Phoenix electro-pop duo MRCH have set a new tempo for life and art

When they first formed circa 2015, MRCH were a big deal. The duo of Mickey and Jesse Pangburn quickly landed some local and international press for their earnest, evocative take on indie pop and electronica. But it's been some six years since their last full-length, and at least a couple of years since even a new single.

You can (partially) blame Violet Choir for some of that.

"We started the idea of Violet Choir in the summer of 2019," Mickey Pangburn says. "We were in a studio recording those original demos that we'd done in the summer by December and finishing up in January."

While Violet Choir certainly garnered some great and compelling music, Mickey Pangburn notes that the project's birth amid COVID might have foreshadowed a few things.

"I won't say making that EP came the most naturally," she says. "I think it was timing, ultimately, that made that project not work."

With "Violet Choir no more," the Pangburns have been able to rededicate themselves to MRCH, including an upcoming EP, titled "TV Bliss," and a slate of shows.

"We've been working behind-the-scenes on this EP, and beyond on some stuff that's not on the EP, but we're looking at this as a jumping-off point — more of a comma, I guess," Mickey Pangburn says.

That's because, if Violet Choir ultimately achieved anything for the pair, it offered them a little more space and creative courage.

"The real excitement about doing [Violet Choir] was because we wanted to do something in a different way, and open ourselves up to working with some other people and other artists," Mickey Pangburn says. "We had a lot of fun making those songs. But it was a little bit tedious in breaking old habits and allowing ourselves just to try something different. I think we've brought that with us into this new MRCH EP."

She adds, "I think for us it's been more of a challenge to get out of our own heads long enough to finish something, and then release that as we will ... to have a body of work that we've put time into. The pandemic really had us starved of ever reaching any end goals of any kind. So I think it was important for us to not just do a one-off and then not release something for six months. It's important to just make a ton of art and keep making it and not waiting until we're inspired, but making it a daily habit."

They've struggled before in collaborating with others. It's been less about maintaining some air of control but instead not always knowing where to turn.

"In previous releases, we're wearing the artist hat, the performer hat, the mixing hat, the mastering hat, and the producing hat," she says. "This one, still wearing the producer hat and the artist hat has allowed us to let other people, who are veterans, just run with it. I think the way we've been operating the last few years has been the least sunshine and flowers, and so anything would be better."

They recorded the four tracks in a friend's studio, and even worked with a lead engineer, Tony Hoffer, who has "worked on a bunch of albums that we really love," including those from Beck, Metric and M83. They've even signed to a label for the very first time, The Vertex.

"It's been a whole new adventure, and they're working with us on trying to hopefully get a few more people to hear our music than before," Mickey Pangburn says of their new "team."

Ironically enough, Mickey Pangburn says that it was COVID that had a lot to do with this desire to work more meaningfully with others.

"I do think fundamentally most people I know have changed drastically in the last few years," she says. "The truth is, the people that we're working with, it feels very much like choices. It feels more like we've just been questioned and that I think has helped us clarify our vision better than before."


Clearly, the Pangburns have also changed. They're not just open to new ideas and people but they've also had time to reflect on some important issues and events. The EP's title, for instance, "sort of speaks to the window of and the isolation of media," Mickey Pangburn says. It harks back to her own adolescence, and trying to find connections, like the ones they've made more recently.

"With the pandemic, I specifically was by myself a lot, and it reminded me of when I was growing up," she says. "I also lived in a really small town in the middle of nowhere and just watched movies. Going to the video rental store was a big part of my week because that was how I experienced society. So it's very reminiscent of that."

It's a bit of nostalgia that's also helped them overcome some of the "side effects" of both COVID and life in general as an artist.

"What do you call that when you digress? It's almost like that's how it felt for me," Mickey Pangburn says. "We were just kind of in a rut, too, with feeling creative. I'm really coming to terms with the fact that that doesn't need to be the case."

It's a sentiment Jesse Pangburn believes in entirely. He says that the EP was written differently, and in a way that speaks to something more essential from an artistic perspective.

"I think one thing that was interesting to me was when we were setting out to write some of these, Mickey told me at one point, 'I want to write songs that can sound good just on their own. Like, just like with a guitar," he says. "As opposed to usually how a MRCH song would start — something really cool [often via synth] and we're like, 'That's so awesome. I have to write around it.'"

It's a sentiment, he adds, seemingly shared by many bands in recent years.

"Maybe there was something around the pandemic that felt like stripping things down to that level of songwriting felt appropriate...and then building it back up," Jesse Pangburn says. "It does feel like there's been a little bit of a change in that headspace with a lot of artists, too."


A novel and creative approach certainly speaks to the core of TV Bliss, whose debut single "Stars Align," is set to release on June 29.

"It's pretty ethereal in moments, with these walls of sound," Mickey Pangburn says. "I think Jesse might cringe a little at this definition, but it's the way I most accurately interpret the overarching vibe: it's something that I could hear in a [2000s] teen melodrama. We did show a few friends a few of the songs, and they did say it didn't sound too schticky, so that's encouraging."

There's also a distinct influence of British music, including Garbage and Elastica, which Mickey Pangburn "didn't even notice until someone was like, 'Hey, that sounds kind of British.' And now we're on a British label, so it makes sense."

Aside from the EP and forthcoming gigs, MRCH are working and writing new songs, and another full-length could also be in the works. So, sure, "TV Bliss" is, in a way, a kind of "rebirth" for MRCH. But it's also something else entirely.

"I guess this is a jumping off point," Mickey Pangburn says. "But also, we're doing pretty much every single thing differently than we ever have before."

MRCH will play with Bogan Via and Proper Pet on Friday, July 14, at The Clarendon Hotel, 401 West Clarendon Avenue. The free show is set for 6 p.m.