2023 has been a huge year for indie-pop trio MUNA! From touring the globe with some of the biggest names in music like Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers, to releasing new music and a podcast, and taking TikTok by storm, if you aren’t listening to MUNA yet… this is your sign to start.
Despite their busy schedule, the GLAAD Media Award nominated band took the time to talk with GLAAD about their Pride Month plans and the importance of LGBTQ representation before their performance at The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative’s annual Pride kick-off event!
Naomi McPherson kicked off the discussion talking about how excited they all were to be celebrating Pride at the historic Stonewall Inn that night. “It’s such a dark time, and I think we feel that Pride feels particularly precious now.”
The band’s lead singer Katie Gavin revealed that she “might have come out a little earlier” if they had a band like MUNA to look up to when they were younger, to which bandmates McPherson and Jo Maskin agreed.
McPherson went on to talk about how important the queer representation in music they did have was. “We did have queer bands that we listened to. Obviously we have to shout out our OGs Tegan and Sara.” They then stated that, “The more of us there are, the easier it is.”
In 2017, MUNA released a song called “I Know a Place” all about the importance of having safe spaces for the LGBTQ community. Gavin shared that, “I feel like it’s important to have safe spaces because we need to be able to come together as a community for a lot of different reasons. We need to have a place where we can socialize and meet each other and fall in love with each other.” She went on to say that “We need to have spaces where we can get recharged spiritually… and see each other’s work and hear each other’s art.”
The band all agreed LGBTQ spaces are particularly necessary in this time where our rights are under attack. “We need a place where we can scheme and plan for the revolution,” Gavin said.
McPherson spoke about how LGBTQ spaces make queer people feel less alone. “It can be really isolating to only interact with queer people on the internet. When you see other people in real life, you know, you have a community.”
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Stream MUNA’s newest track The One That Got Away and catch them on their world tour!
Learn more about the Stonewall Gives Back Initiative here.