The pop band who went from playing for rescue dogs to selling out arenas

Every band has to earn its stripes. Some have it harder than others.

At AC/DC's first gig, the club owner cut the power because they were too noisy. Sam Smith started at barn dances, singing on top of a haystack. At Robert Smith's first concert, he got so drunk that he sang David Bowie's Suffragette City while the rest of the band played Jimi Hendrix's Foxy Lady.

At the start of their career, the band got a call from their record label. We know you've just flown overnight from London, they said, but you have to get to Las Vegas.

Why? Because they'd been booked to play Pet-A-Palooza, a dog adoption festival sponsored by the local radio station. If they turned up, the station would support their new single.

"We were all sick, so it was doomed from the start," recalls guitarist Josette Maskin.

"It was an acoustic set, but we didn't have a sound guy, and the guitar started feeding back."

The noise, according to singer Katie Gavin, was like an unholy screech.

"The dogs were getting upset," says Maskin, wincing at the memory. "They just howled the whole time.

"We were mortified, but looking back, it is so funny. And I've gotten to share those experiences with some of my best friends, and that's what life is really about."

Muna in 2026 (L-R): Naomi McPherson, Katie Gavin and Josette Maskin

Nowadays, that canine catastrophe is a dot in Muna's rear-view mirror.

Over the past decade, they've become one of the most compelling live bands around – a little bit punk, a little bit electronic, a little bit 80s, eminently watchable and endlessly impressive.

Fans include Harry Styles and Taylor Swift, who handpicked the trio (completed by guitarist/producer Naomi McPherson) to support them on tour.

They were won over by sing-along anthems like I Know A Place, a great big exuberant hug for the LGBTQ community; and the more introspective Stayaway, where Gavin locks herself in her bedroom to avoid anything - friends, music, drink - that could tempt her back into the arms of an ex.

In 2020, all their momentum nearly came to a crashing halt when RCA Records dropped the band, citing pandemic-era cost-cutting.

"That's obviously one where we had to put our heads together and be like, 'OK, we want to continue doing this. Let's just make an album and we'll figure it out'," says McPherson.

That album, simply titled Muna, was eventually released by indie star Phoebe Bridgers, who swooped in to sign the band to her Saddest Factory label in 2021.

"Phoebe's manager had made it very clear that if we were ever single, she'd be interested in working with us," Gavin told th