one of the most influential musicians and singers of her generation.

Brynnerd uses the surname Engelbrecht for her scientific research, citing her name as Brynnerd Elias Engelbrecht in her work. In this way two seperate names are created: BEE and BEC. There has been confusion over which official name Brynnerd holds, but in 2017 her official surname was confirmed to be Carter. Her first name Brynnerd has wide connotations with the band, while Bryn encompasses the individual herself, and finally Engelbrecht is the scientific person.

## Early Life

#### Unknown Birthplace

**Inbetween DC and Richmond**

On May 24 1993, Bryn was born in an unknown location in the State of Vermont (later ruled out as *St Johnsbury* in New Hampshire). Through unknown processes she was later registered in the Washington District of Columbia, which was listed as her official birth place until 2023. As Bryn growing up didn't know her birth location, she would state *Washington DC* as her place of birth. This was completely based on fiction. Her biological parents abandoned her as a baby for unknown reasons and gave her away to a friend who lived in *Richmond, Virginia*. It is unregistered who her caregivers were up until six years of age, and she herself has no real recollection of who they were. She lived in a trailer park in the outskirts of Richmond, and the woman taking care of her was an addict and often absent.

Engelbrecht attended a local kindergarden in Richmond until she was six years old. The woman taking care of her dissapeared, and another person had to take in Bryn housed in the same trailer park. She was mainly neglected and wasn't sent to school, as her caregivers were all in involved in low-level petty drug trade. Bryn stopped attending any schooling and didn't receive any formal education. She was mostly neglected, left in isolation as a child. Later Engelbrecht recalled that she didn't remember any sort of parental figure, just some local kids she would sometimes play with. As she was left to her own devices, she would often scour the streets looking for metal sheets to sell.

Because Jenna, the woman who was giving her food at that time, had gotten into an extreme argument with her boyfriend which turned violent, it caused Bryn to leave the whole neighborhood and take a train. Confused, she ended up in central Richmond. The final bus stop being the library, the workers taking notice of a sudden dirty looking child being in the building. They called the authorities which handed her over to CPS. At this moment the first police file on Bryn was created, with a short psychological evaluation, all being signs of severe neglect. She was eight years old at the time. She was placed into Montana foster care, after a State decision to move the overflow of kids to other states.

#### Fostered and Orphaned

**Placed in Montana Foster Care**

In Montana, she was placed into the foster care system. At first Engelbrecht was placed into a warm home in *Billings*, but the family rejected her after two weeks because of her struggles with PTSD and trauma. This incident was rapported in the retreived files of the foster care system. She stayed at three other families, only holding it out at a maximum of one month because of her violent reactions and tendencies. Later at an adoptive fair, a farmer had picked her because she was eager to work at his farm in *Belle Fourche*, but his family was disappointed and planned giving her away. Overhearing the conversation the farmer and his wife were having about their plans, Engelbrecht quickly escaped through her bedroom window and ran *'as fast away as possible. Anywhere, everywhere'.* The family reported her as missing, but the case had gone cold and shelved after six months. In total Brynnerd spent four months in Montana Foster care, and attended local elementary schools.

**Orphanage**

Meanwhile Engelbrecht made her way to a religious congregation, which gave her away to a home in Wisconsin, the *Eau Claire Baptist House for Orphans*. She stayed at this home for three years. The first six months '*went by quickly and normally, but then all hell broke loose'*. Several priests started sexually abusing her, next to being psychically violent. Afterward, other 'clients' also came to the home and would abuse her, and other children that were placed in the home. She managed form a certain bad reputation with the priests and wasn't the most sought-after child. The home was visited by the State counselor at the time, *Harry Muggler,* and as a result the abuse of the children was never investigated while it transpired. During the last six months of her stay, priests wouldn't touch her. but they inflicted many wounds, including burns. Engelbrecht reportedly still carries the physicals scars of the abuse.

**Escape and arson**

After three years in the Dakota home, Engelbrecht had enough and thought of a plan to escape. She was planning her escape for two months, together with two other kids staying at the orphanage: a pair of twins, named Sam and Tull Harpy.

The evening of the happening, Engelbrecht gave herself to a client as she sometimes had to do. Before he could do anything, she slit his throat, which was not a part of their plan. She veared even more off course when she went into the nearby rooms where abusers were and killed them, stabbing them in their backs one by one. This was the only time where almost all the priests would eat in the mess hall, so she told the children to run as fast and far as they could outside. Four children had already escaped at this point. She went to Sam's and Tull's room and gave them the signal to also run, which they did. But at this point, a priest had captured them and two other children escaping outside. Before he could say anything to the others, Bryn slashed his throat too. But, Tull and Sam were locked in a room by the dead priest. Bryn ran upstairs, warned all the children to run, and burned the whole building, first barricading the mess hall downstairs. The reason she burned the building was to get rid of any evidence of the killing, and it was also started as an accident when she was defending her against another priest upstairs in the bedrooms. The building burned quickly, but almost all of the children made it out alive. She forgot one child upstairs. Once she had made it downstairs she had suffered several burn wounds, and she still had to rescue Sam and Tull and the others locked up for having escaped. She tried and tried, but the flames were already so near. She broke her wrist opening the door, and the kids inside could escape. But horrible bad luck struck. Three priests made it out alive out of the burning mess hall. They grabbed a hold of Tull and another boy, taking them with them into the flames. They also took a hold of Sam, but Bryn wrestled the priest and told Sam to run. This was the last time she ever saw him again. She could suffocate the priest, but was now trapped. Suddenly, she heard a cry for the infirmary. It was the only place she had forgotten to check. She could make her way in there, and grabbed a hold of the only baby there. She was now trapped in the room, and her only way out was by jumping out of the first floor, first passing through a part of the building that was burning. And so, she jumped, with the baby in her hands. They both miracoulasly survived, and Brynnerd didn't want to be found by authorities so she left the child wrapped by the blanket under the foliage of a pine three.

The fire brigade reached the building in less than two hours, but by then the whole building was scorched. Only skeletal parts of the priests and lost children remained. Sam and most of the other children ran across the State Border, into Wyoming, where they were handled by a different police force. This is the main reason Bryn got seperated from them.

**Recovery and move to Spokane**

Brynnerd was put into the hospital for two weeks, where she could recover. The nurses had taken note of her different wounds, including burns and scars from her previous abuse. Before they could do anything, the case of abuse was covered up because it involved some high-ranking officials, and Bryn was moved to Spokane.

In Spokane, she lived in an orphanage for a year. They didn't beat her, but they didn't give her any care. She attended the local middle school, from age 12 till 13, but often skipped classes. She would often cause arguments at school and in the home, sometimes lashing out and becoming violent against other students. At first she had to stop attending school, but eventually this prompted CPS to move her into another home, the reason being noted to be 'incompatability'. For nine months she changed foster homes every month, because she was a very difficult child with a lot of trauma. After nine months Brynnerd had enough of the cruel system, and being passed around like a rag. At 14 years old, Brynnerd left through her bedroom window at night and never turned back.

## Seattle Years

#### **Homelessness**

From 14 to 17 years old, Engelbrecht was homeless in Seattle.

Arriving in Seattle Engelbrecht refused any refuge or homeless shelters, and kept away from authorities. She spent two months completely alone, before realizing she needed other people to survive. Alone she spent her time in local libraries, reading 2 to 3 books a day on average. Deepening herself in Calculus, she was now learning classical mechanics and theoretical physics, in which she took a profound interest. Later she would read more about quantum mechanics.

Bryn joined local youth groups of homeless teens who hung around the main avenues. There she met *Amanda*, also better known as Bullet. They quickly formed a bond and became inseparable. They both were a part of a skater group who banded together and protected each other. However, Brynnerd and Bullet quickly became a seperate duo and would skate and sleep on their own, seperate from their other friends. Both of them had similar interests, including skating and music. Bullet saw something special in Brynnerd, an *"immesurable gift"* she called it, and took it upon herself to protect her.

However, quickly a rivalry formed between them and a local gang. Things began to turn violent quickly, and Brynnerd and Bullet became figures on the front lines. She learned how to defend herself, and carried a firearm at all times. At this point, they were both 15 years old. Brynnerd didn't need convincing to be armed, and because of her previous life experience she was used to the violence and harsh treatment. Most her days were still filled with mathematics and physics, the *Feynman lectures on physics* became her favorite books. She had garnered a lot of interest in quantum mechanics and special relativity. At this point, she was teaching herself undergraduate level mathematics. American literature started to interest her too, and she especially read McCarthy and Chomsky.

This is the point in which the groups also began to gather police attention, and this is when Brynnerd and Bullet also began taking distance to avoid confrontation. Bullet had some run-ins with the police before, because of her mother who would kick her out often. Now that she was homeless for a while, she didn't want to be taken in by social services.

Brynnerd was involed in a shoot-out and managed to flee with only minor injuries to her back. The police began undertaking mass-arrestations and began using a lot of violence against local youths. Brynnerd and Bullet began camping in the areas of Fremont where life was a lot safer.

#### **Searching for home and first college enrollment**

At 15, Brynnerd began working at the fishermans warf, managing to hide her real age. It was heavy physical work, but it payed. She spend most of her money on food or saving it up. Bullet began working in a local grocery store. They saved up enough money to buy a run-down rv from a friend, and so they finally had a semi-stable place to live. Brynnerd also enrolled in a local community college, and attended some classes in mathematics and physics.

Bullet befriended a police detective, Holder, in one of the police's investigation into a sting of local murders of young prostitutes and homeless teens. He got her to enroll back into a local high school, where Bullet would attend some classes. Life was still hard and unrelenting, but at least they had some comfort for three months.

In December of 2008, Brynnerd and Bullet started hanging out with the same skaters again, and their rv was taken over so they were back to sleeping on the streets again. They tried taking it back a few times, but always had to fight and it only resulted in more bloodshed. They skated all day, and all night, sleeping at a different spot every night to not be targeted by the active killer. They both started drinking more heavily since Brynnerd had a injury at the warf. Brynnerd began to be more involved in the criminal underworld and started selling drugs to survive. Brynnerd showed the early onsets of addiction together with Bullet, relying on xanax to numb the pain. Brynnerd became one of the best skaters in Seattle quickly.

