{"id":4559,"date":"2022-03-06T16:11:39","date_gmt":"2022-03-06T21:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/?page_id=4559"},"modified":"2022-03-08T05:55:32","modified_gmt":"2022-03-08T10:55:32","slug":"a-rock-music-revolution-led-by-ums-ex-monarch","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/?page_id=4559","title":{"rendered":"Rock revolution led by UM’s Ex Monarch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Posted March 6, 2022<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By AMANDA CRANE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

University of Miami Frost School of Music students hope to revolutionize alternative rock-music culture by adding a female sound to a male-dominated industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophomores Amanda Pasler, Eli Yaroch, Logan Renneker, Samantha Govero, George Staton and freshman Jake Sonderman are the current band members of Ex Monarch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Members of Ex Monarch: Amanda Pasler, Logan Renneker, Samantha Govero, and George Stanton (Photo courtesy of Sydney Billings).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It all started with a song. Pasler discovered her love of music at a young age through family influence as her dad worked in audio production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This led to her majoring in music engineering with hopes of pursuing her passion professionally. As a songwriter inspired by artists such as Phoebe Bridgers, Pasler began to write the soft and emotional song, \u201cAmelia.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once Pasler realized she had something special, she consulted with Yaroch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together they blended writing with lyricism to continue developing production. Yaroch had countless ideas as the pair sat working on it in a coffee house. The two tried many different routes out and once they explored the rock path, they agreed it was what best encapsulated the authentic meaning behind the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yaroch has a self-proclaimed tendency to initiate big projects when excited. He quickly began bringing in the future members of the band as his faith in the project grew to help finish production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do a lot of studio work,\u201d Yaroch said. \u201cI’m in there a lot just recording and recording whatever I want. A lot of that is weird shit but some of it, like Ex Monarch, has turned out well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to being a songwriter, Pasler is their lead vocalist. Yaroch is a rhythm guitarist, producer and songwriter. Yaroch approached his \u201cgo-to\u201d bandmate, Renneker, asking him to join Ex Monarch. After some persuasion, they brought him on board as lead guitarist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Govero happened to send Yaroch a text asking him for help with a class assignment and he responded by inviting her to join their band as their bass player. Staton was then brought on as a drummer with broad skills ranging from jazz music to metal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most recent to join was Sonderman. Sonderman worked with the band on production and development from the beginning, only in mid-February did he join the band as an official guitarist. When they began playing with each other, the group knew that they had something rare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt felt good,\u201d Pasler said. \u201cIt felt natural, it felt right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially, Pasler did not envision herself being in a band but Yaroch\u2019s enthusiasm and insistence that it was the right move persuaded her. All the members of the band now are eternally grateful for being brought together and agree that out of all their projects, Ex Monarch feels different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel like this band has a good amount of feminine and masculine influence which I feel like balances it a lot,\u201d said Pasler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire group’s unwavering confidence in their work speaks for itself. They all dream of recording multiple albums and eventually making it big while doing what they love with their friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe all are pretty willing to keep this going past graduation as well,\u201d Govero said. \u201cSo, we have kind of planned for that if it continues to go the way it\u2019s going.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The band\u2019s commitment to the group as a whole and blending traditional alternative rock with a strong female lead makes their sound unique. Not only do they bring something fresh to the table, but they draw inspiration from leading talents from the early 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere’s a gap in rock music now of female influence and I feel like there has been for a very long time,\u201d said Pasler. \u201cThis project will change that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group confidently spoke on how they hope to revolutionize a genre once exclusive to males by bringing their unique vibe to the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cMusic, in general, is a male-dominated genre,\u201d Yaroch said. \u201cIt\u2019s always been and I feel like now in our generation we\u2019re trying to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group came together last fall and it recently played its first live show on Feb. 19. Everyone’s nerves were running rampant, which showed them how much they truly care about the band and contributing their meaningful music to society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was really nervous the whole show,\u201d Renneker said. \u201cI was just trying to get my part right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, they released \u201cAmelia,\u201d on Feb. 25 on all streaming platforms including Apple Music and Spotify. This release follows up their second live performance which occurred on Feb. 24. The group enthusiastically is gaining momentum and they hope this semester to finish their EP, line up more gigs and grow their social media platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They made it known they do not want to be just another failed college band. They want to take Ex Monarch past college and all members collectively agreed their ultimate goal would be to tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of times you get into a rock band with your bros and your band sounds exactly like the music you already listen to, ” said Staton. \u201cBut if you have someone like Amanda or Logan who has very different musical tastes it really makes a nice blend of music.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pasler expressed that there is a female-led rock wave that Ex Monarch intends to ride. Before she could even finish her sentence, bandmate Renneker jumped in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are the wave,\u201d said Renneker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted March 6, 2022 By AMANDA CRANE University of Miami Frost School of Music students hope to revolutionize alternative rock-music culture by adding a female sound to a male-dominated industry. Sophomores Amanda Pasler, Eli Yaroch, Logan Renneker, Samantha Govero, George … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":17,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"sidebar-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4559","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4559"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4566,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4559\/revisions\/4566"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}