Muna is an American indie pop band consisting of Katie Gavin, 29, who is the lead songwriter and vocalist, and Naomi McPherson, 29, and Josette Maskin, 28 who are the multi-instrumentalists and producers.
The trio met in college at the University of Southern California and began working together in 2013 with Maskin and McPherson playing together on guitars and Gavin adding synth bass and vocals. Gavin and Maskin were music majors, while McPherson double-majored in narrative studies and American studies & ethnicity. The two guitarists, Maskin and McPherson, were used to playing ska, which is a music genre that originated in Jamaica, and progressive rock, a subgenre of rock music that emphasizes ambitious compositions, experimentation, concept-driven lyrics, and musical virtuosity. But they settled on a different sound.
All three members identify as queer and McPherson is non-binary, so their band was classified as a “queer band”. Muna used this infamy to help inspire younger people to be comfortable with their identities. Therefore, their songs direct issues of sexuality and gender.
According to McPherson, “It would have meant a lot to me when I was, say, 12, to know of someone in a band and think they were cool and know they were out.” McPherson added, “I am out and I feel safe being out because the three of us are a little army for one another. I don’t feel afraid to be myself. That makes me proud to be queer. That’s the whole point of why we do this. We want a safe haven.”
When any artist/artists release an album there is always chaos. However, for Muna, who was sending its third, self-titled album meant that they would have to start all over again. But during the pandemic, its label, RCA, Radio Corporation of America, dropped the band.
Muna was devastated, but they did not give up. Someone the members knew had rented them a studio and the band would show up every day.
Recording is stressful, once the band had to redo the song “Solid” five or six times because it sounded as though Gavin said the lyrics, “My baby’s a salad,” instead of, “My baby’s so solid.”
Another indie powerhouse, Mitski, met the band for the very first time at a festival and they got along really well.
“We just started chatting, which is rare for me, because I’m very introverted and don’t just ‘start chatting’ with people,” Mitski wrote in an email. “It’s a testament to how friendly and kind they are.”
The song “No Idea” began from a visit from Mitski in McPherson and Maskin’s apartment and like most songs on the record, “No Idea” talks about the gap between perception and projection and the clarity and confinement that come with claiming a label.
“I don’t want this era to be, ‘Oh, we used to be one way, and now we’re another way, and everything’s great now,’” Gavin said. “We are who we are, but it’s the compassion we have for ourselves, the awareness we have.”
The trio met in college at the University of Southern California and began working together in 2013 with Maskin and McPherson playing together on guitars and Gavin adding synth bass and vocals. Gavin and Maskin were music majors, while McPherson double-majored in narrative studies and American studies & ethnicity. The two guitarists, Maskin and McPherson, were used to playing ska, which is a music genre that originated in Jamaica, and progressive rock, a subgenre of rock music that emphasizes ambitious compositions, experimentation, concept-driven lyrics, and musical virtuosity. But they settled on a different sound.
All three members identify as queer and McPherson is non-binary, so their band was classified as a “queer band”. Muna used this infamy to help inspire younger people to be comfortable with their identities. Therefore, their songs direct issues of sexuality and gender.
According to McPherson, “It would have meant a lot to me when I was, say, 12, to know of someone in a band and think they were cool and know they were out.” McPherson added, “I am out and I feel safe being out because the three of us are a little army for one another. I don’t feel afraid to be myself. That makes me proud to be queer. That’s the whole point of why we do this. We want a safe haven.”
When any artist/artists release an album there is always chaos. However, for Muna, who was sending its third, self-titled album meant that they would have to start all over again. But during the pandemic, its label, RCA, Radio Corporation of America, dropped the band.
Muna was devastated, but they did not give up. Someone the members knew had rented them a studio and the band would show up every day.
Recording is stressful, once the band had to redo the song “Solid” five or six times because it sounded as though Gavin said the lyrics, “My baby’s a salad,” instead of, “My baby’s so solid.”
Another indie powerhouse, Mitski, met the band for the very first time at a festival and they got along really well.
“We just started chatting, which is rare for me, because I’m very introverted and don’t just ‘start chatting’ with people,” Mitski wrote in an email. “It’s a testament to how friendly and kind they are.”
The song “No Idea” began from a visit from Mitski in McPherson and Maskin’s apartment and like most songs on the record, “No Idea” talks about the gap between perception and projection and the clarity and confinement that come with claiming a label.
“I don’t want this era to be, ‘Oh, we used to be one way, and now we’re another way, and everything’s great now,’” Gavin said. “We are who we are, but it’s the compassion we have for ourselves, the awareness we have.”
