Listen With Monger

Listen With Monger is a blog by Roland Monger from West Country, United Kingdom. If you are looking for new music, I definitely recommend checking this out! He’s got really great taste in his selection and he pulls in a lot of knowledge about bands and songs to present music from a cool new angle. Basically, he know his stuff and he knows it well.

Annnd he reviewed Confluence of Anomalies!! So yeah, we are officially big Listen With Monger fans 🙂

Check it out:

http://listenwithmonger.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-rungs-single-review.html

Listen with Monger

Interview w/ Azltron Music Blog

Earlier this month, we had the pleasure of meeting the man behind the Azltron Music Blog at the Ithaca Festival. Today he shares an interview covering the formation of our band, how we write songs and what’s in store for us this summer. Check it out here!

Hailing from Oswego, Azltron is a major supporter of the upstate NY music scene. The blog covers photos and reviews of live shows in nearby cities, band interviews, and music reviews. June marked the beginning of a music series organized in partnership with ZINC Shirts, a screen printing shop and live music venue in Oswego. We will be heading up to Oswego to participate in the series this fall and we are super excited!

Now, since I’m a plant science nerd, let’s say that music blogs today are the soil and all of the unsigned indie bands are the plants. Without the support of blogs like Azltron, we would just be shriveled seeds!

That is why we are super thankful for this interview and the other bloggers that have supported us since the release of our EP in January. (aka nurtured our root growth, if you know what I mean – winky winks 😉 )

Now where you come in – you can be the water. Tweet this interview, or support Azltron music blog however which way you desire, and let’s keep this little music ecosystem alive!

Photo of Mandy by Azltron
Photo of Mandy by Azltron

 

Missed Connections on The G-Mans Playlist!

 

Okay who is the G-Man? A rad music blogger from Ireland.

His Monday playlist includes: Arcade Fire, Arctic Tern, Bat For Lashes, Fuck Buttons, Hamilton Leithauser, Playlist, Tom Vek, War on Drugs, Wild Child, Wrongchilde…and us!

🙂

Have a listen here: http://www.thegmanworld.com/2014/05/the-g-man-playlist-monday_26.html#more

Discover: The Rungs, and listen to their debut EP

We’re so happy with this review of our music on the Backseat Mafia website. See what they have to say about us! There are a lot of other great bands to discover on here too. Check it out:

 Discover: The Rungs, and listen to their debut EP.

via Discover: The Rungs, and listen to their debut EP.

Backseat Mafia
Backseat Mafia

These guys are on facebook too: https://www.facebook.com/BackseatMafia

Through My Headphones

through my headphones

Months ago when I thought we would record and release our songs, I shared a demo recording with the writer of the music blog ‘Through My Headphones’ to inquire about a review. He gave me the most encouraging response, and when we didn’t finish our songs until 4 months later, he was still readily willing to review our tracks.

I love the thoughtfulness he put into describing our music and the effort he has made to help us get it out there. Thank youuuuu!!!! The pic he chose to share is also one of my favorites of Diwas and Me. It was taken on the beach in Florida, in my hometown, and I feel a little warmer just looking it.

Check out Through My Headphones here: http://www.throughmyheadphones.com/#axzz2qncXd7TQ

If you have twitter and facebook, do like and share the review. For both of us, the band and the blog. You get a whole bundle of sharing with just one click!

Emerging indie bands

A talented writer and indie music supporter at emerging indie bands music blog reviewed The Rungs EP! It brightened up our day to read such beautiful words about our music,  and we’re feeling very thankful for the indie music support that websites like this create.

Check it out the review because it is a good read! http://emergingindiebands.com/the-rungs-synth-dance/

When we started playing our first shows a little over a year ago, I wouldn’t have predicted us evolving into a ‘real band.’ I guess it all depends on what you define as a band, but now we have an EP out, a real music release! And I have stickers now. Band stickers! So based on the music release and sticker scale, I’d say we’re getting pretty close to real band material.

Boy were those first few shows rough. I made silly mistakes, forgot chords, mumbled mixed up lyrics, and the list of goofy errors goes on. Thankfully, Diwas exercised the most amazing patience with my newbie musician growing pains. Because you have to start somewhere right?

The Rungs early days

 

Okay lets be real here, I still do all of those things at our live shows, but at least less frequently!

The point is, if any closet musicians are out there reading this, then run out to your nearest open mic! Don’t be afraid of sharing your music because releasing it to the world and letting go of the hesitations is one of the most rewarding feelings! Take it from me and my new EP 🙂 And take it from folks who are supporting indie musicians, like our generous emergingindiebands.com reviewer.

