002: Munya
An interview with singer-songwriter Munya
Welcome to Tune Glue, a newsletter run in conjunction with Tone Glow. While the latter is dedicated to presenting interviews and reviews related to experimental music, Tune Glue is a space for interviews with artists of any kind. These interviews could be with filmmakers, video game designers, perfumers, or musicians who aren’t aligned with what Tone Glow typically covers. Thanks for reading.
Munya
Montreal musician Josie Boivin has been performing as Munya since 2017, when she began making music for her later-released series of three EPs. In her trilogy project, Boivan switches seamlessly from Quebecois to English, singing and enunciating with an ease most likely inherited from her teen years, which she spent studying classical voice and opera. Now, Boivin makes music for Gorilla vs. Bear-founded label Luminelle Recordings. She sings in bright, light as gossamer tones, like a bell that never tires of ringing, often flanked by strange, dreamlike piano as she contemplates aliens and Space X. An unabashed interest in aliens and space is not something most artists write pop songs about, let alone make central parts of their public personas, so Ashley Bardhan chatted with Boivin about it over email, sharing our art and beliefs about the unknown.
Photo by Josh Aldecoa
Ashley Bardhan: What do you find appealing about aliens?
Munya: The unknown, something more than what we see and what we know.
Illustrations by Munya
How much does your belief in aliens relate to your music?
Making music is a mystery for me. Every time people ask, “How do you make music?” I try to come up with an answer, but the truth is, I don’t know! When I let the music lead my inspiration, It’s like coming from another world.
Do you ever feel motivated by space? Do you think there’s something about music that connects you with the vastness of the universe?
Yes, absolutely. I believe that any type of creation helps you to connect with the universe. It’s like connecting with your soul, with your inner voice.
Illustration by Ashley Bardhan
How long have you been interested in aliens? When I was younger, I would leave out bowls of sugar water for fairies in my backyard. I’m not sure if they ever came!
When I was a child, I was so scared of aliens. Just thinking about them, I couldn’t sleep at night. I grew up in a very small town, and I remember hearing stories of people seeing a mysterious light in the sky, or of someone who knew someone who knew someone who woke up one day and found mysterious patterns in their fields. I was horrified. Now, as an adult, it is more exciting to think of the unknown and of the endless possibilities.
Illustration by Munya
What’s your favorite alien movie? Why?
My favorite alien movie is Independence Day. I’m a big fan of science fiction, and this movie feels spot-on. It scared the alien out of me as a kid!
Illustrations by Munya
Is there any genre of music that you would describe as “alien”?
The singer of Sigur Rós has such a unique and magical voice. I’ve always suspected him of being an alien.
Illustration by Ashley Bardhan
Do you think there’s anything inherently feminine about being into aliens? I always felt like my belief in God, nature, and unknowable things made me feel more connected to myself as a woman. Historically, the “unknowable, emotional” woman was something to be feared, like with witchcraft or shape-shifting women. Do you think public sentiment towards being into aliens ties into that concept?
I think so. I think it’s easier for women to replace the fear of the unknown by curiosity.
Illustration by Ashley Bardhan
If you could make music with anyone or anything—living, dead, fictional—who would you pick? I think I would do some field recordings with Bigfoot.
Haha! I would love to do some recordings with belugas. They are fascinating!
Illustration by Munya
If a skeptic read this interview, what would you want them to know?
Life is an infinite sea of possibilities.
Illustration by Munya
Thank you for reading the second issue of Tune Glue. Make connection with an alien lifeform today.
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