When indie pop trio MUNA performed at Lollapalooza in August of 2022, live performance was just beginning to return in earnest, with the bandmates having released their self-titled third album, their first on an independent label, about a month earlier.
For vocalist Katie Gavin, who hails from Chicago’s north suburbs, the moment represented something of a crossroads for the group, which, like many artists, was struggling to make a go of it on the road amid turbulent times in America.
Two years later, MUNA returned to Chicago for a Sunday afternoon performance at the Pitchfork Music Festival fresh off a stint opening select dates on Taylor Swift’s massively successful “Eras” tour and with a new live album recorded in Los Angeles at the iconic Greek Theatre.
MUNA spoke with the Sun-Times about live performance, the new “Live at the Greek” and what’s next.
Q: Two years ago at Lollapalooza, Katie said, “We’ve been lucky our entire career, honestly, to get to do what we want. It’s just amazing. Things have just worked out. But we’ve had a lot of dark moments. And we’re not sure where things are gonna go, if we’ll be able to keep doing this. But we just keep showing up and it has worked out in our favor.” Two years later, you’ve been part of “The Eras” tour as well as a tour with Lorde. How do things look two years later?
Naomi McPherson: Better! But still grinding. It’s not fully smooth sailing yet. I don’t feel like I can fully relax if that makes sense. We did really well, but that puts more pressure on whatever we put out next. Maybe that is just the way it is. Maybe it never ends.
Katie Gavin: My attitude right now is that we are in a sweet spot — and, actually, we have been for quite some time, where it’s like we are able to make a living as a band. I feel like we have less financial instability now. In the last two years, we started making money on tour — which is a f- – -ing miracle.
NM: It was only really the last tour that we did, our last headlining tour that we did — that was the first time.
KG: Getting to be invested in it that way, to get to a point where now we can make money on tour, that is a game-changer. But it’s not to the point where we could stop now and retire for the rest of our lives. But I really wouldn’t want it that way. I like that we are just working musicians.
NM: Yeah, working artists. Bring that back. Bring the ability to do that back.
KG: A middle class of artists.
Josette Maskin: It’s actually the only option. You have to work even if you’re doing pretty well.
KG: That’s true. But wouldn’t it be amazing for more people to be artists and make a living and survive? That would be very nice.
Q: What was it like recording at the Greek and how did that album capture the spirit of the band’s live sets?
NM: Our bass player Gio is also a very talented engineer and mixer. And he mixed and mastered the whole record. We just kind of knew that it was going to be a special couple of nights in Los Angeles for us. We’ve been wanting to play that venue forever. If you live in L.A. for a long enough time or are from there, you know how much that place means. So, we tracked both nights and wanted to give people a version of the show that maybe if they haven’t been able to come to a show or live internationally, they can still feel like they were there. Gio really kind of masterfully mixed the record so that there’s a lot of crowd sound. You kind of feel like you’re right up at the front, dead center near the speakers.
Q: I know you guys released the “One That Got Away” single this past spring. Are you working on more new music?
KG: We are working on it. But we don’t know what the timeline is. We’re trying to take advantage of being in this place where we do have a little bit of space to breathe.
JM: And Katie is also putting out a solo record. So, it gives us time to exist and breathe.
NM: Katie has been locked in on the solo record for a minute now. So, we’re pivoting to our next album kind of over the course of summer and fall. We’ll get back into the groove of things. But we take a long time. So, we request everyone’s patience and what will come out will be great!
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The band is now making money on the road, a turn that vocalist Katie Gavin calls ‘a game-changer.’