 

The Debut EP!

Happy New Year everyone! We are kicking off 2014 by self-releasing our debut EP!

Thanks to all of our old and new friends, 2013 was filled with fun live shows, lots of inspiration to create new music, and most importantly, good people to share it with. These songs are for you!

https://soundcloud.com/the-rungs/sets/the-rungs-ep

If you like what you hear, help us share our songs and connect with us via our social media pages here on the left and right menus.

Bloggers – We are looking for bloggers to help review our EP. Feel free to email me at mandy@rungsrungsrungs.com and I will gladly send you song downloads and any information you’d like about the band.

Thank you and best wishes to all 🙂 

We are The Rungs :)
We are The Rungs. Thanks for supporting our music 🙂

 

Writing Lyrics: Play a character

With Halloween just around the corner, it is a fun time to think about characters!

Sometimes lyrics can reflect our deepest most personal thoughts and experiences. While I love to draw from my own memories to construct a song, it is equally rewarding, and sometimes even more fun, to put myself in the mind of someone else! Whether a dear friend, an acquaintance, a certain stereotype, or a made up character, playing a role can make for a great song!

Actors go to great lengths to get into a character. Tom Cruise apparently dressed up as a Fed Ex delivery man to sneak through a crowd without getting noticed, just as an assassin would, in preparation for his role villain role in Collateral.  Actors might completely change their lifestyles and take on new hobbies for a short period of time while preparing for a difficult role.

For songwriting though, I say sitting quietly and thinking about the character you want to represent is more than enough. Perhaps with a glass of alcohol or some nice warm tea. Decide what and who your story is about.

Who: Depending on if they are strong or frail or troubled or content, etc, completely changes the perception of the experience. Think of someone, anyone, and channel the little nuances that make them so unique. Do they have a short temper? Unreasonable expectations? Unyielding patience?

What: Sit quietly and try to imagine something that you might not have exactly experienced before; a place, certain gains or losses, heartbreaks, historical events like the great depression or the infamous potato famine, a struggle with sexuality, a good day, a bad day, whatever you want to dive into.

Explore yourself! Then let the music and lyrics evolve 🙂

Right now I am imagining being on a beautiful island in Thailand, the song is very sunny!

koh samet

Making Time for Music

Hello Blog! I am sorry to have left you unattended for so long!

Since my last post, we’ve recorded two songs that we’ve been slowly but surely taking our time on.  I didn’t expect us to take this much time, but I’m afraid I’ve spread myself so thin over too many other projects. Most of these are extra assignments at work, home improvements, a few family gatherings, and then those little ongoing obligatory chores.

And now, here I am. Almost an entire month later, with a couple of incomplete songs and a neglected blog! Which brings me to the point of this post.

I often meet musicians and artists who struggle to make time for their craft. (guilty here!) Months can turn into years that go by as creative endeavors sit on the side, waiting for attention. As the ideas keep collecting in our heads, our desire to see them develop into  visible or audible form grows. It grows!

I’ve found that making time for music and art is easy if you define to yourself what it is that you really want to achieve. I must remember to ask myself, ‘Okay, what projects do you want to see through?!?!’

Then, before signing up for everything from here to the moon, and saying yes to every invitation and favor that is asked, I must remember to ask myself ‘Do you really have time for this? What does your creative idea, the one that is burning a hole in your brain and crying for attention, have to say about this?!?!’

Here is what my little idea guy has been like for the past month:

finally“Seriously? What about me? I’m not asking for much here. You’ve gotta at least give me something.”

“Ten minutes a day? You can’t spare at least ten minutes a day? C’mon.”

“If you had to feed and walk me, like a real pet, I’d be dead dude. Lets get going on this.”

Soooooo, It’s time to give that patient little guy ( or girl 🙂 ) some love!

For the love of music!

Yay for music blogging! I love the coming together of musicians from all around the world and the exchanges of creative and diverse music achieved through blogging.

Annnnd…

I am super excited to share that the UK based-music blog ‘The Sound of Confusion’ has included The Rungs on their ‘Daughters of Ether – The Heroines of Modern Dream-pop’ playlist! There are lots of great female musicians on here and I’m so happy to be included.

http://thesoundofconfusionblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/daughters-of-ether-heroines-of-modern.html

Enjoy that playlist and all of the great music out there!