Currently supporting their fourth album “Dancing On The Wall,” the members of MUNA took part in an exclusive interview for Playboy.
The interview finds Katie Gavin, Naomi McPherson, and Josette Maskin discussing the group’s evolution, while highlighting their takes on representation.
The feature also touches on tour preparation, with Gravin noting, “Naomi and Jo are bodybuilding. I’m booty-building, If I’m shaking ass onstage, I want it to be a powerful ass shaking.”
Entitled “Gets So Hot,” the tour formally kicks off in Phoenix, Arizona on September 17.
Interview highlights and photos from the story follow, courtesy of Playboy and The Lede Company. The full story is available to Playboy Members here.
Katie Gavin on queerness and representation: “At the time, I was still on a journey of [dealing] with the hyper-visibility of my sexuality. Being in a queer band [is] in some ways hyper-sexualizing. While [that Playboy issue features] cool representation, it definitely is still from the male gaze.”
Josette Maskin on masc representation: “There is a real conversation to be had about Naomi and I being more realized versions of different kinds of masc-presenting people, whether the public eye wants to absorb that or not. We have to be ourselves no matter what, and the band has allowed us to really figure out who we are.”
Katie Gavin on her fitness preparation for tour: “Naomi and Jo are bodybuilding. I’m booty-building, If I’m shaking ass onstage, I want it to be a powerful ass shaking.”
Josette Maskin on the band’s role in expanding queer representation: “They saw themselves represented by Naomi being free, topless and without tits, being who they are, [Our fans] see someone like that, and they see themselves.”Katie Gavin on image vs. art: “Ultimately, what we’re doing as a project, and the art we’re making is way more interesting than how we fucking look.”
Josette Maskin and Naomi McPherson on the band’s early search for queer representation in music: “When we first started as a band, we actively sought out material that represented us. One could say we’ve re-created it onstage.”
Katie Gavin on her comfortability with nudity: “I’ve come to a place of neutrality around being naked, I think that’s also part of being in a band and being a performer. You’re naked a lot of the time in front of people, and you’re changing backstage or whatever.”
