We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amanda Pasler. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amanda below.
Amanda, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
It’s tough to say when exactly but I believe I was about 5 or 6. I grew up laying beneath my grandmothers piano while she played, and I remember feeling completely at peace in those moments. I believe that was when the wheels started turning on the idea of pursuing music as a profession.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Amanda Pasler and I am the front woman of the band Ex Monarch. We are a female fronted alt-rock/grunge band based out of Miami, FL. I’m sure there’s infinitely many sub-genres I could have listed given the amount listed in Spotify nowadays. Our sound has been described as being a blend of shoe-gaze, early 2000’s female emo, (ex. Paramore/Evanescence/Flyleaf), and 90’s grunge (Garbage/Hole/Nirvana). This area of music, even in 2024, is primarily dominated by frontmen. Our goal as a band is to continue to break the stigma that women can’t rock.
Our music has already allowed us to connect with people we never would have otherwise. I’ve found this happens most with our song Amelia. Those who’ve gone through a similar experience, to the one the song references, really resonate with the complexity of genuinely hating another human being. You could say the song strikes a chord (pun intended).
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I discovered songwriting at a young age. As a kid, I used songwriting as an outlet for exploring emotions/memories I didn’t quite understand, or felt enveloped by. It was, and still is, a primary emotional outlet for me. With that being said, I didn’t have any formal training, and the foundation of songwriting for me was based on the songs I knew. While I had wonderful teachers (Alicia Keys, Carly Simon, The Carpenters, Ke$ha, Fleetwood Mac, etc), a 10 year old won’t grasp all the ideas of form, rhyme, syllable count, and proper structure, just by hearing it. It wasn’t til college that I started examining my methods and breaking down habits that held back my songwriting. It’s always a good idea to break rules when it comes to creative works, but you have to know them first. There is a right way, and a wrong way to break rules–and I had to learn that.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
The book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell is the first that comes to mind. I believe everyone should read this book, regardless of pursuit. To summarize, the book explores hidden advantages in life and how they contribute to the success of highly successful individuals. What I took from the book was to be open and explore the hidden advantages in life, and use them to my advantage!
One thing I can say is that staying up to date with the technology applicable to your business/platform is super important. While I can’t recall a specific article/essay, I am constantly researching the best ways to expand our social media influence in a way that doesn’t spam people’s feed with unappealing/irrelevant content. While it’s unfortunate that social media has become the hot ticket to success in the music industry, it’s a necessary evil in connecting people with our music.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.exmonarch.com
- Instagram: exmonarchband
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/exmonarchband
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@exmonarch7092
Image Credits
Chey Runner