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2022 Band of the Year MUNA Went Indie and Found a World Without Limits

Katie Gavin, Naomi McPherson, and Josette Maskin discuss their transformative 2022

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MUNA Interview 2022 Band of the Year
MUNA, photo by Isaac Schneider

    Our 2022 Annual Report continues with the announcement of MUNA as our Band of the Year. As the year winds down, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2022. You can find it all in one place here.


    Standing onstage in September 2022 before yet another sold-out crowd, Katie Gavin took a brief moment to appreciate the gorgeous view. As the lead singer of MUNA began to sing “Pink Light,” the fans at 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. simultaneously placed pink slips of paper over their phones and turned their flashlights on, illuminating the audience with constellations of fuchsia.

    “It felt like a very loving thing for them to do for us,” Gavin tells Consequence by Zoom in early December. “But it also is heartwarming because it’s like they’re talking to each other and organizing with each other. I think that means a lot. That’s like a dream that you have as a band: That your fans have a sense of community with each other.”

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    That community was not built overnight. In fact, Gavin, along with bandmates Naomi McPherson and Josette Maskin, have spent the lion’s share of the past decade spreading the gospel of MUNA, cultivating a diverse tribe of misfits united by their love of undeniable pop hooks, proclivity for sweaty singalong dance parties, and overarching sense of acceptance.

    “I think if you’re an artist of any kind, I feel like you have to have a slightly delusional belief in your own greatness to continue doing it,” McPherson says. “But at the same time, when you’ve been at it for 10 years, maybe your expectations start to normalize a little bit. So when things exceed your expectations, it can be really exciting and affirming, especially if you feel like you’ve been working hard.”

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    For MUNA fans — both newly converted and Day One — 2022 started with some pretty massive expectations. The band was still riding the wave kicked off by their 2021 cult smash “Silk Chiffon,” the Phoebe Bridgers-assisted bop that ushered in “life’s so fun” to the indie pop vernacular and catapulted MUNA forward in terms of visibility. While on tour supporting Kacey Musgraves, they heard arena-sized crowds singing their lyrics back at them for the first time.

    “That was when we made the decision: We’re going to put ‘Silk’ last in the set, because it’s already in the place where it can carry that,” Gavin says.

    Then, in March, MUNA released “Anything But Me,” previewing their self-titled third album and first full-length release on Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records. Although the song reads as a self-assured farewell to an ex-lover (“It’s all love and it’s no rеgrets, you can call me if/ There’s anything you need/ Anything, anything but me”), it’s easy to interpret Gavin directing the track’s air of emancipation toward the band’s former label, RCA, who dropped MUNA shortly following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “I think we processed a lot of career-long trauma in the making of this record,” McPherson says. “It’s not like we were ever doubtful that it would work out. But there have been times where it’s been harder than other times. And I feel like now that we’ve dealt with a lot through the making of the record.”

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    The album, which was released in June, showcases MUNA’s range. On “Kind of Girl,” the band goes country pop with soaring harmonies reminiscent of The Chicks; on “No Idea,” they channel the sleek electropop of 2001 Britney Spears. “What I Want” is a dance floor anthem, with Gavin zealously spelling out their desires: “I want the full effects, I wanna hit it hard/ I wanna dance in the middle of a gay bar.” Bolstered by some of McPherson’s most inspired production work, MUNA sonically hops around, sampling from different eras and genres, but ultimately landing as a cohesive, forward-looking testament to a trio of artists hitting their stride.

    But while the record has opened doors — successful headlining tours in North America and overseas, late night television appearances, and a highly-coveted spot as an opener next year for Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” — it’s also given MUNA some breathing room to re-examine what’s really important.

    “We’re exploring boundaries of not having a scarcity mentality and prioritizing our mental health,” says Maskin.

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