Brynnerd had a growing obsession concerning quantum physics and particle physics, together with the grander general relativity or super string theory. Her visions scared her, and she became convinced she was showing the early onsets of schizophrenia or psychosis. She inscribed herself to a counseling session at the community college, where the shrink told her she was *'definitly a high-functioning schizopherinic experiencing delusions',* which was inscribed in her student file. She didn't know whether to believe the diagnosis, but saw herself as a *'crazy individual'* from that point on.

#### **Involvement in Police Investigations**

When Brynnerd was 16, she became closer involved in the operation officer Holder was running, in return for a temporary shelter (Holder would give a positive recommendation to a youth program that provided low-income flats to those in need). In Seattle, a serial killer of prostitutes and homeless teenagers was on the loose, and agent Holder needed teenagers on the inside asap. The case would be later known as ***The Seattle Scrap Killer**.* Brynnerd and Bullet were given his temporary mobile home to live in as the city's housing took a while to proces.

The same year Brynnerd suffered from a psychotic break after taking in a large amount of alcohol, xanax and cocaine. Bullet decided from then on to kick off an all drugs from then on, since it were her drugs that were laced. After her hospitalization her visions of particles decreased. She began worrying that she had altered the state of her mind, but a week after the visions returned. *They were never as strong, and omnipresent. At some moments, everything felt so electrified and connected that it felt painful walking through space. The only thing that helped was writing down the formulas or explanations for what I was experiencing.*

In her community college courses she scored on every subject a perfect grade, but she felt unsatistied at the level of teaching after a semester, but still continued in hopes of attending more difficult seminars the next semester.

#### **First Music**

Brynnerd and Bullet decided to finally start their musical venture, as they both had a lot of ideas and where good musicians. The mobile home Holden had lended them had instruments in it, so they used those. They played a few nights a few in run down bars, Brynnerd on lead guitar, with Bullet taking the rythmn section in hands. They were mostly hired by existing ensembles to accompany.

Bullet dropped out of high school, and Brynnerd stopped taking classes because she found them a waste of time and boring. Brynnerd began stealing graduate-level text books from college libraries and stores, mostly about mathematics and physics, but also biology and bio-engineering. She stole mostly from the University of Washington libraries, taking books about quantum mechanics, but also advanced chemistry as engineering, next to music theory or comparative literature. *I would read anything, just to pass the time. What I read in mathematics or physics though, felt like feeding my endless hunger for 'something'. Everytime I would read about such things my feeling of visions would be restored again. It was quite vicious in a way, but it satisfied me like nothing else.*

The city accepted their temporary housing, and now they had a small two-room flat they could live in, equipped with their own bathroom. They skated, Brynnerd worked again on the fisher boats, Bullet in a diner, and every evening they worked on their music or played in small bars. This is when their first project, *'Brynnerd and the Bullet'* began to take form. They created songs such as '*you*', '*high and dry*', *fake plastic trees*' and '*just*'.

*"I believe in you. Even if the whole world seems to be against you. I'll always be there, believing in you."* Bullet would tell Brynnerd almost every night as they lay in bed together. Brynnerd was aspiring her music career with Bullet, together with possibly attending college in the future. Things were stable for a little while. Brynnerd her visions of a quantum world, something beneath, would appear every night when she looked at the ceiling.

**Drug addiction and investigation**

Bullet started using, which resulted in them being kicked out of their city housing. Holden often sent Brynnerd as an undercover because of her efficiency on gathering information, and her smoothness when talking to street youth or gangs. The killer became more and more active, taking two more victims with him in a month with one dissapearance; however, Brynnerd didn't know that she was doing 'shadow work'... no one other agent except for Holden & Caulfield were involved in the undercover op. Bullet was also faced with her mother, who was in a custody battle over her, but Bullet wanted nothing to deal with her.

They still irregulary played shows, and relied on crashing on friends' couches: Alex had also a temporary housing apartment provided by the city. Mostly they slept on the streets. Often Brynnerd her books got ruined because of the persistent rain outside in the winter. During the winter Brynnerd was hospitalized because of hypothermia.

Tensions were rising with the police, as the force became aware of the work she was doing. Holden and Caulfield struggled to keep the undercover sting running with Brynnerd on the inside. At this point, Brynnerd had received full force training from Holder, and even participated three times in sting operations targeting the alledged killer.

Meanwhile, Bullet was still as much involved in the investigation as Brynnerd, especially now that *Clarice,* a girl from the same homeless group as them had gone missing. Both of them also obtained a driver's licence, curtesy of Agent Holder.

At one gig in a run down dive bar, *Jimmy Latrice* noticed them playing and let them record three songs at his studio. These became the early demo's for street spirit, high and dry, and you.

#### **University of Washington case**

As Brynnerd was stealing a book from the UWash library, she got caught for once. She was sent to the higher board of the university, who had to decide if she would be sent to the police. Fate made it that Dr. Carmel Moss heard of the situation pure by coincidence, as it was his textbook she was stealing. He invited her into his office. She was resistant to speak to him, but he managed to get some information from her. She told him that she was just interested to "know stuff, nothin' more...". He invited her to come over in a few days and to prepare a few exercises. She brought the exercises next time, together with her notebook on things she had been working on. When Carmel read her notebook, he couldn't believe what he was reading. He understood the seeds of genius he had come across.

Dr. Carmel arranged it so that she could access all the UWash libraries, and had a few sessions every week with her. He gave her all the problems he was working on.

The same time, Bullet could get away from the drugs again thanks to Holden. But the both of them still didn't have a place to live. So, they decided to move into an empty apartment and squatted there.

#### **Tensions in Investigation and The Death of Bullet**

At 17, tensions were even higher in the investigation. Brynnerd was sent out to look into a homeless camp down the highway and was chased by the man who appeared to be the killer, but luckily he lost her trail. In the camp, she found the body of her friend *Clarice*, who had been declared missing for weeks.

Two weeks later, Bullet and Brynnerd were at a homeless camp in the woods with one of their friends, Alex. After getting his message that he needed help with his girlfriend who had been missing at that point for 24 hours, they left immediatly towards there. They searched the woods frantically for *Cassie,* especially Bullet because she was her half-sister. They found her body in a body bag in the swamp, the same as all other bodies. At that point Bullet had a break-down, but it soon became clear more was going on. Alex came out of the woods screaming that 'someone was there', and soon it became clear that the killer was still there. They ran along the shore, through the woods, and got split up from Alex. Bullet called the police at that point, who had sent Holden and a whole response team out. Holden arrived first at the scene, and dived into the dark evening woods looking for the killer. A shot could be heard, but no one was hurt. Brynnerd and Bullet were confronted by the killer, who shot Bullet in the stomach. He continued running as now a police helicopter could be heard. The killer managed to escape. Bullet died that night, in the forest, with Brynnerd by her side. Brynnerd would later base 'exit music for a film' about this, about the last words she spoke to Bullet. "Breathe... keep breathing... I can't do this alone".

Alex was safely escorted by police. Holden got out with major injuries, resigning from the police force a few days later.

Brynnerd was debriefed from the investigation and cleared by Holden. She was payed a sum of two-thousand dollars, and Bullet was given a small ceremony and a marked graveyard.

Brynnerd didn't eat for a month after what happened. She considered this the greatest tragedy of her whole entire life. She couldn't do anything. Dr. Carmel noticed her absence and came to look for her in the streets, and thought she was battling addiction. He couldn't find her.

Agent Holder had given Brynnerd 700$ in cash and a one-way greyhound ticket to Chicago, to start of a new life there. The 700$ would have to be sufficient for her to start of a new life there, completely from scratch and look for a job while having just enough for two months of rent. She left to Chicago 10 days after Bullet's death. The journey alone that took her three days to complete.

#### **Chicago Months**

Brynnerd lived for four months in Chicago after Bullet's death. This is the place where she would also meet Carter, an event which would change the course of her life forever.

She rented a small flat down in the **Ukranian Village** with the 700$ that Holden gave her, which covered a months rent plus the deposit. She started looking for jobs since the day she entered Chicago, and would go from restaurant to restaurant looking for dishwashing jobs, serving jobs,... Anything anyone would offer her. The weather was cold and harsh. Refusal after refusal, nobody would give the skinny scruffy teen a job. But then she entered **Mickey Bear's** sandwich restaurant. She talked directly to the owner, who offered her a job back in the kitchen, and promised opportunity for rising. The restaurant was usually very tight-knit and only consisted of family members and old staff members, and only took in people of their own (with exceptions of course). But after seeing how skinny Brynnerd was, how desperate she sounded, and how intellegent and sound she seemed, the restaurant offered her a job after a quick discussion in the back of the restaurant. Anicdotally, the owner of the restaurant also offered her half a beef sandwich, which she politely agreed to.

And so she started working minimum wage there from 7 to 9 every day. She quickly grew accustomed to the staff there and they liked having her around. She especially befriended Richie, or Richard, Mickey's best friend ('cousin') who also worked there. He was 28 years old then, and worked at the restaurant of his cousin. They often had the same shifts until late in the evening while cleaning up. They wouldn't talk much, because of Brynnerd's closed off nature at that time. The job offered her an 'escape' to not think of Bullet's death that much, but in reality she was very much shell-shocked. She looked *'skinny and gaunt, eyes that looked empty and filled with sadness at the same time'.* She barely talked to anyone and would keep to herself, even if staff members would often approach her in their own anecdotes. The only one who could get anything out of her was Richie, to whom she told that she came from Seattle, completely alone, and that she was homeless there.

He would offer her rides back home initally as it was so cold in the winter and she was severelly underdressed, having come from Seattle. They would have most of their conversations there, always initiated by Ritchie. Brynnerd became a big topic of discussion amongst the staff when she was not there.

*"It became clear that it was not normal for a 17-year old homeless orphan to just move across the country and be in such a state. It was clear something had happened to her, or had been done to her."*

To Richie she also briefly mentioned Bullet, and that something had happened to her. Of course he figured out that she died in some way. Richie now also drove her from her place to the restaurant, even if that meant waking up an hour earlier to drive to her place and back to the restaurant. Their talks would often be slightly humourous, something that Brynnerd seemed to enjoy. But most of the times they would sit in comfortable silence, or listen to tapes that Richie selected.

