Conversations with the Inspiring Mickey Pangburn

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mickey Pangburn.

Mickey, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’ve written songs since I was 6 years old with a cassette recorder. Started playing guitar in Jr. high, went to the Jazz program at MCC, played in an indie rock band for a couple of years… started learning Ableton and gave into my obsession with synth-pop. Now, I’m half of electronic duo MRCH.

We’ve toured the country and had songs in shows like Shameless, Search Party and 13 Reasons Why. We’ve had the opportunity to open for bands including Chvrches, Foster the People, and Skylar Spence.

We write/produce all our own music. We book our tours. We’re extremely DIY.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s never smooth. With the extreme highs come extreme lows… so finding balance and joy in the mundane day-to-day tasks is the most important thing. Making music is amazing, but making it a career (sans the rockstar break-out path) is all about daily habits. Not everyone will dig what you do, so you have to love it. Rejection is par for the course, but you can’t wallow in it. Validation is great! But, you can’t live for it. Let yourself have fun in the midst of working hard. You have to put yourself out there, but don’t let anyone tell you that you have to be like anyone else. Don’t let yourself become homogenized by other people’s expectations. I think these things help keep your art original.

What should we know about MRCH? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I’m a songwriter, guitarist, vocalist, synth player, producer, art director… by necessity, a booker, driver, mover, advertiser, secretary, accountant, designer, etc…

MRCH is an indie electronic synth-wave band. We perform with live drums, guitar, and synth (even though we’re electronic, we feel it’s important to perform the music live).

We’re so grateful because the current golden-age in television has become a staple in our career with synching placements. It’s awesome to collaborate with visual artists, filmmakers and directors.

Our favorite thing is touring/playing live shows. Hours of writing, rehearsing, booking, and lugging gear — all for 40 minutes of sharing those songs with people excited to hear them — (it sounds lame), but the concerts really make it all worth it. Chatting with people after a gig, hearing that the lyrics meant something to someone or even just free people to chill out and dance; seriously, so worth it.

For good reason, society often focuses more on the problems rather than the opportunities that exist, because the problems need to be solved. However, we’d probably also benefit from looking for and recognizing the opportunities that women are better positioned to capitalize on. Have you discovered such opportunities?
Women are well-positioned for any opportunity. The challenges exist, they’re real, there’s sexism, ageism, etc. In the words of Ferris Bueler “Isms, in my opinion, are not good”… but, we can’t wait for things to change. We just have to make things change. We just have to “do”… keep our heads down and make the opportunities. Maybe society will catch up.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mrchmusic.com
• Email: info@mrchmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrch.music/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrchofficial
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MRCHMUSIC
• Other: https://soundcloud.com/mrchmusic

Image Credit:
Jake at walkintothelightphotography, Brian Hines, Claire Slattery, Patrick Berry

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