'The dogs were getting upset': How LA band Muna survived their worst ever gig

What the report says

BBC World News profiled Los Angeles pop trio Muna, using a disastrous early booking at a Las Vegas dog adoption festival as a window into the band’s rise. Members Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin and Naomi McPherson recalled being ill after an overnight flight, playing without proper sound support and enduring guitar feedback that upset the dogs in attendance. The band now treats the episode as a formative embarrassment rather than a career-defining setback.

The BBC report charts Muna’s development from those difficult early shows to a larger international profile. The trio, formed at university in 2013, has earned high-profile support slots with Harry Styles and Taylor Swift and built a reputation around emotionally direct, danceable pop. After RCA Records dropped them in 2020 during pandemic-era cost-cutting, they continued independently and later signed to Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory label, which released their self-titled album in 2022. Bridgers also appeared on “Silk Chiffon,” described in the article as a breakthrough single.

The interview also focuses on Muna’s fourth album, “Dancing On The Wall,” which the band presents as darker and more politically charged while still rooted in dance music. Gavin told the BBC the album responds to feelings of helplessness and a need for movement and collective energy. The song “Big Stick” is described as a critique of American imperialism, including references to Gaza and militarised policing.

The article places Muna within the wider mainstreaming of “queer pop,” alongside artists such as Chappell Roan, Renée Rapp, Lil Nas X and Troye Sivan. Muna are set for their biggest tour yet this autumn, including UK dates in November.