One day, Richie found a scramble of some mathematical stuff Brynnerd jotted down outside on a piece of paper she forgot during a break in her shift. It impressed him enourmously, and he showed it to his cousin, but then kept it to himself. Later he questioned her, *"so are ya some kind of 'good will hunting' mathematical genius?"*. She scurried of when this question was first asked, but later told it was 'just her hobby'.

When Mickey heard during family meal (before shift started) that Brynnerd never celebrated Christmas dinner, he invited her to come to his. Brynnerd noted that this was a gesture she would never forget, and that it set *the first spark towards positivity, something that inspired me to look forward, to grow. It was the catalyst to everything that came to me later in life.*

Brynnerd would regularly play in jazz bars and comedy clubs in the city, and took on a second job of painting houses for a painting companies. In the latter she would meet Carter Willson (described futher).

She left Chicago after four months, now having met Carter who was already in Seattle waiting for her. The decision to ultimately go back to Seattle (city of pain, city of thorns) came of the fact that she just didn't *know* Chicago. After thourough conversation with Carter the both of them decided that Chicago was just a lot more logical, and that the city gave the both of them some creative fuel that Chicago didn't carry at that time. Also, Brynnerd knew a recording studio in Seattle, something which she did not have in Chicago. She announced her resignation at the restaurant by leaving a handwritten letter. She talked the evening before to Mickey and Richie that she would go back to where she came for.

*Thank you so much for giving me a job. I promise I'll put your money to good use. Seattle carries fertile ground. Your Chicago provided me with everything I needed, for which I will be forever grateful. Thank you for the Christmas dinner, Mickey. Thank you for all the countless rides, Richie. Your Brynnerd Elias C. Engelbrecht, x.*

#### **Meeting Carter**

In Chicago, Brynnerd was now playing in multiple dive bars every evening, and played guitar for a very low fee for some jazz bands. On top of that, she took on odd jobs like working on a fisher's boat at the bay and painting houses throughout the city to make a living, nex to working most days at the restaurant already. Meanwhile, she was concentrated on renting a place of her own, having become somewhat active in the local skater scene. During her jobs she would note down mathematical problems and read college courses in biology and chemistry in her free time. *"I was nothing but apathic then. Someone could've stabbed me and I wouldn't have felt anything".*

One day, during a painting job of a peculiar yellow house in residential Chicago, she met **Carter Willson** for the first time. They were both assigned on the same job together. Carter Willson, who had just moved to Chicago from the Midwest, was a drifting 18 year old high-school graduate trying to find a spin in life after leaving his parents in a big argument. He wasn't homeless, and was sleeping on friend's couch in the city. He instantly clicked with Brynnerd during the job, their conversations being mainly about music and humorous in nature. They worked for a month in the same neighborhood. After finishing the job they started playing in dive bars together, quickly seperating from the jazz collectives Bryn played for.

A month after meeting (in december 2009) they released the final version of creep, and soon after they brought out the record 'The Bends' which didn't gather much succes. It had an underground following in New York amongst music students, one of the most prominent fans being **Tim Vanderweele**, who would later join the band himself. Brynned and Carter now played their own music in bars and small venues, mostly for free.

After leaving Chicago for the milder Seattle, Carter and Brynnerd started renting a basement in a residential house in **Fremont** (february 2010), as Carter had a lot more money saved up. Now their main focus became music, but Brynnerd was still focused on her science.

An element which also drew Bryn to Carter was his one eye: his left eye was injured for three years already, and the eye was closed shut and not replaced with a glass eye whatsoever. Brynnerd became obsessed with the idea of replacing Carter's eye.

## Pike Months

#### **Eye Focus**

As Bryn and Carter worked their way towards completing OK Computer, a record Brynnerd was already writing for two years, Bryn quickly became more focused on her bionic eye project. She drafted up a proposal and reconnected with Dr. Carmel, who immediatly supported her project. Meanwhile, Carter embarked on a trip to New York to look for his friend **Aaron Hoghstrasser** who he had met last summer at a Portland music festival. Aaron, now 19, was studying percussion at Juilliard. Carter's aim was to convince him to join the band.

Dr. Carmel helped to get Bryn's project to the University board, which was met with a lot of dismay. She worked for another month on her own money, and managed to create a whole draft and prototype, consisting of a whole new material and nanofluid used for the eye. The project got traction in Stanford University, and they funded the project by giving Brynnerd 20,000 dollars, enough to fund her and a small research team.

Brynnerd kept Carmel on the team and took on two doctoral researchers, and they followed Bryn's process to create an eye for three animals: a cow, a primate and a horse. The development rushed by, and was completed in two months (it was completed in june 2010).

#### **Meeting Aaron and Tim**

Meanwhile Carter was two months in New York, and he found his friend Aaron who was immediatly enthousiastic upon hearing their music. He agreed to join after his semester ended in June. Aaron introduced him to **Tim Vanderweele,** who was studying Jazz Music at the New School. Tim was already acquanted with Brynnerd's music and immediatly joined the project. Together with Tim and Aaron, Carter worked on a website and an online depository for their music. Tim and Carter also scoured the city for record labels who would back them, with no initial succes.

Carter returned to Seattle in July, now having found two new band members. Brynnerd and the rest clicked immediatly upon meeting, having remembered meeting Aaron at a concert in Seattle previously. *"It was almost as fate brought the four of us together. I've never had anything happen so organically in my life ever. It was as if I'd finally found what I'd been looking for my whole life, and life decided that one soulmate wasn't merely enough but it decided on three".*

#### **First scientific trials**

The first trials for Brynnerd's eye began in July 2010, and before the project could be tested on animals a period of three months of approval had to be done for.

Brynnerd continued working with Dr. Carmel Moss on his mathematical projects, and Brynnerd was cited in three scientific papers of his. By Carters convincing Bryn and Carter went on a roadtrip to both Stanford and UCLA, to look for more funding in their medical departments. This proved succesful, and Brynnerd's and Moss's project was awarded 50,000 in total of funding by both boards.

#### **Working on OK Computer**

Tim and Aaron joined the group in Seattle in August 2010, just after Carter and Bryn finished their funding tour. The four of them met together for the first time, and clicked instantly.

> The first time we met her she was sitting down, solemnly, in their downtown Seattle apartment. The place was beat, you could smell the humidity. She was surrounded by all sorts of papers, and formulas and lyrics were hanging up from the wall. It was intriguing, I have yet to experience something like it. The first thing she ever said to me was: "so... are you in?". She was stern, and she knew that she was changing everything.
>
> Tim Vanderweele, 2011 Rolling Stone interview

The four of them decided that they were a fit, and they jumped right into the work. Carter and Bryn moved to the house in Pike, and the four of them started recording. They all lived together in the same house, which was known as an open artistic collective space. They had to provide small labor in exchange for living there. The hous on Pike was known for its Bohemian lifestyle and values, chaos and noise complaints. Meanwhile, Brynnerd was awaiting her first trial.

#### **First scientific succes**

In September of 2010, all three animal trials were succesful. This shook the scientific community, and the project received minor attention. Brynnerd's team got another 50,000 dollars of funding to complete the human trial. Since the eye was specifially tailor made for Carter, he would be the first human test subject. He was completely willing, and trusted Brynnerd in the life or death surgery.

In November, the first major news network picked up on the story (*Read in New York Times: Is this 18 year old ignoring the scientific method?)* which painted a negative figure on Brynnerds "vigilate" and "juvenile" intentions, painting her as a "silicon valley" trailblazer who was a mere biohacker protege after the money. Brynnerd perceveired as she believed in the project. Only few scientists believed the **nanofluid-alkalide** to be real and refused to acknoledge Brynnerd's discovery of a new element and fluid. The final churn came when Carter signed a consent form, which stated that he fully understood the consequences of his actions, and that only he would be liable for any injury or death. Thanks to Dr. Carmels funding and ties to the Medicals Labs at UW, the surgery on Carter was planned to go through in end of October. The only obstacle laying ahead of them being the board of National Medicine, the team having a pending request since November. Because of the initial nanofluids period of decay without encapsulation, the surgery had to go through within the next month.

#### **Finishing OK Computer**

Meanwhile, the four of them where finishing up OK Computer, the album that Brynnerd had been working on since she was fifteen years old. With Tim's and Aaron's professional experience, the mixing soon came to a close, and only few finishing touches were added. Tim and Aaron worked extensivly on the marketing of the album, planning to use Brynnerd's exposure in December as a drive for album sales. The first single, *Paranoid Android,* was set to be independently released for free online the day after Carter's surgery.

#### **Completing the surgery**

At the end of december the surgery passed the board last minute and everything was set to go through. Only few news network were covering the story live, as it flew majorly under the radar, the main reason being that UW considered it a big fail-safe risk. On the 6th of December, Brynnerd and an ophtalmologist entered the 17-hour surgery by themselves, Bryn herself taking the lead. On the 7th of December, news was out that the surgery was completed succesfully.

> "I don't think audiences now are able to fully appreciate the importance of that day. Science, since that moment, had changed forever. Something that was deemed to impossible to happen now, had just happened before our very eyes... The boy woke up healthy, claiming in tears that he could see again. Even after we ran all the tests, there was nothing left to conclude but. She not only made use of an unknown element, but changed our perspectives on sight as a whole."
>
> Craig Hampten, NYT 2022, Scientific Writer

The news went viral, all news networks reporting the story in a frenzy. Nobody could believe what had actually happened. In the spur of the moment the Noble Prize commitee decided to nominate Brynnerd and Dr. Moss with a noble prize, the awardation being only days away.

Meanwhile, on the 8th of december paranoid android was released, and the single picked up a lot of steam in the online music community. It would only take days before sales would reach record-breaking highs.

#### **Nobel Prize & Music Billboards**

On the 10th of december 2010, Brynnerd was awarded the noble prize in medicine, being the youngest person in history to do so, at 18 years old. Pictures taken of her on the stage went viral online, in-print newspapers with her on the cover being sold out in all major cities. The University of Washington even had an 'academic holiday' for the students and staff to celebrate the win.

Meanwhile, Aaron and Tim decided to release OK Computer prematurly whilst Brynnerd and Carter were in Norway. *The Bends* and Brynnerd's single *Creep* has already taken most of the spots in Billboards alternative top twenty rankings, with fifty thousand and hunderd thousand sold perspectivly. With *OK Computer* being released the 10th of December, the group was awaiting what would happen.

