7 August 2026
A prodigious talent, Gwen Bunn is entering into the next phase of an already illustrious career. The Georgia native first made her foray into music as a producer, working with legendary artists in the process and recently securing a Grammy win for her work on ‘MUTT’ with Leon Thomas.
Blessed with engaging lyrical, smooth vocals, and a freedom in her soundscapes, Bunn’s solo work is also demonstrative of her stellar, innate musicality. Her latest release, ‘The Interim Vol. 1’ encompasses all of this, delivering a perfect record for the summer months.
Mixtape madness sat down with Gwen to discuss her musical origins, the difference between collaborative and solo work, the meaning behind The Interim, and what comes next after a transitional period in her career:
Where does your music journey start?
I didn’t come from a musical family, but I went to a church that was very musical and that had a lot of musicians who were world class. These musicians had played with a lot of legends, and so the history in that regard is deep. Just being around people with a lot of knowledge, growing up in the choir. They were close to my family, or I was close with their family, so I would be able to go to their houses and pick up some things early on, and I kind of gravitated towards it naturally as a child.
I had people around me that were heavily in the music industry doing a lot of different things. I think that’s what helped to persuade me, motivate me. I just feel like music has always been innate to me since a kid, and you know, over the years, my love for it just grew stronger and stronger.
Do you think growing up in Georgia helped shape that love?
Absolutely. My uncle Sonny played drums for Earth, Wind and Fire, Bette Midler – a lot of different people over the years. His wife’s father was the pastor of my church, so my mother and his wife were good friends and I would spend a lot of time going to their house. I just think being in close proximity like that just really got me in tune even more so than the average person, being around music all the time. Going to their house, spending time with their family. They were always playing music. I definitely think that was a big influence, and the church is really how it all started.
You got into production from an early age. How did you make that jump?
So I started out thinking I wanted to be a rapper, and I also like to sing so I would sing as well. I would try to incorporate both of those things, singing and rapping, and then I also like to play piano. I taught myself how to play. I started all of that when I was like 11 or 12, maybe even earlier than that. By 16, I felt like I should put all of these talents together. I was just always doing something creative in the music realm, whether it was rapping, writing poetry, singing a song, beating on the desk, making up songs in school. It was like that for me. So eventually, I said to myself that I think I need to put everything together. It was feeling like I needed to just do it – everything all at once. But there was nobody who was willing to give me beats at the age of 16.
It was definitely out of necessity and just the love for music. I got my first computer, downloaded FL Studio and was using a demo version and just figuring it out, making my way. I didn’t even buy the real version. I was just doing the best I could with what I had. By 16, I wrote my first song and produced it and showed my dad. He was like, “So who did the music?” I said, “I did.” And he was like, “What? Are you kidding me?” So I think that’s kind of where it started right there.
That led you to work with some amazing artists, from Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q on ‘Collard Greens’ to Donald Glover and Leon Thomas. What do you take away from those experiences?
Those experiences were amazing – super life changing. That first trip to Los Angeles really, really, really altered everything for me, and I just was able to suck everything in and keep it with me. I’ve transitioned into officially living in Los Angeles for about 10 years now, just based on that first experience. On my first trip I came with nothing and then I left and was able to sign my first major label deal, which was amazing. So yeah, life changing.
How does your process change when producing for others rather than your solo work?
It’s super different because you’ve just got to embed yourself in their world and see where their head is and what they’re trying to express. It’s definitely way more strategic versus sometimes with me, I don’t even know the direction I want to go in. I just make it up as I go. I think working with other people is definitely more focused, and you kind of have to just put your head in their world and figure out what they want to say.
Do you have a preference between collaboration and solo work?
Whatever feels right. Whatever is bringing in the money (laughs) Let’s bring home the bacon, baby! No, I don’t have a preference. I never really went in to necessarily be a writer or a producer for other people. I like that. I love it, but my whole thing was I only got in those rooms because I make music as an artist, so I’m definitely an artist first, and I’ve always been in that role first.
