Singaporean dark experimental artist goneMUNE continues their emotionally immersive saga with the release of 'PRAYER', the latest chapter in the narrative universe of AVERDONIA. Known for blending industrial pop, retro synth textures, and raw vulnerability, goneMUNE creates art that is as cinematic as it is cathartic. Every detail—from self-produced sound design to butoh-inspired stage movement—contributes to a fully lived-in world where emotional detachment, memory, and rebirth collide. Their work is less about genre and more about survival; a mirror to what it means to unravel and remake oneself.
Following the haunting introspection of 'AMNESIA', 'PRAYER' plunges even deeper into the psyche of AVERDONIA—a cyborg formed in grief and now confronting the trauma of their past. Layered with distorted vocals and surging intensity, the track reveals a devastating truth: the masked figure AVERDONIA has long sought may in fact be a reflection of their own yearning. As memory and identity fracture, goneMUNE turns sonic chaos into clarity, channeling self-reckoning into something fierce, fractured, and strangely freeing.
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Curious to learn more about the emotional blueprint behind this mythic world, we spoke to goneMUNE about the heartache, healing, and haunted androids that shape AVERDONIA—and what lies quietly waiting on the horizon for this ever-evolving artist.
Hey goneMUNE! Your music often explores dissociation, loneliness, and identity—but always with a cinematic sweep. What first drew you to building stories through sound instead of just sound alone?
I was always creating out of personal stories that I wished to share. When I was a teenager, I was drawn to specific musicians who created characters like David Bowie, who was the first artist I ever listened to with intent. I guess that naturally influenced me. To me, what’s meaningful in creating my own music is expressing a certain message or emotion I feel during a specific situation or time - and that I want listeners to feel like they’re not alone. Embracing the past with trauma and growing from it while learning is especially difficult, and it usually requires a strong support system to overcome. I hope that my music, by sharing my personal experiences, can become part of someone’s support system in some way. AVERDONIA’s story will continue through this year with more songs and their music videos, including a LP to be released too - so I hope whoever stumbles upon my music and enjoys it will not only stay for the art, but also for the storyline I wrote.
The world of Averdonia is rich with symbolism: a cyborg born from grief, a masked figure, emotion-triggered nosebleeds. Where do these metaphors come from in your own emotional landscape?
I always felt like a cyborg would fit perfectly in Singapore. The essence of little to no rest, being constantly overwhelmed by work, made me feel like most people had a robot-like physique. Overworking is so ingrained into Singaporean life, and there’s still a general lack of openness to seek help or therapy - which I feel, might cause certain normalized lifestyles to feel strained and stiff. There’s a lot of aversion to self-care in the system - like taking painkillers and ignoring physical or mental pain to sacrifice oneself just to meet basic needs. I felt that way too when I was navigating different jobs - and with that came grief: grief for artists, for people like my family affected by the system, and what happens afterward.
Bandages are a recurring motif, something that V - the masked figure - shares in common with AVERDONIA. It symbolizes hiding issues from others, while the nosebleed reflects the stress a body undergoes when it can't take it anymore.
I’ve learned this the hard way and have been trying to care for my needs more. Nothing is worth more than your health - and people often forget that what you feed your brain affects your body too.
In ‘AMNESIA’, you ask: How does a human process emotion in a complex world? What answer did you find while making the track?
That it takes a lot of rest and building up your inner world to confront certain things. Setting aside time to navigate your emotions and the cues your body gives is likely a lifelong journey for anyone (especially if we’ve spent so much of our lives ignoring this) because processing doesn’t mean things disappear in a day, a month, or even a year. Trauma-related emotions often resurface in new ways. Processing means listening to your body, and doing so on its own time.
In ‘PRAYER’, Averdonia realizes the stranger they’ve been chasing is actually a reflection of themselves. How does that idea mirror your own journey with self-love or self-reckoning?
I was once always chasing someone else’s affection - constantly in relationships, and I was never alone because I was afraid of it. I truly believe the people we’re with mirror where we are in life, and I certainly wasn’t a confident or secure person in the past. That led me to put myself in very vulnerable situations, often harming myself. After many failed relationships, I realized that this love I kept seeking needed to be directed toward my inner child. The lack of it was causing me to self-destruct and lose my sense of self. At that point, I genuinely wanted to escape the misery I was in, because I was reliving the same tiring situations over and over again.
The phrase “human enough” comes up in your writing. What does being “human enough” mean to you now, after completing this body of work?
It means I can finally live life on my own terms - without fear or judgment from others. That I can express myself fully, without being constantly pulled down like I was before. Dropping the comparisons to others and recognizing that I am enough - just as I am, for who I am, and what I want in life. After working in the funeral industry for about two years - watching families fight for time and seeing their loved ones lying still - it made me realize how short life really is. We really don’t know what will happen tomorrow. So I can safely say that I am human enough. After everything that’s happened to me and everything I’ve felt, I can embrace my true self and no one’s stopping me, and that you don’t have to impose things on yourself if they don’t feel right for you too.
Averdonia bleeds when they feel—an unsettling yet poetic image. Was there a moment in your life that felt like emotional bleeding, where the metaphor turned real?
From 2021 to 2024, it often felt like my heart was being constantly wrenched apart. Those years of continued abuse - and realizing that I had lived my whole life in trauma - left me feeling persistently alone. I was emotionally ‘bleeding’ to my friends and exes, mourning the parts of me I had abandoned, and grieving the pain I had endured - I will never put myself through that ever again.
You’ve mentioned incorporating butoh movement in your performances. What role does your body play in expressing things your voice or instruments can’t?
I think body expression plays a huge role in performing as a musician. Stepping into butoh as a movement form has really helped me shape what I want to express - there are always limitations in our voices or in music - and body movements extend beyond those limitations. They provide a visual form of emotion that drives what I want to convey. I also think visuals are very important in what I do - which is also why I edit all my videos myself.
What do you hope listeners feel not just when they hear your songs, but when they leave them?
I hope they feel empowered and heard. That what I put out encourages them to keep recovering or flourishing in their own lives, and that they, too, realize they are “human enough” - if they haven’t already.
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Last question! If the AVERDONIA LP became a full-fledged visual piece—film, installation, or game—what would the opening scene look like?
It would start in a fully blue-tinted chamber where AVERDONIA’s cyborg form once resided, with biomechanical tubes connected to their system. Breathing heavily, head tilted to the side. The surrounding atmosphere is abandoned - yellowed documents from their creator/father scattered across the room, dust everywhere, maybe some fog for added effect. There’s a sense of chronic loneliness - a feeling that no one exists but them. They awaken stiff and mechanical, with constricted movement, and more cyborg- like features attached to them - stuff like their signature cyborg hand (made by my friend @explosive.minestrone), contrasting how they look in the 'AMNESIA' music video, but also, perhaps more intense than how they look in 'PRAYER', too.
As a final note, fans can look forward to the official music video for 'PRAYER', which premieres on 28 June at midnight (SGT)