In a week the record had sold one million copies, surpassing any expectation which was previously held. It became clear that something historic was happening to all of them. Because the records were being released independantly, handled by Tim, they were handed all of the profits. But the mounting pressure quickly showed the need for clear managment.

## First Fame

**Computer Analyzed tour.**

After the release of OK Computer the band were contacted by **Alisa Ferguson**, a 38-year-old who was the daughter of a legendary musician and producer. She signed them to *Sub-Pop* records, who immediatly booked the group of tour, a decision which lay entirely out of the bands hands. The tour started in march of 2011, ending on april of 2012. It lasted for more than a year.

Brynnerd decided to hire an entire crew and 5 additional touring musicians, who she was connected with through Tim's Juilliard connections. They quickly sold out all of the venues they booked across the States and had to book even more shows. In total this amounted to 200 shows in over 1 year, which was an insane schedule. They where all put under the extreme pressure of the entire music industry. Only after the tour Brynned managed to separate her label from Sub-Pop. The Ok Computer tour grossed over 66 million dollars: each individual member made over 10 million merely by touring. Record sales gave each member 5 million, an extra two million given to Bryn symbolically.

> So many groups start up with a massive hit tour that just invigorates you but also breaks the morale... But the tour Brynnerd lived through is insane. I don't think I've ever seen a band rise to fame like that.
>
> Flea, 2013 interview with Pitchfork

Both *OK Computer* sales and *The Bends* made up for more than 10 million copies sold in total. The band marketing's strategy especially employed online platforms, W.A.S.T.E. being set up while touring in Amsterdam, which became their warehouse for merchendising.

**Records**

All the members struggled in their own ways with the sudden increase in fame. Especially Brynnerd, who carried all the 'star quality' of the group was suddenly everywhere in mainstream media and attention. During the span of the tour she was interviewed more than a thousand times by different publications, appearing on-air, on the radio or in print every day for more than 8 months. The peculiar record carries a name, *The Brynnerd Record,* which stands for the longest a musician has been in the press.

Carter took a very special image, a medical wonder as well as a brilliant musician, all of the attention was hard to navigate. During the tour Bryn and Carter would visit medical facilities, hospitals and universities. They would host talks about the surgery and Brynnerd's discovery. In the first three months of touring, Brynnerd even performed surgery on patients as the technique was still completely new then. With the help of *Dr. Prof. Carmel Moss,* they constructed a guide book based on medical conferences they attended, together with video material explaining the surgery. The latter would be used in University classed Brynnerd would teach in Harvard and University of Washington.

**Struggles with Immediate fame**

Aaron almost left the band several times during the tour, even though things always remained amicable. The group's schedule consisted of being at venues from 5 until 12, attending afterparties or events until 3 or later and sleeping until 12. The other time would be used as rehearsal for the band or meeting elites who wanted to talk to them. For Brynnerd all days of were spent on scientific work. Carter spent time navigating record deals. For Aaron and Tim all free time consisted on promotion and navigating their public appearance, maintaining the website both of them constructed, anwsering fanmail.

During the *Computer Analyzed tour* the band was still managed by *Alana Ferguson,* but soon tensions started rising as the band found that they received unequal treatment. Tim and Aaron first launched the idea in the group that the record was pressuring them, squeezing them out as a way of making people money. It was only two months after the tour when the band terminated the record deal, garnering a lot of media attention as they where signed to record two records with *SubPop.* The fault was put on *Ferguson* as she didn't mediate the situation well between the band and the record. Since then, *Brynnerd* has operated without any sort of official manager, all of the bookings and tours being managed by ***Monique Roels**,* a childhood friend of Tim's.

**W.A.S.T.E.** was disbanded the same day as Alana was fired, as the band didn't want to sell anything except music, and felt that they couldn't ensure the ethicalithy of clothing sold at cheap prices. During the *Kid A* release two years later, W.A.S.T.E. would be constructed again, but as a company employing all the people working for the band and details around it. It currently handles music distribution, licensing, bookings, and merchandising. During the years W.A.S.T.E. has also released several films directed by Tim, as well as short films by Brynnerd and Carter. Any solo work done by the band members are also published under the HQ. Merch-drops have been centered around album releases. It currently emplys ten individuals.

**Continuation of Scientific Career**

After the tour Brynnerd immediatly started her year at Harvard and MIT, studying AFVS and Physics at each institution respectivly. She would research the first stepping stones for her later *i-independance model* at MIT*.* However, the tenure at both colleges would end quickly as she would prioritize her music career, moving to Los Angeles with the rest of her band. She lived on the Harvard campus as most of her courseload was ascribed there. She described her experience there as ultimately libertaring, making her form some long-lasting friendships there. Her tenures ended in april 2013.

**Dissapearance or *Everything in it's Right Place***

Between the months of april 2013 and june 2013 Brynnerd seemingly dissapeared for three months, going into the Alaskan wilderness, only vaguely notifying Carter of her decision. She changed her appearance and went into the experience anonymously, working on farms along the coast before trekking for a month and a half in the vast Alaskan wilderness. She decided to return when she was near dangerous starvation, but felt like she had *attoned.* This dissapearance became the starting shoot for almost all Kid A material, most of the lyrics being written during her journey. The album art also features the mountains she encountered during her isolation.

She recorded a lot of videotapes during her journey, as she was afraid she would kill herself otherwise. They served as a reminder, of a future, but also of a way of saying goodbye. Brynnerd bought an old video camera and some memory cards in her first week. She recorded a video diary with commentary about her thoughts and her day, sometimes discussing moments from her youth. The entire tapes are over 16 hours long. She also talked about contemplating suicide when she was on the farm in Oregon. The tapes are very raw and emotional, being a huge transitional period in her life. She summarized her youth, how her parents died, the orphanages she was in, the child abuse, the foster care, the escape, the homelessness,... The tapes are often quoted in her autobiography and were never revealed to anyone before.

**Recording and releasing KID A**

The group started recording KID A in september 2013, recording until november and releasing the record as a surprise in december without any previous released singles or announcements. The entire record was recorded and made in Yachats, Oregon, where the group rented a house in the forested hills overlooking the bay.

The Kid A release in december 2013 was one of the most written about events in music history, creating shockwaves in the music history. It is commonly described as *the left turn* in Brynner's career. Brynnerd has described OKC and KIDA as double feature albums that complement each other, with the later Amnesiac completing the trinity. Later the group would comment that *the three* could be seen and listened to as one whole album.

## LA years

The LA years are marked by the releases of KID A and Amnesiac, together with two large tours that followed Brynnerd's first four albums: Lost Flowers and Fahrenheit. Brynnerd completed a doctorate in mathematics at Stanford in 2017, marking the renewal of her scientific career which had taken the back-track during her years in LA. The LA years know a heavy collaborative period as well as a social one, making every member of the band meet a lot of new people in the industry and around it. Brynnerd notably dated Josh Klinghoffer and Noah Lennox during these years and on tour. For Tim his move here was formational for his turn towards the film medium. Carter had a well-lived in house in Santa Monica while the rest of the group lived in Silver Lake and Echo Park.

**Move to LA**

In January of 2014 the whole group indefinitly moved to LA. Carter, Tim and Aaron had already made their moves after the Computer Analyzed Tour in the summer of 2012. Brynnerd being the last one of the group, moving to the city after the KID A recording sessions in Oregon. The group all moved to the Silver Lake and Echo park neighborhoods.

**Standford Research and Doctorate**

While in LA Brynnerd didn't focus at all on her scientific career, putting the whole thing on a backtrack. However Stanford had offered her a research opportunity after her term in Boston ended, and in march of 2014 she agreed to be tied at the faculty there freely. She also worked on a doctorate in mathematics between 2014 and 2017 there.

**Amnesiac Release**

Upon the move to LA the band still had a lot of material left from the Yachats recordings, which where then described as the 'shadow' of the KIDA album. Eventually they decided to release these tracks in july of 2014 with 'Amnesiac', the title hinting at the 'shadow' and forgetful nature of these tracks. The album was critically received and completed the *trinity* project the band had embarked on.

**Lost Flowers Tour**

2014 july - 2015 april

**Atoms for Peace**

2016

**Fahrenheit Tour**

2016

## NY years

##### Hail to The Thief

Released in march 2019. Longest gap between two Brynnerd records is Amnesiac and Hail To The Thief.

## Seattle Years

Moved here full time in 2019, and stayed there the entire pandemic. The Seattle Years were in its beginning marked by an absence of musical presence, Bryn would abstain from creating almost any music there, the only musical instrument she allowed herself in the first year being a piano. Later it would serve as the location for the conception of the Moon Shaped Pool Album.

Otherwise the years were central for her UW scholarship, and the founding of the *Engelbrecht Institute* at the university.

The Seattle Scrap Killer investigations that started in 2022 marked the early onsets of the end of these years, and the move

## Calistoga Years

Started already in 2019, but really intense in 2021. Lived here full time in 2022 with the rest of the group together with some others.

## Musical Career

### Pablo Honey (2009 - June)

First album from the former band known as *brynnerd and the bullet,* but is now taken under *brynnerd*'s discography. It is Brynnerd's first full-length album, and didn't know any release up until 2011 when Aaron put it online, and had its first pressing in 2012 during the commercial succes of the Computer Analyzed tour. It was then marketed as *the* Brynnerd solo abum, recorded when she was 16.

=> Aaron was one of the first downloaders of the album, being almost 18 at the time.

### The Bends (2010 - July)

Only album that was made by Brynnerd, Carter and Bullet. Most songs have their genesis in the cooperation between Brynnerd and Bullet, but this is not widely known.

### OK Computer (2011 - December)

Also known as the *Seattle-Bullet Album,* the album tells a retelling of the story of Bullet, and the eventuality of her tragic murder and death. Side-lined with that it is also a hopeful string that gets weaved, of the young and pure group that creates from the heart: slightly cynical, humorous, and perhaps knowingly on the cusp of greatness... *"We knowingly created our own magnum opus, thank you...".* Brynnerd still considers this her most beautiful album by far, as it was written *purely:* written by her and the four of them, made when they where not famous, without any outside pressure or influence,... It tells the story of a people on the cusp of greatness.