I’ve always been in artist mode, and the production and writing thing has kind of come along with it just naturally because people have heard what I’ve done. I think for sure being an artist is the easier route. Just as far as making the music, knowing what I want already. Even if I don’t know what I want, I’ll figure it out. It’s not a problem. That’s what I came in the game doing anyway. That’s really where all the energy lies for me. Everything else has just been a plus.
You also won a Grammy this year for your work on ‘MUTT’ with Leon Thomas. What was that like?
Oh, it was great. That’s another situation where I was not looking to produce anything in particular for anybody – it’s just you being creative and doing what you do, and then people gravitate towards it naturally. It was a super huge blessing for that to come about how it did.
I love Leon. Him and I had worked before his major ascension. We worked on music just to work on music, with no real intention. To see it transition into this and really take over the world has just been really amazing. I’m super excited for him and his journey. He worked so hard, so yeah, it was a blessing to contribute the things that I did to that project.
I also want to talk about your solo work and your most recent project, ‘The Interim Vol.1’. What’s the meaning behind that title?
It represents that in-between period. I’m in kind of a transitional period right now of just figuring out my team business wise, and the direction I should go in. Yeah, that’s kind of what it meant for me as far on the personal side. I think it’s really just that middle ground period for me.
Subject-wise, for the music and what I’m talking about, I think it absolutely represents that in-between time when you’re trying to figure out a relationship situation with someone, or what your status is before you take things further. It’s that in between moment before you’re fully engaged with the person, and like all the way in with somebody. I think this project is just really honing in on you taking it to the next level with somebody you’re interested in.
I know you said earlier that when you make music you might not have an idea of what’s going to come out the other side, but what struck me about the project is how up tempo it is and also its cohesiveness…
This is one of the most intentional projects I’ve done thus far. I really took my time with this one. I started the process in August of last year, and I pretty much wrapped around March. I hadn’t released in a couple of years, so I’ve been stacking up music all this time anyway. I have multiple projects that I could have done, but I wanted to start from scratch and really focus on the summertime and the energy that we need for summer. Just some up tempo records. I just wanted to get people excited again. And I think up tempo really does that. It gets you moving. You know what I mean? I wanted to get the blood flowing a little bit. So yeah, this was super intentional for sure.
Where do you take inspiration for the lyrical content of the project? Is it from lived experience or do you take a concept and run with it?
A little bit of both, to be honest. Sometimes when you meet somebody and it’s that early stage before you’re all the way settled in with them. I feel like the early moments where you’re really getting to know somebody, that’s always the most exciting. This is some new energy and let’s see where we can take it.
I think it also matched the energy of the music too. I was trying to just stay in that kind of space and keep the same concept throughout the project, and just express the same themes in different ways.
You’ve called the project The Interim Vol 1. Does that imply that a volume 2 could be on the way?
Yeah, there’s absolutely going to be a volume two. I’m trying to decide if we want to do volume two immediately or give them something else and then go back to volume two for next summer. I don’t know. We’ll see. I’m figuring that out.
You’ve said you’re in this transitional period of your career. Where would you like to see yourself in the future once you’ve come out of this?
I would be really, really excited to see me do a new deal with a major label and just really get the team together how I envisioned it. I’ve been with a major before. I was with Island Records for about a year or so, which was an incredible experience. But you know, sometimes with labels, they do a lot of transitional things, and the people you come in with might not be the people you end with, so I had to make sure I had my ducks in a row and I didn’t get caught in a scenario where I didn’t want to be somewhere. Before it even got to that, I said, “Let me just regroup. Let me start over and leave before it gets crazy.”
It was short lived, but it was just an amazing experience. Even though it wasn’t as long as I intended or wanted, it was pretty much the prequel to what it should and will be. You know what I mean? When you do have the right partnership with people, and the right support in your corner to really get the music out how it’s supposed to be, we can all flourish. I’m excited for that because that’s absolutely the next chapter■