There is genuine liberation embedded in finally releasing yourself from the tyranny of deadlines specifically after decades spent racing against them, and In It Together captures Amie Penwell and Vicente Rodriguez discovering exactly that considerable freedom together. The Myth Pool emerges from what both artists describe as genuine lab experimentation, blending alt rock, R&B, and considerable eighties new wave influence reminiscent of Peter Gabriel, Wendy and Lisa, and Spoon into something distinctly their own, built specifically without the professional studio infrastructure and accompanying pressure both musicians spent considerable prior careers navigating.
Penwell arrives at this collaboration following a solo career that included both a full-length album, 2017’s Windows, and an earlier EP, 2013’s Under City Lights, both recorded within professional studio environments. She has described that earlier process directly, explaining she frequently arrived with finished songs but genuinely lacked either sufficient funding or considerable dedicated time alongside another human being toward actually realizing the music she truly envisioned. That accumulated frustration regarding depending too heavily on how other people steered her music’s production ultimately drove her toward seeking something considerably different specifically.
Rodriguez brings his own considerable professional background specifically, best known for his drumming work alongside Chuck Prophet, and that experience gave him genuine familiarity with working as what he describes as a hired gun drummer, where his professional responsibility involved finding answers as quickly as possible rather than genuinely waiting for whatever felt actually best. That particular career circumstance, valuing speed and efficiency specifically because time genuinely equaled money within those professional contexts, shaped his relationship toward creative process considerably before this new collaborative partnership began.
The two musicians met specifically nine years ago at a Notes4Hope benefit concert, though their actual collaborative partnership as The Myth Pool developed considerably more recently. What distinguishes their current creative approach is explicit rejection of traditional producer-driven studio process in favor of genuine DIY exploration, working specifically without external time constraints or deadline pressure shaping their creative decisions.
That approach shows directly in how In It Together actually came together. Penwell had an existing demo dating back toward 2020, and when Rodriguez heard it, he suggested they simply try working with that particular material together. Starting with nothing more elaborate than a GarageBand loop, Penwell describes the moment her original song connected with Rodriguez’s loop as genuinely transformative, immediately signaling that their collaborative process could actually begin functioning together.
What made that initial breakthrough significant extended considerably beyond just that single song specifically. Penwell has described realizing they could work effectively with genuinely minimal equipment, potentially just a Casio keyboard and her voice, without requiring full drum kit setup or more elaborate professional infrastructure from the very outset. That realization carried implications extending well beyond In It Together alone, suggesting an entirely viable alternative creative methodology they could continue applying across considerable additional future material together.
Rodriguez has spoken directly regarding how genuinely unusual this collaborative process felt compared toward his considerable prior professional experience, describing real opportunity toward actually witness someone’s creative process unfolding in genuine real time rather than needing to immediately produce finished, functional results. He describes their process as considerably more deliberate, actively asking what a particular piece of music actually wants to become rather than forcing predetermined structure onto it immediately. Sometimes something simply would not feel right for an entire year, and Rodriguez describes eventually watching a finished piece settle into place, recognizing that considerable extended waiting period as genuinely worthwhile once the material finally arrived at where it needed to be.
That patience represents genuine philosophical shift for both musicians specifically. Rodriguez describes explicitly how removing deadlines while remaining genuinely committed toward waiting for the right feeling allows genuine confidence moving forward from that place, rather than settling for whatever answer arrives quickest simply because time pressure demands immediate resolution. He notes directly how their attempts toward creating material specifically for studio sessions, arriving with predetermined plans regarding what a song should become, frequently did not feel quite right, while returning toward working independently together without that external pressure produced considerably more genuinely compelling results.
There is something worth noting in how directly this collaborative philosophy connects toward both musicians’ accumulated professional frustration specifically. Penwell’s history of arriving with finished songs but lacking genuine collaborative time, paired alongside Rodriguez’s considerable experience working under pressure toward find quick professional answers, gave both artists genuine shared understanding regarding exactly what they wanted their new creative partnership to avoid replicating.
What ultimately distinguishes The Myth Pool’s approach is this explicit commitment toward organic development over efficient production, trusting genuine creative instinct even when that instinct requires considerably more time than either musician’s prior professional experience typically allowed. Building In It Together from an old demo and a simple loop, then patiently allowing that foundation toward develop according toward its own genuine timeline rather than external deadline pressure, reflects real artistic conviction regarding prioritizing genuine quality over conventional efficiency.
By combining decades of accumulated professional music industry experience alongside genuine willingness toward abandon familiar deadline-driven methodology entirely, Amie Penwell and Vicente Rodriguez have built In It Together into a debut single that succeeds specifically through its patient, genuinely collaborative construction. This track represents considerably more than simple new musical project, functioning instead as genuine testament toward what becomes possible once two experienced musicians finally release themselves from external pressure, choosing instead toward trust whatever organic process naturally emerges when time constraints genuinely disappear entirely from the creative equation.