### Kid A (2013 - December)

*The Dissapeacance Project* or Kid A - Kid A referring to the first cloned human, in some ways Brynnerd herself considered herself to be this person as she has no point or person of origin (in physicality or bureaucratically). Recorded in isolation on the Oregon coast, it explores themes of isolation and suicidal ideation through the distance that is created through modern technologies and ways of operating. It is in fact a retelling of the journey that Brynnerd (and the band) went through as of the beginning of the CA tour, with a heavy focus on *the dissapearence.*

### Amnesiac (2014 - July)

An album about forgetfulness, and coming to terms with isolation and new realities. Most tracks are B-sides from the Kid A album, described at their *shadows.* Amnesiac, Kid A and OKC form ***The Trinity Project*** that the band started in 2011 when first coming together, forming the idea of three different conceptual albums all centered around the central theme of 'se(a)ttle-technologies'. Ok Computer being the guitar album, Kid A the electronic, and Amnesiac the unbound album. *ed, josh* (beginning).

* **i might be wrong - edward.** *what would I do, i i did not have you?/ open up, let me in.*

### Hail to the thief (2019, March)

Album about *conformation, consolidation, acclimation.* Also known as *the political album,* even though Bryn has discussed that the themes weren't intended as such. After a five year break musically, this record was put together over the entirety of their stay in LA, released and mastered when the group had already moved to new york. Most of the songs were rewritten just before the release because of the David/Paul happenings. Word clippings from the album taken while driving around in a cadillac on the streets of LA and taking phrases of ads. Takes the standpoint of a new young group of people have to conform, the changes of the industry having settled like an evil root. If *The Trinity Project* is pure, Hail is a confirmation of sin. *josh, noah, spike & david.*

* **where i end and you begin - paul.** *there a gap where we meet, where i end and you begin/ i can watch and not take part/ i will eat you alive, and there'll be no more lies.* written pre their real relationship, but already when they (without saying anything to each other) thinking about doing something. written after the happenings in seattle. she was very hurt because he wasn't upfront with her, and she expected something else. in the song you can also feel like intial guilt of doubting the relationship with david.
* **there, there - spike.** *in pitch dark, i go walking in your landscape/ just 'cause you feel it, doesn't mean it's there/ there's always a siren snging you to shipwreck/ don't reach out, don't reach out/ heaven sent you to me/ we are accidents waiting, waiting to happen.* blindly following someone into a relationship, ignoring the real person she is, trying so hard to reach something and not reaching it. but he is still a part of something that helpes her further, a good influence.
* **a punch up at a wedding - david.** *i don't know why you bother, nothing's ever good enough for you/ i was there, it wasn't like that/ you've come here just to start a fight/ hypocrite, opportunist, don't infect me with your poison.* perhaps the realest brynnerd break up song released to this day.
* **myxomatosis - david/paul.** the song about their mixed-up situation, taking multiple perspectives. you feel the anger and confusion. the first alinea being from david's perspective: *i been where i liked, i slept with who i liked/ she ate me up for breakfast, she screwed me in a vice.* the main chorus is brynnerd perspectives - *i got edited fucked up, stranged, beaten up.* and paul's are the last lines: *that wasn't my intention, i did it for a reason* (the reason being bryn).
* **scatterbrain - noah.** *yesterday's people, ends up scatterbain.*

### OK Computer - OKNOTOK (2021 - December)

Released on OK Computers 10-year anniversary, containing tracks that were previously not released on the record. Most songs have changed lyrics through the years and have thus been ascribed different meanings. For Bryn this was a very difficult moment to release, as it was a force to reflect on the past decennium. Served as the boost to finish up and create what would become In Rainbows (the finalized lovers project)

* **i promise - david.** *i won't run away no more, I promise. even when I get bored, I promise/ even when the ship is wrecked, I promise. Tie me to the rotten deck, I promise.*
* **man of war - paul.** *but drunken confessions, and hijacked affaird, will just make your more alone/ when you come home, i'll bake you cake, made of all their eyes/ i wish you could see me, dressed for the kill, you're my man of war.*
* lift, lull, meeting in the aisle, melatonin, polyethylene, pearly, palo alto, how i made my millions, are completely from 2011, changes.
* **a reminder - edward.** *that night we kissed and i really meant it, whatever happens, if we're still speaking. pick up the phone, play me this song.*

### In Rainbows (2022 - December)

Also known as the *lovers project,* each song is rumoured to cover a relationship she was in, with two songs beings about her friendships with carter and tim. The project took the longest to create, with songs as *Nude* being in the making since 2008. Each song was written directly in the aftermath of the end of a relationship, and sometimes (but rarely) during. The ones about Aaron, Carter and TIm have been in the workings since 2010, having been performed already at shows. It is also known as the New York project as Brynnerd mainly worked on it there. Tracks are not always chronologically listed according to the order of her relationships.

* **15 step - josh**: *you reel me out then you cut the string/ how come I end up where I started?/ you used to be alright, what happened? -* during the la years she would often end up back with josh, either as a friendship or something more. but then suddenly a new distance would be created, usually inflicted by him. a loss of words.
* **body snatchers - noah**: *i do not understand, what it is i've done wrong/ has the light gone out for you? because the light's gone out for me/i've seen it coming.* a sudden distance that is created when the initial rush of a new relationship fades. here the song takes his perspective, the person the song directed to is herself. confusion, he interpreted her distance as a failure in the relationship.
* **nude - aaron/paul**: *don't get any big ideas, they're not gonna happen/ but there'll be something missing/ now that you feel it, you don't/ so don't get any big ideas, they're not gonna happen/ you'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking.* perhaps the most complicated song of the album, also because it has been in the making since 2011, ever since she knew aaron. the both of them initially were attracted to each other, but eventually they had to keep each other at a distance and not pursue. it is the most beautiful and sensitive song on the album, mirroring her complex relationship with aaron that has often crossed the borders of a mere friendship. the beginning being the end also playing into the narrative, that when they first met she could almost already sense how their story would go. was initially written for the okc record, the shadow of self-doubt. the final enigmatic line is a statement that comes from herself, she feels guilt for wanting him.
* **weird fishes - spike***: your eyes, they turn me/ why should i stay here?/ i'd be crazy not to follow, follow where you lead/ everybody leaves, if they get the chance, and this is my chance.*about their healing relationship, how he helped start her new york years (he was the reason she moved there *- i'd be crazy not to follow)*.the line about eyes refer the typical blue of spike's eyes, a clear reference. a transitional period, from la to ny and the initial insecurities that come along with that*.* ***'****i follow to the edge, of the earth, and fall off'* how in this relationship she also blindly followed him, blinded by the love she felt for him. and how eventually he pushed her to outgrow, how he didn't keep her potential in a box: *and this is my chance.* how for so long, their relationship actually seemed real and hopeful, but then she finds her own bottom again and *escapes* from what they build.
* **all i need - david**: *i am all the days, that you chose to ignore/ i'm in the middle of your picture/ i am a moth, who just wants to share your light/ it's all wrong, it's all right.* perhaps one of the only true pure love songs, a song that depicts a clear yearning. david as the anchor, but this time he is the one that keeps her at shore. after a while his anchor sinks and this is when they become unseperable. but also an atonement for the fact that she cheated on him with paul: *i only stick with you because there are no others* - and when the other is there, she, the moth, leaves. but the anchor still being there, with their relationship restarting three years later: *i am an animal trapped in your hot car -* she still cannot escape her feelings for him*.* the eventual crescendo showing her massive doubts about their both relationships, not knowing if the controversy surrounding it was worth it, or if she thrived amidst it.
* **faust arp - nathan:** *it's on again, off again, on again/ it's what you feel, not what you ought to/ reasonable and sensible, dead from the neck up/ we thought we had it in you but no, for no real reason/ i love you but enough is enough.* the relationship got entangled with a lot of public drama surrounding her, and nathan is the first lover she revealed the abuse to, but this is eventually what brought it all down. the song shows that he just didn't have it in him, dispite of a good person he is instrinsically. the dissapointment she felt after she felt him fade away, the mistrust and hurt he caused her. *you've got your head full of feathers* implying that he was ultimatly untrustworthy with her heavy burdens.
* **reckoner - tim:** *you are not to blame for, bittersweet distractor/ because we seperate (in rainbows)/ take me with you.* an ode to tim, and the perplexing creative differences that eventually made brynnerd, the band, what it is. the ripples being the creative waves the duo creates, but also the distance that is created by their physical distance often. reckoner as the thinker, tim as the intellectual post for all her overthoughts. tim as the one who will sit down at her desk and not let her ramble, but actually go into discussion with what she says. in rainbows, the title being mentioned in his song carries meaning.
* **house of cards - aaron:** *i don't want to be your friend, i just want to be your lover/ forget about your house of cards, and i'll do mine.* song about cheating with paul, and how he did the same. very literal, about how much they both wanted the relationship. about the pining that had lasted for years on both sides, but paul's house of cards keeping them from pursuing any action. but eventually they both gave in - *no matter how it ends, no matter how it starts.*
* **jigsaw falling - nick:** *before you had too much, come back in focus again/ so there is nothing to explain, regard each other as you pass.* substance issues of nick, but these supposed substance issues also standing for the ruse she felt when seeing him. in the song you feel the votality of the relationship, but also the extreme attraction that you don't feel in the other songs. the song was written during the first four months that she was seeing him. *just as you take my hand, just as you write my number down* is the first lyric in the album to actually describe the first meeting. the song can be seen as a narrative, with the first part being the intial intrigue and attraction, followed by a huge explosion in feeling and physicality. *jigsaw falling into place* is about their weird situation finally made sense to her, and that whole line being the release of the build-up of the song.
	+ rewrite: jigsaws is about **swann.**
* **videotape - carter:** *you are my centre when i spin away, out of control on videotape/ this is my way of saying goodbye, 'cause i can't do it face to face/ you shouldn't be afraid, because i know today has been the most perfect day i've ever seen.* song written in one day, when they had the most perfect day, but brynnerd was planning to commit suicide in the coming future. the song was initially written as a way of saying goodbye, a personal suicide note just for the two of them. videotape refers to their mode of communication, that most painful things that they have ever had to say to each other have been done over videotape: during the dissapearance all the tapes were adressed to him.

