Toronto multi-instrumentalist MBG releases pandemic frustrations on her latest single.
Brampton-raised multi-instrumentalist Leena Rodriguez is MBG: a punk-ish alt-rock outfit based in Toronto. The singer-songwriter wrote her latest single, "Go O.U.T." back in October of 2020 under a couple of hours.
"My sound is definitely within the realms of alt-rock, and maybe a little bit of punk, with a sprinkle of pop?" said Rodriguez. "Wow, I sound like I have a genre identity crisis! My main inspirations have been these three artists in no particular order; The Regrettes, The Beaches, and Lauran Hibberd. We love to see women killing it in the alt/punk rock scene. Also, my friends have always been my top-tier inspirations, because they are all talented, amazing musicians that I aspire to be. They motivate to become a better musician every day."
MBG explains that "Go O.U.T." was inspired by pandemic frustrations and government enforced restrictions.
"It’s about being in lockdown, of course, and just the frustration on how our
province, Ontario, handled the situation," said Rodriguez. "The "O.U.T." stands for Operate Under Tyranny, which is what it felt like hearing these announcements and statements from the government and their chief of medical officers, and half of us not even listening because we grew
impatient- hence what got us into the second lockdown. The lyricism of this
song is just me shouting into the void about the whole thing, you know?"
The single doesn't have much personal meaning, says the indie-rocker, but mainly serves as an emotional outlet for the musician.
"This song is very, ‘in the heat of the moment’, and felt very cathartic to write, but also super fun because the song originally started as a jingle for a video I was going to make," said Rodriguez. "When the second lockdown happened, retail therapy was my only way to cope, so I’ve just been thrifting online, binging and purging my closet, and coming up with cool outfit ideas that I wanted to show. 'Cause hey, we’re in lockdown, what else is there to do? I kept seeing on a lot of TikToks of people showing off their fits and having some kind of music play in the background, so I figured I'd make my own background music. I posted it, people liked it, my roommate was like, "Make this an actual song!” I thought about it, then showed it to my other friends, and they said the same thing. So I was like, “Hmm.. Why not?” Then "Go O.U.T." was born."
MBG says the recording and production processes of creating her songs are always a good time, especially when you work with friends.
"For the past couple of singles I’ve been working with my bandmates Phil Hirst and Morgan Dunbar," said Rodriguez. "They both live together in their home studio where my songs have been made."
Recording as a multi-instrumentalist for your one-person band can get pretty demanding, says MBG.
"What goes down is- I come with a full song demo, we discuss production, and then tracking begins," said Rodriguez. "While Phil and Morgan are up in the control room engineering, I’m in the basement tracking the instruments- so all of the instruments you hear in my songs were all played by me. After everything is recorded, I sit with them and we all share production ideas. I really think the only ‘downs’ about all of this is it can get pretty tiring playing all of those instruments all day, but it’s reassuring hearing back the track and thinking, “Okay.. I guess I’m a decent musician." It blocks out my Imposter Syndrome for a bit."
The artist isn't quite sure what she wants her listeners to take away from the track, but she hopes they have a good time listening.
"I guess that I hope they enjoy the song, and that they mosh and do some rebellious shit to it!" said Rodriguez. "It’s a fun track and I had a lot of fun making it. It’s definitely something that’s far left from my other songs, but it’s not something I’ll shy away from in the future."
You can help support MBG by following the links attached below.
"You can support me by following me on all streaming platforms, and of course go stream “Go O.U.T.”!" said Rodriguez. "You can also follow me on all of social media under @mbgisleena for any updates on new music, which will be happening very soon! Also, for a limited time on Bandcamp, I’m selling seven-inch vinyl! It’ll have my latest single, “Go O.U.T.”, and my previous single, “This Time”. Wild that it’s on a physical thing. I even made the sticker designs myself! I only have 14 copies left, so grab one and support your local noise-maker. Once they’re gone, they’re gone for good."
Upcoming gigs:
(Postponed due to COVID-19.)