Emma Ruth Rundle

Emma Ruth Rundle (born October 10, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and visual artist based in Portland, Oregon. Formerly of the Nocturnes and Marriages, she has released five solo albums and is a member of Red Sparowes.

Early life
Rundle was born in Santa Monica, California and moved “back and forth between the Westside and Eastside” when she was growing up before attending Eagle Rock High School. Her father is a pianist. She was raised in Los Angeles with her younger sister in a household where a lot of folk music was played. As a teenager, Rundle lived with her grandmother until the end of her life.

After a massive earthquake in her hometown, her mother took her into the legendary folk music store McCabe's and told her she could pick one instrument to rent for lessons. She initially chose the Celtic harp, and later went on to work at McCabe's for 13 years. She started playing the piano under guidance of her father after abandoning the Celtic harp which was her primary instrument up to her teenage years. But upon realizing that a keyboard sounded unacceptable on stage compared to the other instruments, and moving one was too physically taxing for her which made it too cumbersome for her to use. She would switch instruments again, giving all of her attention towards the guitar.

Career
Following a year at CalArts and another year in New Zealand, she formed her first band, the Nocturnes, and released the Wellington EP (2008) and two albums, A Year of Spring (2009) and Aokigahara (2011) with the latter released via Errant Child Records. Rundle also joined Red Sparowes and played on their third album, The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies the Answer, released by Sargent House on April 6, 2010.

She self-released an ambient guitar album, Electric Guitar: One, in 2011. It was later reissued in 2014 by Errant Child Recordings. That same year, she formed the trio Marriages with Greg Burns and Dave Clifford, the latter who would be replaced by Andrew Clinco after the release of their first EP, 2012's Kitsune. They also released their first and only full-length album, Salome, in 2015.

On January 7, 2013, she self-released the album Somnambulant, attributed to The Headless Prince of Zolpidem, which she described as "my somewhat anonymous downtempo, somewhat creepy electronic dark wave project".

Rundle's second solo work, Some Heavy Ocean, was released on May 20, 2014, by Sargent House. It was co-produced by Chris Common and recorded at the Sargent House studio. Rundle lived at the studio complex as an artist-in-residence for the period. The release was accompanied by a US tour with King Buzzo.

Rundle suffers from adenomyosis, which in part inspired the material on her third album, Marked for Death, produced by Sonny DiPerri. It was released in October 2016 on Sargent House.

In January 2017, a split EP with Jaye Jayle, titled The Time Between Us, was announced, and the song "The Distance" was made available on streaming platforms. The EP was released by Sargent House on February 24. Rundle also released the song "Forever, As the Setting Son" on January 20, 2017, the date of Donald Trump's inauguration as United States president, with all proceeds donated to Planned Parenthood.

Rundle's fourth studio album, On Dark Horses, was released on September 14, 2018. It featured contributions by Jaye Jayle members Evan Patterson and Todd Cook as well as Dylan Nadon. Also in 2018, Rundle provided backing vocals for "Just Breathe", a song on American rock band Thrice's 2018 album Palms.

In August 2019, Roadburn Festival announced that Rundle was one of two curators for the 2020 edition, but was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the 2019 edition of festival, Rundle and the artist in residence at time, sludge metal Thou band, would team-up and perform a couple of brand-new songs they had written for a special setlist, with the intention of releasing a collaboration album at a future date. This album was first set in motion when they shared a dressing room at Seattle’s Northwest Terror Fest in 2018, realizing the potential cooperation. Both artists would find value in their partnership having been long-time admirers of each others previous work, Rundle admitted in an interview with Guitar World that she in 2015 became obsessed with the band and felt that they had "mutual awareness". Rundle found the partnership fruitful allowing it her to add more heft and broaden the use of the instrumentals compared to her own solo releases. All the songs on the whole project took over a painstakingly year to come to together, while the recording itself only took three days. In October 2020, their collaboration album, May Our Chambers Be Full, was released. With a surprise follow-up EP called, The Helm of Sorrow, which includes a cover of the Cranberries song, Hollywood. It consists of four b-sides that are from May Our Chambers Be Full that were first included in “diehard” edition of the original release.

She made her debut as a feature film composer with the Riley Stearns film Dual. She was first approached by Stearns around the time of On Dark Horses and would score his short 2020's The Blanket as precursor while spending her time that year mostly at home.

After a week-long stay in a mental health hospital helped her get sober from drugs and alcohol, she released her fifth studio solo album, Engine of Hell, in November 2021, to positive critical reception. She would later release a new EP called Orpheus Looking Back, consisting of three songs that she made during Engine of Hell recording sessions but didn't make the cut. The first song named Pump Organ Song., which she created in response to the dissolution of her marriage, was published as a single ahead of its March 25, 2022 release date. In support of Engine of Hell and Orpheus Looking Back, she embarked on a short 2023 Spring North American tour which took place from March 24th and ended at the Le Poisson Rouge on April 9th. A live recording of Engine of Hell, titled Live At Roadburn, which she performed at the 2022's Roadburn Festival was released separately on July 7, 2023. It was her first independently released album in thirteen years.

On April 8, 2022, she announced a follow-up album to her first album, Electric Guitar: One, titled EG2: Dowsing Voice. Despite the name, the album is a departure from her first album and the rest of her discography, Rundle described it as a "weird art project". Inspired by her stay in coastal Wales in the winter of 2020; where she also recorded the album. it features fully improvised music with special attention towards experimental vocals that are devoid of conventional lyrics. It was released on May 13, 2022.

In March 2024, she collaborated with multi-instrumentalist Patrick Shiroishi on a track called A Sparrow In A Swallow’s Nest, in the song Rundle recites her poem “Paloma.” while Shiroishi provides the instrumentals. It was released as the A-side on a new 7" single by Shiroishi via Sub Pop on April 12. On the 10th anniversary of her second album, Some Heavy Ocean, she would return to Europe on a tour in August to celebrate the record including a concert at the Supersonic Festival.

Personal life
Rundle struggled with drug addiction from the age of 12. She was married to Jaye Jayle co-founder Evan Patterson. They lived in Louisville, Kentucky. Their divorce was finalized in August 2021.

She is a fan of anime.

Solo

 * Electric Guitar: One (2011, Independent)
 * Some Heavy Ocean (2014, Sargent House)
 * Marked For Death (2016, Sargent House)
 * The Time Between Us EP Split With Jaye Jayle (2017, Sargent House)
 * On Dark Horses (2018, Sargent House)
 *  May Our Chambers Be Full / The Helm Of Sorrow Collaborative Album With Thou (2020, Sacred Bones)
 * Engine of Hell (2021, Sargent House)
 * Orpheus Looking Back EP (2022, Sargent House)
 * EG2: Dowsing Voice (2022, Sargent House)

Live albums

 * Live at Roadburn (2023, Independent)

With The Nocturnes

 * Wellington EP (2008, Independent)
 * A Year of Spring (2009, Independent)
 * Aokigahara (2011, The Errant Child)

With Red Sparowes

 * The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies the Answer (2010, Sargent House)

With Marriages

 * Kitsune EP (2012, Sargent House)
 * Salome (2015, Sargent House)

As The Headless Prince Of Zolpidem

 * Somnambulant (2013, Self-Released)