##### ***in rainbows disk 2 - accompagnements***

Is not a 'shadow' album to in rainbows, but an addition. The track listing can be seen as very similar to the *lover* approach, each song still describing her relationships. The fact that they didn't make it into the main rainbow being because of narrative reasons. These songs are always written post-break up and anger driven.

* **mk1 - carter/videotape.** opening with the instrumentals where the album ended. *carter is my ending and beginning.*
* **down is the new up - josh.** *won't you be my girl?/ your services are not required, your future's bleak, you're so last week/ you crawled off and left us/ shake your pockets out.*
* **go slowly - paul.** *over here, come slowly, to me/ i've been waiting, patient, patiently/ i didn't care, but now i can see, that there's a way out.*
* **last flowers - spike.** *and i can't face the evening straight, you offer me escape/ and if i'm gonna talk, i just wanna talk/ if you take me there you'll get relief.*
* **up on the ladder - everyone.**
* **bangers + mash - nick.** *you bit me, bit me, bit me, and now I want more/ you're dancing to my little red book/ i've got the poision, poison, and I want more/ i'm taking you down when i go down*
* **4 minute warning - bullet.**

### A Moon Shaped Pool (2023 - December)

The Shadow to the In Rainbows album, both also in color scheme but is entirely a different album both conceptually and musically. A Moon Shaped Pool serves as the final acceptence of the loss of Bullet, the irreversebility of one's own actions and traumas, the one-line of life. It also serves as the realization that she cannot leave Seattle behind, that she has truly settled there. *The house where I lost my friend is still my home.* An unexpected but deserved embrace, a settling down. It is known as the *Swann* album, the black and white scheme also referring to him.

### Film Soundtracks

Brynnerd is known for her frequent collaboration with director ***Paul Thomas Anderson***. Upon hearing *OK Computer* he contacted her specifically if she was interested in providing direction on sound. Eventually, it turned into her making the whole soundtrack for her first feature film.

#### *There Will Be Blood* (2012)

Together with the Berlin Philarmonic, this soundtrack was sporadically directed whist on the *Computer Analyzed* tour. It is still regarded as one of the best soundtracks of the 21st century. It was nominated for *Best Original Score* at the 2013 Oscars.

#### *Phantom Thread* (2022)

Film doubles as a confirmation of their past relationship. Narrative of Alma and Woodcock as Bryn and Paul, their roles slightly reversed. The sort of clinging that both have shown each other throughout the years is represented in the figure of alma. The continued distance and genius possession the both entail are given in Woodcock. Bryn is both the muse for the film, as Alma is the muse for Woodcock. The enigmatic poisoning scene shows that no matter what the two can't be seperated, or so that is Paul's decision. He willingly takes her poison, her hardships and the things she brings with her, over the stable life he had before.

Many questions why Bryn would even want to create the soundtrack for such a film, that is esentially about her. The main theme was written before, during the actuality of their relationship she wrote the main variation. Paul asked her if she would create the soundtrack for his next film, and at first she adamantly declined (in this, taking the role of Woodcock). He came to her and explained what he had written, and what would be in the making in a month, and that essentially the film couldn't exist without her cooperation. This intrueged and touched her so deeply that she couldn't help but accept - *taking in the poison.* It was a cathartic proces to make this soundtrack, and for Paul it was cathartic making the film.

### Collaborations

#### *Daft Punk collaboration* (2013)

Brynnerd was invited by Daft Punk in 2011 in their Paris studio, during her *Computer Analyzed* tour. She co-wrote their hit-song *Get Lucky,* and played guitar on the record. In 2013, they performed the song together at the Grammy Award. Additionaly, the album won *Record of The Year,* getting Brynnerd her first Grammy win.

#### *Grimes: We Appreciate Power* (2019)

Performed with the musician as a stand-in for HANA during the Grammy awards of 2019.

#### *Golden Globe Performance with Lemon Demon* (2020)

Brynnerd were invited to play the closing song for the Golden Globes, a tradition which was ongoing since the 2010's. For the longest time the Hollywood Foreign Press Association had been trying to get Brynnerd to play this closing track. Eventually, in 2022, they booked the highly-regarded slot. Unknown to anyone, the band invited *Lemon Demon* to perform his song *Ultimate Showdown* together. It came as a huge surprise to audiences, hosts, and attending talent. The song opened with a few guitar chords reminiscent of a *"typical Brynnerd song",* with spotlights only turned slightly on. Suddenly the light came on and Neil came running on stage, Brynnerd now playing the familiar chords of showdown. The moment and video recording went viral, garnering over 30 million views in its first week online. At first, the move was regarded with backlash from some public figures and publications. But especially *Pitchfork, Paul McCartney, Pharell Williams, Edward Norton, Audrey Plaza* and *Elliot Page* being outspoken supporters of the controversial move. Bryn later made the statement that it was intended as *"something purely, fun, different and surprising. One of the most recognizible 2000's internet anthems deserved a world-stage, in my opinion. Besides, aren't we all a tiny bit anti-establishment?".* During the performance, the room became more and more alive with some celebrities standing up and dancing along, especially during the encore. During the encore of the performance, the band added an extended version of the song, where Brynnerd began running down the isle and dancing on one of the tables while playing guitar. During a later Reddit AMA that the band did, it was revealed that this move was staged with the crew sitting on the table, composed of the cast of the hit-drama show *Succession.* During the AMA, the band provided additional details:

*The whole thing started with a "what if...", kind of a practical joke we where discussing for the longest time for one of our live shows. Neil is a good friend of ours so he was on board from day one. The HFP was on our asses since day one and in 2022 we cut the chord... It was a pain to sneak in Neil backstage and to figure everything out without rehearsing him properly, so we would just play some rando C-side song that we chartered as a "new release". We only had three days to get Neil ready, and he did brilliantly. For the whole 'Bryn-is-on-a-table-bit', we kindly asked Kieran first for permission and then the rest of the cast. Brian, Sarah, etc. were all on board. Jesse too, I hope. It's still one of our proudest achievements (Aaron).*

And, to a question asking why they did it: *I won't call this half-assery a protest, but we hate that organization. Covering up sexual assault, and prevailing a culture that allows such behaviour to happen in an industry,... Playing a song that they would consider "half art" just seemed like a decent way to give them the finger. And on top of that, there's a saying I will always stand by: take the money, run, and redestribute. Seattle homeless shelters were given all the $$ we made (Brynnerd).*

## Artistry

### Filmography

#### *Karma Police Extended* (2012), David Lynch

"Her duality and above-earthiness have to be captured in art." He commented. "I wish to create an entire library of films with her as the subject. She is the purest subject to represent human emotion and to represent the eternal state of the human condition. Warhol would have adored her."

You hear the crickets and her light breathing. Her narrative is shown with subtitles. She talks about someone she lost, how it was her fault, about the concept of ultimate peace, about nature, about life, but the main theme is about someone (or multiple people?) she loves very very much, but she doesn't feel that it is mutual, or that she is too afraid to act on her feelings.. This goes on for 15 minutes. Then there is a sudden cut to the night. You see her sitting on the bench again, a faint street light making her visible to the eyes. Then she stands up and walks down the street, slowly beginning to run. She runs and runs and runs, and you hear a car approaching: it stops when it reaches her. You see her expression changing to a confused calm, and then she is left expressionless. She steps in the car. Now you see her in the car, from the right side perspective. The car starts driving again. You never see who is driving. She leans, closes her eyes, and blood starts pouring out of her mouth, then she smiles, trying to wipe off the blood, the car starts accelerating, she gets even calmer, she starts crying softly, then she stops, the blood continues flowing out, she lets out a dainty screech, she reaches for the person driving with her bloody hands in a loving manner, and then it cuts to a red background. The red background stays there for a minute. There is no sound. Then it cuts back to her, she is now shown in the trunk of the car, covered with blood, then someone closes the car, you hear their footsteps walking away into the distance. You hear the car starting, the camera tilts and you see it driving away. There are subtitles that say "I'm sorry. I know I love you. I know you don't love me. I know I am not able to love anymore. I don't even think you know that I love you. It is horrible. It's too much. I'm very sad. I'm sorry I couldn't make it. I know I lost you. I'm sorry." The film ends.

### Influences

**Favorite Books:** bonfire of the vanities

**Favorite Films:** crash, secretary, sex lies & videotape, magnolia, election, exotica, drugstore cowboy.

**Favorite Musicians/Albums:** animal collective, grizzly bear, early fall out boy & paramore, frog, daft punk, the walkmen.

## Scientific & Academic Career

### I-Independance Model

Her theory on time. Title of her paper: *Mastery of the fouth dimension.*

Brynnerd her culminative life work. Turns out the visions she's been having this whole time of particles, of something grander, weren't just nothing. She becomes obsessed with the idea of controlling time, to understanding it. She saw in it, a whole different branch of physics. Essentially what quantum physics meant to people in the late 19th century. It combines almost all branches of modern physics.

Changed the world forever. Coinced the 'second nuclear bomb for humanity'.

### Tenet

Event in which she used the bridge she created to try and save Bullet, back in her time. This even created the Tenet, in which Time Travel was forever weaven in the narrative of the universe from that point on, with no turning back.

## Bibliography

#### Articles written

##### My Seattle, 2021

In 2021 Brynnerd wrote an article for *The Stranger* with the title '*My Seattle: tidbits and murmurs',* which was a written guide to places that where important to her, or just spots she liked. It became a bucket list for people visiting the city.

#### Notable Articles about Brynnerd

##### *A Promethean genius or schizophrenic?,* 2021

Revealing piece that delves into the community college records and first interviews with the psychiatric board of the UW (to test if she was sound to perform the surgery). Journalist states that Brynnerd is in fact a schizophrenic, as told by the CC. The records of the UW showed that she had a strong tendency to psychosis, but that the symptoms she was experiencing where just so abnormal that they couldn't be just simply attributed. *We are probably dealing with a mind beyond any ones comprehension. The question is whether this should evoke fear, mistrust, or awe.*

Tells that Brynnerd has been experiencing these symptons since she was 14, and that the same thing is probably still happening. Links her two documented dissapearances, fragmented relationships and revolutionary aspect to her schizophrenia.

