The word “ muna ” means a few different things . It ’ s a female given name in Arabic . It ’ s the Filipino word for “ first ” or “ beforehand .” In Icelandic , it means “ to remember .” In Los Angeles , it ’ s a trio of musicians who met in college three years ago and have been making self-described “ dark pop ” ever since .
Twenty-three-year-old Katie Gavin , MUNA ’ s lead singer and producer , recalls meeting rhythm guitarist Naomi McPherson , also twenty-three , and lead guitarist Josette Maskin , twenty-two , at USC in the way only someone who was recently in college can . “ I met Josette [ one ] fall semester , and then I met Naomi [ in ] spring semester of that [ school ] year ,” Gavin says , “ and then the following fall semester we started playing together .” Every time they jammed , they ended up with a new song . Five of those songs made it onto a selfreleased 2014 EP , More Perfect , which the band has since scrubbed from the Internet . Still , while it was up , the EP got a bit of traction from UK blogs .
That was when MUNA realized the attention they could command if they got even more serious about music . Fortuitously , they all got internships in New York , and they spent a summer in the city working , playing shows , and writing the songs that appear on their current EP , The Loudspeaker , which is out now on RCA .
FLOOD 19