SYML

Brian Fennell was born on January 16, 1983, in Issaquah, Washington, to his adopted parents. From a young age, he began studying classical piano, often playing in his grandmother's retirement home.[2] He began writing his own music when he was 18 years old, his first song being used as a coping mechanism after the death of a schoolmate.[3] After high school, he attended Seattle Pacific University[4] where he got a degree in Music Education with an emphasis in percussion.[3]After years of living in and around Seattle, he returned to his hometown and resides there currently where he writes and produces out of a home studio.[5]

Fennell currently performs under the solo project SYML, Welsh for “simple” and pronounced “sim-muhl,” inspired by his own personal heritage from his biological parents, who are Welsh.[2] His experience grappling with his adoption and heritage are influences in his songwriting.[5]

He shared his self-titled debut in 2019[6] with the now Platinum-certified single “Where’s My Love” and the wordless EP You Knew It Was Me in November 2020. In 2021, SYML released his third body of work, titled DIM inspired by his late fathers cancer diagnosis.[7] Fennell believes the word 'dim' perfectly describes mourning, a theme he continues to visit throughout his work.[8]

After his song "Where's My Love" was used on the popular drama TV show Teen Wolf, the song charted for 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart.[9] In 2018, the song received Gold certification in Canada and Belgium,[10] and held the #1 spot on Canada's CBC Top 20 charts twice.[11][12] SYML's "Wildfire" appeared in the Belgian teen drama web series wtFOCK[13] (broadcast by VIER and VIJF 2018 - so far) - an adaption of the popular Norwegian series SKAM.[14] "Where's My Love" was also featured prominently in the official trailer for the 2018 motion picture Adrift.[15] SYML's singles "Where's My Love", "Fear of Water" and "Body" were featured in the American supernatural drama television series Shadowhunters. In 2020, "Where's My Love"[16] appeared in the movie Chemical Hearts.

In 2019, SYML's fan favorite cover of the classic "Mr. Sandman" was featured in the short film TIM (The Invisible Me)[17] by writer/director John Grammatico.

On February 3, 2023, SYML released a new album titled "The Day My Father Died". the album includes 15 new tracks: Howling, Believer, Laughing at the Storm, Sweet Home, Lost Myself, The Day My Futher Died, Feel Your Pain, Tragic Magic, Chariot, Marion, Better Part of Me, Baby Don't Lie, You and I, Cavin In, Corduroy.