Controversial article because it questions the validity of Brynnerd and the medical board which approved her in 2010. A warning sign to the world that they should be careful with such a mind. It was the flaring gun for people to start delving into her life, especially the *Seattle years,* since the *Seattle Scrap Killer* had been getting more media attention.

The UW said they always had full trust in Brynnerd's intentions and methods, and that her diagnosis never concluded to be schizophrenia (although the CC one did). Stanford, MIT & Harvard and Columbia also issued official statements. A mental health specialist also commented in a NYT op-ed that schizophrenia is a very common symptom among genius minds, and that it is almost a side-affect of thinking so differently. Carter, Aaron, Tim and Carmel also came to her defense.

#### *Brynnerd: American Appolo,* Karl Shermin, 2023

(title is a direct play on *American Prometheus,* which details the biography of the father of the nuclear bomb).

## Filmography

Brynnerd has starred in several films, as well as directed one with her friend Tim Vanderweele.

### Starred

#### *Vermeculite,* 2011

Captures interviews with Brynnerd and Carter, talking about Master and Subject (Brynnerd as Master, Carter as Subject). They take on the aparent roles as the film progresses, and their relationship becomes more abusive as time moves on. Master strips all Subject's rights, and Subject even forgets he had them to begin with. The film is seen as a semi-documentary, where the film begins rooted in reality, but soon new rules are introduced. In the end you end up with a whole different reality than you started with, which is completely based in fiction. The film was made at the end of the *Computer Analyzed* tour, with comic intent.

#### *Birdman (or the unexpected virtue of ignorance),* 2013

Stars in a very minor role as the assistant. In fact this is her first major acting debut. On this set she met Edward Norton.

#### *Lapdog,* 2014

Marks the beginnnig in Tim's work that focuses mainly on *Brynnerd* and their characteristics. Whereas Towson felt like a documentary with a personal touch, Lapdog marks the beginning of Vanderweele's *immersive realism* era, a style which he still utilises in all of his work. Later talking about *Lapdog,* Tim commented that *"It became clear to me that there was so much I had to say and show with these particular people... My worlds of people. Fiction or nonfiction, I figured they, or me, would always be my starting points. There was nothing else which could be so truthful."*

*Lapdog* shows Bryn sitting on the floor in her Los Angeles home, almost hunched over like the title of the film suggests. She's working on something, papers laying on the ground all around her.

#### *Like Spinning Plates,* 2017

First short film. Features Brynnerd walking around New York city at night. Tim takes clear inspiration from Kubrick's cinematography in Eyes Wide Shut. Bryn first enters a store, where she meets the manager of a local band. They take a cab together to a venue, where she meets someone she would rather not meet. She runs away from the venue, running across the Brooklyn Bridge. She then stumbles across Greenwich nightlife after taking the subway there, and gets pulled into a bar by a random friend she sees there. The short film also marks Bryn's first acting performance, after *Vermeculite.*

#### *Codeine,* David Lynch, 2020

Head role together with Aaron as the main couple.

#### *Calistoga,* 2021

Documents Aaron's house in Calistoga, the people visiting it, living in it and the ideas and conversations that happen there.

#### *Everything in its wrong place,* 2022

About the disastrous but life-changing *Computer Analyzed* tour, also about Tim's 'almost brother' Kenneth who died because of a Medical Error in England.

### Notable Music Videos

* **Creep -** *Carter Willson,* 2010. a sort of re-shot of the smells like teen spirit music video.
* **Karma Police -** *Jonathan Glazer,* 2011. shot in a car, claustrophic and immense. became one of the most iconic music videos of the 2010's.
* **No Surprises -** *Grant Gee,* 2011. a thank that is slowly filled up, a shoking.
* **Paranoid Android** - *Bryn Engelbrecht,* 2011. clips from tour footage.
* **Airbag -** *Tim Vanderweele,* 2011.
* **Just -** *Jonathan Glazer,* 2011. one of the largest mysteries told in music videos form.
* **Street Spirit -** *David Lynch,* 2011. loopings, reminiscant of *twin peaks the return.*
* **Fake Plastic Trees -** *Jake Scott,* 2011. vintage japanese feel, in a grocery store.
* **Idioteque -** *Gus Van Sant,* 2013.
* **Pyramid Song -** *Paul Thomas Anderson,* 2013.
* **Talk Show Host -** *Baz Luhrman,* 2016.
* **Lotus Flower -** *Spike Jonze,* 2018.
* **My Iron Lung -** *Spike Jonze,* 2018.
* **2 + 2 = 5 -** *Bryn Engelbrecht,* 2019. animated and angry.
* **There, There -** *Spike Jonze,* 2019.
* **Sail to the moon -** *Paul Thomas Anderson,* 2019.
* **Burn The Witch -** *Jonathan Glazer,* 2020.
* **Nude -** *Brynnerd Engelbrecht,* 2022.

###### Influence

Brynnerd has received several accolades throughout her scientific and musical career.

In 2011, for her *Spectral-Eye* and *Nano-Alkalide Fluid* she received the Noble Prize in Medicine. Consequentially, she was named the most influential person in the world that year. She was the cover of Time magazine that year.

In 2014, it became widely accepted that Brynnerd was one of the most influential musicians currently working, with *Ok Computer* and *Kid A* being the best selling records in the alternative genre.

#### Made About Brynnerd

**Dot Hacker, No °3, 2017:** concept album about Brynnerd. A sort of departure letter when she left Los Angeles and with that also Josh. About their relationship and friendship and its eventual failure. It is cited as a reason that Bryn wanted to get together with him officially because of it. Notable lyrics that explain their relationship are: *"I know you feel alone with me inside you", "The way it is is the way you want", "Catch me when I fall cause I'm coming your way", "Will someone love me singulary", "You're a light in the dark pretending I'm not following you everywhere", "It's messy now It's messy then", "Not sure who's the buzz and who's the ground", "I'd stay as far away from me as I can, I just want to be enough, Nothing Kills me Like the sound of your name, I beseech you, How can you still believe you're not enough".* Minds Dying as the final track marked the death of their relationship. It has been heavily discussed in the community and never really commented upon by both parties. Josh has commented that he still remains friends with Bryn and that they talk from time to time.

**RHCP, Goodbye Angels.**

**Beck, Colors.**

## Personal Life

#### Personality

Brynnerd is known to be a reclusive individual, dissapearing completely from the public eye from time to time. On top of that, it has been noted that she has dissapeared altogether for a period of months. She keeps mostly to herself, pursuing research for extended periods of time.

She is not the easiest individual, often having bursts of extreme emotions or a lack thereof.

#### **Family and Past**

Brynnerd is known as an extremely private individual, and up to *Kozack Melancholy's* release and *Everything In It's Wrong Place* barely anything was known about her past. Throughout the years the public has pieced together pieces, but nobody expected what actually happened. A New York Times article came out in 2022 talking about Brynnerd, and especially the peculiarities about her past (this was before any public release or statement): it was titled *'Brynnerd: The Most Complicated 21st century puzzle"* and talked about the recent discovery of pictures of her and another female figure in the book *Streetwise 25,* with photographs of Mary Ellen Mark. The article strung a chord in the cultural climate, and many more people began asking questions about who she really was.

In Daniel Steinbecks 2009 documentary *Streetwise 25,* which accompanied the photo book, Brynnerd was also interviewed with "Bullet", the other teenager pictured in the book. The documentary was anonymously unearthed online as it completely flew under the radar at the time. It it Brynnerd and her friend talk about drug use, danger on the streets and their skateboarding. It solved a question many people had about the identity of *"Bullet",* who is mentioned on five recordings and played with Brynnerd before any of the current members joined the band. Originally, her band was even called *'Brynnerd in the Bullet'* according to some show posters that were preserved.

However, Bullet's death was only releaved with Brynnerd's memoir. Brynnerd was often interviewed throughout her career about who she is, where she came from, and her teenage years in Seattle. Especially after the 2022 piece, but before too. She always anwsered that *"The past is best left ambigious: possibility and impossibility and what not. People are free to fill in what they want. I don't feel like I have to talk about who 'I was' or who 'I am', not to the press".* She always kept these statements short and professional. Although it was unspoken from the beginning (2010) that Brynnerd used to be homeless before she began working on Carter's eye. In a 2014 she responded to a question about homelessness: *"My teenage years were chaotic, and I was always moving around in Seattle. I never had much time to Seattle, and homelessness came with financial incecurity. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to live through, but I was lucky to find like-minded companions early on. The city's programs also helped me find stable shelter, to which I still owe them my life".*

Brynnerd has always been openly and publicly an orphan. She has said that she doesn't know who her parents are, and that she has no real way of finding out. Nor has she expressed any wish to do so, as they have abandoned her as a child. *"Family means something very opaque to me, almost close to nothing. I hope that will change".*

#### Friendships

Brynnerd maintains close friendships with Arian Moayed, Carmel Moss and Diane Moss, Jonathan Groff, Mark Duplass, Cillian Murphy, Lukas Hedges, Dave Grohl, Jeremy Strong, Josh Hutcherson, Emma Stone.

Brynnerd doesn't have many friends, but *knows* a lot of people. She considers Carter, Tim and Aaron to be her best friends.

**Carter** is her other half (*even if she considered this to be Bullet*), there isn't a place she will go without him. They have an extremely unique dynamic, created by the creative bond but also scientific collaboration. Carter trusted her with his life when he barely knew her few months. He takes on the role of the ***protector, meditator, peer**.* He is one of the only people in the world she considers to be equal to herself. They have gone through many hardships, and there's still an iceberg of things that he doesn't know *(which he knows, but he doesn't force this out).* They share a house in Greenwich together, living in two different parts of the same building. They are almost always together, either physically or mentally, and spent a lot of time in each others headspace. When apart, they contantly text. They can be found laying in bed together, making each other breakfast, and having their alone time together. "Carter is equal to an infinite. He is the one that brings peace & justice. Saved Brynnerd continuously. A grounding, equal creative temprament and state of mind. The safety of not having to ask."

