Snob & Answer: Katie Gavin
In our latest Snob & Answer, we chatted with Katie Gavin about love, the TikTok algorithm, and her debut solo project, What A Relief.
Katie Gavin is comfortable — or at least it seems that way. Not just in the moment during our almost hour-long Zoom interview but also at this pivotal juncture in her career.
For just over a decade, the accomplished musician, along with her Muna counterparts Naomi McPherson and Josette “Jo” Maskin, have played a crucial part in keeping real, in-your-feels indie pop alive and thriving. I’m talking about the kind of semi-vindictive songs you throw on when bouncing around on your bed just after that cathartic ugly cry — ignoring the litter of wadded tissues as you recite self-affirming mantras in the mirror. First connecting as students at the University of Southern California, Gavin, McPherson, and Maskin quickly moved to form the seminal trio recognized for their energetic, synth-based tunes and distinguishable ethos that promotes queer empowerment in every facet.
Now, three defining group albums and a few enlightening breakups later, Gavin is self-assured as she takes a brief moment to experiment with life as an independent act. And I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry, there’s no breakup coming anytime soon.
Poised to release her debut project, What A Relief, at the end of October, Muna’s vocal lead is venturing off into uncharted territory, exploring themes and ideas that will speak solely from her singular perspective. With the earliest track dating back to 2016, the new record is a compilation of thoughts and memories that exist outside the Muna-sphere, giving way to an autonomous energy that balances familiarity with the individual. It’s not a “new” Katie Gavin, per se, just more Katie Gavin than we’ve ever seen before. With that comes a shift in sound as well, wherein the singer-songwriter finds an agreeable niche in the twangy, bluegrass-inspired melodies present on the album's lead singles, “Aftertaste,” “Inconsolable,” and “Casual Drug Use.”
With this latest musical offering, it’s clear that Gavin has confidently entered her romantic renegade era. Through 12 songs, the tenured artist brings us along on a liberating ride to nowhere just to talk us through what’s been on her mind lately. Evolving some of the classic sonic tropes made famous by pop-folk legends like Tracy Chapman and Tori Amos in the late ‘80s and mid-'90s, What A Relief feels like an invitation to an intimate reading of Gavin’s freshly penned journal entries — a bit scandalous yet entirely relatable.
Acoustic and emotional, Gavin strips back the kick drums, electronic pulses, and self-asserting lyricism frequently heard across Muna’s anthology, giving her inner empath its much-deserved solo moment. All we have to do now is ride shotgun and intently listen.
Hey Katie, it’s nice to see you! Where are you right now?
I'm at my house in LA in my little secret backyard garden. My cat wanted some outdoor time, so we're doing the interview together.
Would you consider yourself big on gardening?
Honestly, I've become kind of a lousy gardener because I've been gone so much, just always on the road. Everything dies. I was just joking with a friend about my second career being something in agriculture. I just want to enrich the earth. I think it's absolute magic, and I would like to have another chapter of life where that's my focus.
I know there’s a significant movement around “off-the-grid life.” Does that intrigue you at all?
I think I'm interested in staying in society and staying connected to other humans, but trying to figure out how to integrate these practices in an everyday way, if that makes sense. I'm friends with so many lesbians who have a long-term plan of starting a commune or animal rescue or something.
With that in mind, obviously, you have a dedicated fan base. Your profile is growing constantly, but is there still a part of you that feels attached to “regular society?” for lack of a better term?
I was listening to something once that equated being “gay famous” to being in a form of solitary confinement. But I think Naomi and Jo would agree with me that Muna has walked that really fine line for a long time, making just enough money to live as artists, but often, we don't feel like celebrities.
I like being a normal person. So, prayers that continues, and we still make enough money.
So, speaking about regular life, what was the first thing that you did when you woke up?
I'm one of those LA girls who do morning pages. I feel like a lot of LA people do it because everyone is sober out here.
What's a common theme that's been coming up in your morning pages recently?
I'm moving through some discomfort in a couple of areas of my life. I'm going through another breakup, so that's coming up in the pages. I am always writing about the next Muna record and building ideas for that. I wake up and immediately start fantasizing about what the next world is that we're building. I'm so lost in my own sauce right now.
We know your first solo album, What A Relief, drops on 10/25. What kind of growth have you seen from the beginning of your career until now?
The simplest way that I can explain it is when I started working with Naomi and Jo, we were just not fully formed people. I had an underdeveloped sense of intuition and trusting myself, but I really trusted them, and I knew that they would make the right calls to protect us as we navigated this, at times, brutal industry.
With the solo project, though, I had to test how much I've learned to trust myself and my creative instincts. This record was made with many twists and turns, and I think all of that was to learn that I could do it on my own.
How has your perception of love and being loved changed over that time?
I've said it before, but Naomi and Jo have been my biggest teachers in terms of how to love others. They've taught me a lot about how to treat other people with care and also let them genuinely be different from you.
In that case, what's your best piece of dating advice?
I'm not a good person to ask, but I once had a friend say to me, "If you're not ready to break up with somebody, then you're not ready to date." Overall, it’s about trusting yourself and knowing that you’re going to protect yourself; at least, that’s helped me be more open to people and to love.
In the realm of love, is there an end goal for you?
Being 31, “I think about it all the time,” to quote Miss [Charli] XCX, but I really don't know what my feelings are. I would say the goal that I articulate is that I want to know myself and know how to take care of myself. And in every relationship that I have, I just want to learn, Alanis Morissette style.
Who do you enjoy spending time with these days?
The first thing that I would say is I really miss my friends, and I want to hang out, that has also been all over my morning pages recently. Beyond that, I have a lot of elders around me that I'm super grateful for. I live in a part of LA that feels kind of suburban, and I have these older queer neighbors that I go and have happy hours with. I'm sober, but they fucking drink, and I just love hearing their stories.
I stumbled on your TikTok page before we started talking. What’s your algorithm feeding you right now?
I can't tell you. It's disgusting. Naomi, Jo, and I shared a TikTok account before, and eventually, they were like, "You need to stop watching these videos!"
So, I got my own TikTok to promote stuff, and it's been fun, but I also probably need to be on it a little bit less.
What's your favorite part of creating music?
Writing. It'll always be writing. Anytime you get a new idea and get it down, it's just such a high. It's probably my number one addiction.
Who's a style icon that reflects this current era you’re in?
I would say I'm pulling mainly from a ton of Lilith references, like Sarah McLaughlin during the Mirrorball tour, performing with her bare feet. Or the Tori [Amos] record where she's in a T-shirt and jeans on the album cover. But she just looks really fucking rugged and badass, and I think she has a rifle. She's sitting on a rocking chair with her legs spread open. Any woman who's manspreading.
Last question: what is one thing that you’d like to share with the world?
I think there's a lot of discourse right now about settling for what we're being offered, in terms of a future world to live in. And I want people to remember that we can have so much more if we demand more together. I actually feel that if we organize as a people with specific demands (for example, to ask [our government] to stop participating in a genocide), it's extremely possible to achieve way more than what those in positions of power are handing us. Does that make sense?
Definitely, that's powerful. I think it will resonate with many people trying to figure out how we can right this ship.
Yeah, man. We have to keep the faith.
Stream What A Relief everywhere on October 25.
