from "The Michael Gungor Band" to simply "Gungor" (styled as güngör). This reflected another change, both in the direction of his music and in the evolving number of band members. The first album release under the new name was Beautiful Things in 2010. This album was yet another departure from Gungor's old style, involving indie-folk instrumentation reminiscent of Sufjan Stevens, and ambient soundscapes. The album featured a short gospel-blues jam featuring Israel Houghton titled "Heaven". In 2011, the album and its title track, "Beautiful Things", were nominated for the Grammy categories Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album and Best Gospel Song, respectively. In 2011, Gungor released Ghosts Upon the Earth, and followed this with a live album, A Creation Liturgy in 2012. The band's third studio album, I Am Mountain, was released on September 24, 2013. On October 24, 2013, the band began its 60-city headline tour across the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. Though Gungor's music is filled with Christian themes and language and is spiritual in nature, the collective has attempted to distance itself from being labeled simply a "Christian" band due to the problematic way the term is often used. Michael Gungor refers to Gungor as a collective because at any given time the group is composed of 3–10 members. He and his wife believe that their music transcends any one genre. Gungor writes songs that are a mix of indie rock, post rock, prog, soft rock and more. When asked, Gungor describes his style as "alternative, folk, textured and experimental." They performed at SXSW 2014. Gungor announced the end of their journey as a band in early 2019. The "End of the World" tour became their farewell tour. The Liturgists In 2014, Gungor, together with Michael's wife and sister, began collaborating with other artists and releasing music as "The Liturgists", which he calls "an experimental art collective". This is also the title of their podcast, which discusses topics through the lenses of science, art and faith. Writing Gungor published his first book The Crowd, the Critic and the Muse in 2012. In April 2019, Gungor published his second book This. He is currently the host to a podcast, which shares the name with the book, that explores the spiritual themes of clinging and suffering. Personal life Michael Gungor grew up in Marshfield, Wisconsin. He is the son of pastor and author Ed Gungor. He