Alt-pop band Muna stopped by “Live From My Den” to perform stripped-down versions of several songs, romanticize the L.A. River and talk touring with Taylor Swift later this year.
Recorded at Pulse Studios, Muna members Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin and Naomi McPherson played acoustic takes on “Kind of Girl,” “Anything but Me,” “Taken” and “Silk Chiffon,” the band’s song with Phoebe Bridgers that catapulted it to mainstream success.
The trio — who met while studying at the University of Southern California — also took a trip to the L.A. River during the episode, where Gavin revealed she wrote “Anything but Me” and “Runner’s High” by the historic but dirty body of water. “I am a bit obsessed with the L.A. River,” Gavin said. “I picked this specific entrance of the L.A. River, because this is where we came the day that we finished our second record, ‘Saves the World.’”
During an interview with Variety, the group, known for its poppy production, explained the reasoning behind performing stripped-back versions of the songs. “I really take pride in doing our songs acoustically because I feel like it’s the time that the songwriting is really put to the test,” Gavin said. “Because we do have a lot of wonderful bells and whistles on our songs, so when you take those off, it definitely can change how you hear a song. And it’s a time to see that, hopefully, the songs still have a deep meaning for people and are just as impactful.”
Though Muna is no stranger to touring, during the pandemic is when the band really found success, making getting back on the road that much sweeter. “We made the majority of this record when we weren’t seeing fans or interacting with other people outside of the three of us — which we’re not only a band, we’re best buddies — so it was very insular,” Maskin said. “I’m sure everyone was just lost in themselves during that time and lost touch with a little bit of humanity. But it’s just such a blessing to see that people care about these songs and that we can create a space that people feel they can express themselves for who they are regardless of sexuality, gender, race, whatever.”
Muna will be able to create a larger space than ever before when they join Lorde’s Australian run in March and Taylor Swift on her Eras Tour this summer. McPherson said that the band is “so grateful” for both of the opportunities.
“Obviously, Taylor’s been around for such a long time and definitely, we all have memories from back in the day of when certain albums came out,” McPherson said. “We were just starting to make music in college when ‘1989’ came out. I remember a friend of mine gave me ‘Fearless’ on a flash drive. And I was obsessed with ‘Fifteen’ and in my feelings. We all have stories like that with Taylor, and with Lorde. Lorde is an icon as well.”
“I cried so much over my high school boyfriend listening to that song ‘Last Kiss,’” Gavin said, adding: “Anyway, it was important for me to grow up with a woman who was writing about her own experiences and thinking that her own story was important enough to share.”
Watch Muna’s full “Live From My Den” episode above.
