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It seemed to make the most sense to talk to Brian Fennell at the house in Sammamish he’s lived in for the last six years. But that idea got politely spurned in favor of the nearby Lower Evans Creek Preserve, another place that feels like home, or, as Fennell later puts it, like a backyard. He often goes there with his wife and their children for its walking trails and creeks, which the kids — 8, 6, and 1 and a half — particularly like to splash around in.

When I met Fennell at the Preserve one late June morning, the greenery still slick with dew, I thought about how an unfamiliar passerby might be surprised if I told them that this 40-year-old musician, inconspicuous in a loose white T-shirt, flat-billed Elwood cap, and pair of tan Vibram trainers had, under the name SYML, 12 million monthly Spotify listeners and nothing-to-sniff-at co-signs from the likes of Lucius and Lana Del Rey. Aside from the photographer for this story following him around jokingly commanding he do things like “look pretty and melancholy” for shots, Fennell didn’t stand out among the morning’s visitors, which included a pair of little kids playing on some exposed tree roots while their parents ambled around and a woman walking a sextet of mostly wiener dogs.

Read the full feature on 425.