**Tim** is the most intellectual, so they have a very mental connection. Their conversations are very in-depth, long, and without end. He is her ***soundboard, sparring partner and explorer**.* For him, she is the *muse.* They like talking long hikes together, spent in silence, deep conversation or taking photographs. From Aaron's Calistoga home they often take multiple day hikes from, taking tents with them. Otherwise they can be found bent over a coffee table, each reading their own thing but coming back together. Most often they are working together on their next creative project. "Tim is the keeper of order. What must be done will be done. The adventurer who plans ahead, weaving a clear and brilliant narrative. Pushing everyone in their musical punctuality. The one who can point and shoot a shot, a framing which goes by to others."

Aaron pulls out her most social and outgoing side, being able to take risks and show some recklessness. He is her *social ladder, provocateur and enabler.*

#### **Relationships**

**Edward Norton.** 20 // 37. 2013-4. Relationship. *Private. - NYC.*

First real 'relationship' post-fame. After her Kid-A comeback they briefly dated (three months). They met on the set of Birdman in 2013, and also on the SNL appearance in oct 2013. They would see each other every couple of weeks. Edward was much more accommodating than her. Controversial relationship because of their age gap. Photographed in Rome and NYC. He is the only one who saw her old scars on her entire body, but they never discussed what happened to her. He helped stablizing her after the Kid A meltdown and encouraged her to delay the subsequent tour, he also took care of her pr and defended her in general to the public which he still does to this day. He took on the role of a caregiver, especially after the turbulence of the Kid A release. They lost contact when she started touring in July of 2014. *A Reminder* is about him, which was a letter she wrote to him when their relationship ended. They would sometimes see each other at events later but never talked, only talking again in 2020 once during someone's birthday.

**Josh Klinghoffer.** 21 // 29. 2014-17. Relationship, assumed by public. *- LA.*

A friendship that turned into a relationship. Met around 2012, during Brynnerd's first tour. They both like each other but never pursued then, a "could happen at any moment" ordeal. Only thing that ever happened were a few drunk kisses which were never addressed. An additional difficulty was that the whole group was very close with him as friends. In 2014 they dated for two months, and would see each other regularly in LA until 2017, dating for short stints from time to time. They never officially called it a relationship only in 2016 for three months. He would eventually write N°3 about their tumultuous relationship. *Man of War* is about him. When she moved to LA in 2017, they lost contact completely, with only Aaron and Tim talking to him and working with him (Carter being Carter and following in her footsteps completely). In 2020 they picked up contact again and started talking a lot, building up a strong friendship. He is considered a close friend of the group, and he attended the 2021 and 2022 thanksgiving moments the group organized.

**Colin Hanks.** *21//31 2014.* Hookup. Private. - *Minnesota.*Met in Minnesotta in the aftermath of the shoot of Fargo, he was staying there and she was attending a residency in the vast nature. They met each other pretty quickly as they were both prominent people residing in the area. Were in the same group that would go out for long hikes together. Hooked up on a random snowy afternoon for the first time, at the cabin he was staying at. The iconic fleece has its origins here. The second and last time was when they got stranded at a different cabin during a trek. Would never talk again after that.

**Noah Lennox**. 22 // 32. 2015. Relationship. Public. *- LA.*

Were in a relationship, confirmed and public. Met back in 2011, just as OK Computer was released and she was invited by Daft Punk to record in Paris. She met him there as he was recording with them as well. Would talk late into the evening on Parisian terrasses. She would visit him every time she was in Lisbon, and he in the US. Reconnected in 2014 when she was in Lisbon on tour, as it was her final destination. She crashed at his place… and ended up staying for a whole month. He then came over to Los Angeles with here and stayed there for two months living in Los Angeles, seperate from her. He went back to Baltimore to record in she stayed in Silver Lake, and eventually they mutually ended what they were doing. He married two years later and moved back to Lisbon.

**Spike Jonze.** 26// 47. 2018 Relationship, public. *- LA/NYC.*

Met each other through mutual connections, and he asked to direct music videos for her. Eventually made the video for the single Lotus Flower and My Iron Lung, one of the longest anticipated music videos of the band. Lotus Flower was filmed in one day, My Iron Lung the next. They hooked up the second time the day of the shoot. He was extremely busy with becoming involved with Vice and working on his next project, but this is also what attracted her to him - *la chasse,* both sided. They started dating each other a month later and would see each other often, Spike also becoming very involved in the early making of Hail to the Thief. During that time she was also finishing her doctorate at Stanford. At that time there where a lot of things floating around in her head (also being the early startings of the tenet): httf, solo recordings,... He would always push her in the right direction creatively. He brought a stable pace with him but also a daring, and Bryn got very attached to him. When Spike had to move back to New York eventually she followed him, he even asked her to come sensing that her potential would be able to grow much more in New York (academically, creatively) and since Aaron and Tim were living there already. She moved in with him for eight months in New York, to his apartment in the sea port neighborhood, due to its proximity to Brooklyn. She flourished in NYC as she left the old LA skin behind (taking the clippings for httf with her, these words being the beginning point for the album), and he supported her as she took this dive in cold water - it was her who followed him blindly. Together they planned the next steps in her career such as her Columbia fellowship, the 45 downing recording studio, and Tim's film projects. The dread of Bullet's 10-year death anniversery started looming on her and suddenly everything went worse, her state worsened like never before. It took the toll on the relationship as she was not able or ready to explain what was causing it - *an immesurable loss -* and that she was sorry. In his own way he understood and he didn't limit her, letting her move to 45 downing with the rest of *the four.* They stopped talking gradually, as Bryn mourned both Bullet's loss and eventually his. Bullet's death also being the reason she would retract to Seattle.

**David Morrisey**: 26 // 45. 2019. Relationship, public. *- London/NYC.*

They met in London during David's play at the National Theatre in October, *Julius Caesar,* where he played Mark Antony. Brynnerd accompanied Tim on the closing weekend of the play, as he was coming to see his partner *Ben Wishaw* who had the head role. During the after party Brynnerd and David started talking, and they also saw each other the day after. At the afterparty the final night they kissed once, but they never really talked about it after. It just became a thing that they would see each other when she was in London. Then they hooked up once, and it turned into a more regular thing. They continued their hooking-up routine together, he became her London thing over the autumn, as she was in Oxford for a term. Then for a while she didn't see him and 'realized'. He was staying in New York anyways, so when she returned from Oxford in november they got very serious. In december they were quitely dating, spending their time between London and New York. She started working on the soundtrack of The Master in that period, as the recording of httf. Their relationship was pretty murky and with some distance in between it, but the physical attraction was there. Bryn lost interest in him as she started spending more time with Paul and then Seattle happened. She still saw David and was technically in a relationship with him, but broke it off after one month, choosing PTA instead.

**Paul Thomas Anderson**: 27 // 44. 2020. Relationship, public. *- Seattle/LA.*

Known each other since 2011 after she'd made the soundtrack for There Will Be Blood. At the beginning of her 'Seattle Years' in 2019 he joined her for a weekend, which ended up being a three weeks of him staying at her place. Very intense first connection, where their shared mutual feelings from over all these years were revealed to each other. After that they didn't talk for a while and kept it a kept secret... But two months later they both came forward to each other (Paul coming to Seattle) and started dating publicly. They dated for four months, with the relationship ending quite painfully. After that they continued to collaborate, most notably on his Phantom Thread film released in 2022. The film is widely interpreted as a retelling of their relationship, reynolds as bryn and alma as paul.

**Nathan Fielder:** 27 // 37. 2020. Hookup, Private. *- Calistoga*

Met during a hosted event of Aaron in his Calistoga home. Fielder was previously a friend of Aaron, and was invited to one of his *coming-togethers* in his Calistoga home. There he met Brynnerd for the first time. They would have long conversations with each other over the weekend, and it became quickly aparrent that they had a 'click'. However, Brynnerd was still pursuing her term in Columbia, so they didn't see each other as often during the next three months. During these months they maintained a friendship, often corresponding with each other about their daily lives, culture, but their conversations would be mostly joking. "We share the same humor" Brynnerd has stated. They saw each other every month, mostly together with Aaron's group. Brynnerd then lost track a bit because of the project she was working on.

**Nick Mullen.** 27 // 30. 2020. Hookup, private. - *Calistoga.*

**Justin Kirk.** 28 // 48. 2020. Relationship, public. *- NYC.*

**PTA.** 28 // 45. 2021. Hookup, private.

**Beck Hansen.** 28 // 49. 2021. Hookup, private. *- NYC.*

    **Aaron Hoghstrasser.** *28 // 30. 2021*. *Hookup, public.* Hooked up publically after partying a whole night in New York. Rumours surrounding them had been circulating since they shared a kiss playing at an SNL afterparty in 2021, acting like it was the most normal thing.

Reportedly, they would almost always kiss each other at afterparties or going out, as a 'joke'. *Dirty manhattan streets, drunk, in each other arms. its just a game, a joke, right? a weird forbidden attraction fueled by a lot of partying and alcohol.* They're both 'unreachable' to each other, and it's what always lit the spark.

They have an undeniable chemistry with each other, something that is 'above' the primal tenderness she has with Carter. With him it is a clear game, played in private and public. They radiate something external, whereas with Carter it is much more emotional, private, and internal. A lot of people caught up to this chemistry, with David Lynch casting the two as a leading couple in a his new film.

In late 2021 they would go out almost every evening or night together, scurrying through manhattan streets, or drinking martini's until late at nights at each other places. Some even call these months *The Aaron Phase. Jigsaws* is about him. Eventually as the Calistoga Group also moved further Brynnerd would stay for longer and longer periods at the residence, making their relationship even stronger and defining its own borders. There were times where only the two lived at the residence for weeks at a time. It is this living together that made them realise that they were in fact close friends, not lovers, and that their chemistry was mutualy more enjoyed within the bounds of a friendship. And so it was not taken any further.

The pairing was and remains very popular within the fanbase, still driving up a lot of speculation and theory. The thought that both of them had been pining for each other since the beginning became wildly popular, especially when it was sort of confirmed by the both of them in an interview. *'I had liked Aaron from the beginning... Well, in a certian way. When you see him it doesn't take more explaining'.* Was the comment Brynnerd made. *'The reason I was so convinced of joining this project was Brynnerd, and because of whatever we had with each other. Or maybe I shouldn't use the past tense'.* was what Aaron commented.

**Swann Arlaud.** 29 // 39. 2022.