Gryffin

Gryffin was born in San Francisco, California. Gryffin grew up as a classically trained pianist and learned to play the guitar at an early age.^[3][4][5] He played in bands to initially hone his instrumental abilities. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Southern California where he took much of his leisure time in his dorm room to work on music.^[6]

In 2009, he began releasing his music as White Panda,^[7] with boyhood friend Tom Evans, who was studying in Chicago.^[8] They began a national tour in July 2011, in a second generation of mashup artists gaining popularity on college campuses and music-streaming websites.^[9] They played college campuses, such as the University of Delaware and Swarthmore College,^[10] and shared the stage with Flo Rida, Wale and Sam Adams. Later performances included the Firefly Music Festival and Lolapalooza.^[7]

When asked on his key lessons of music production, he said: "At the beginning, I just released music with the main goal of having my friends play it at college parties and I never would have imagined it would get to this point". He made his 'world' debut as Gryffin at the SnowGlobe Music Festival 2015.^[1]

He moved to Los Angeles to be closer to his label and management.^[11]

On January 22, 2016, Gryffin released his debut single titled "Heading Home"^[12][13] featuring Australian singer Josef Salvat via Darkroom/Interscope Records.^[14][15] On May 2, 2016, an official music video was uploaded on his YouTube channel.^[16][17] The song peaked at number 22 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart,^[18] number 21 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Songs chart,^[19] number 1 on Spotify Viral 50 chart^[20] and number 5 on the Billboard Twitter Emerging Artists chart.^[21] On August 26, 2016, he released a song titled "Whole Heart" with Bipolar Sunshine.^[22] In an interview, about the song "Whole Heart", Gryffin said "'Whole Heart’ is a big step for me as an artist, as it represents a developing maturity of my sound and depth of songwriting".^[23]

2017 saw three singles for Griffith. "Feel Good", a collaboration with DJ Illenium and singer Daya, was released on March 3.^[24] "Love in Ruins" with singer Sinéad Harnett was released on July 7^[25] and "Nobody Compares to You" with Katie Pearlman was released on October 6.^[26]

2018 proved to be a big year for Griffith, releasing five singles throughout the year. His first single of the year, "Winnebago" with Quinn XCII and Daniel Wilson was released on April 20.^[27] He followed this up with single "Just for a Moment" with Iselin, released June 22,^[28] and "Tie Me Down" with Elley Duhé, released on August 3.^[29] Two months following the release of "Tie Me Down", Griffith released a song with Zohara. "Remember" was released on October 26 and eventually topped the US Dance Charts,^[30] marking Griffith's first number one hit song.

In 2019, Griffith released his full-length debut album, Gravity, to critical acclaim.

On July 26, 2020, Griffith announced the release of "Cry", with John Martin, on his Instagram page.^[31] He hinted that the track would be the first single from his upcoming second album, and announced July 30, 2020 as the single's release date.

Gryffin produces music in a melodic house style and classifies himself as a melodic house artist.^[32] He incorporates sounds of piano and guitar for a 'hybrid of electric and organic' musical style.^[32]