Going to the Museum with MGNA Crrrta

For artists who describe their new album as both an “ancient scroll” and a “tablet for girlhood,” and who named their group after a historic British document, there seemed no better place to meet than one of the most famous museums on Earth.

We sat down with MGNA Crrrta, the electronic duo of Farheen and Ginger, in the café of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. 

I pointed out they’d been making music together for more than four years now.

Farheen: “I just felt so ancient. I feel like when we started it was always just fucking around, and I feel like at a weird core part of it, it still always is that. It's always what we're feeling or inspired by. It's never this big grand evil master plan.”

Their first song, American Experiment, just hit 1 million streams. But that wasn’t always the intention behind the music.

Farheen: “We were just doing it for fun. It was a hobby, American Experiment is a joke song.”

Ginger: “I was so excited, I couldn't believe it hit a million. I always thought that our first couple songs were good, but it's crazy to think it has a million streams.” 

Floodgate: “Do you think it’s a good thing to go into it with no intention of making it a business?”

Farheen: “Yeah, because then you'll just get stuck before anything ever happens, and your ego will get to your head.”

Ginger: “You also just need to be true to yourself, I feel like we've always been true to ourselves in terms of our whole vibe. That's a stupid way to say it but that's what makes music special and art special, I feel like individualism is key.“

The conversation quickly shifts to the duo’s obsession with fantasy and world-building.

Farheen: “There’s a very vast MGNA Crrrta world that’s not on Earth.”

Ginger: “Yeah no, it’s not on Earth at all. It’s very much in a fantasy world.”

Floodgate: “I was gonna talk about you guys growing up on video games. Do you think that impacted your world building or your concept of how to do that?”

Farheen: “Yeah, for sure. Because on Minecraft you could do anything you wanted to,  we would do role plays all the time. Even as a child during recess, I would do such intense role play. It would be tag on Monday and Tuesday, and intense roleplay the rest of the week. We were also such avid readers.”

Asked whether books or games influenced them more growing up, the two answer instantly:

“Both.”

Farheen: “Both are escapist, and beyond the boundaries you have in your life.”

Ginger: “And the books inspire the video game side.”

They tell me Minecraft was their favorite game growing up.

Floodgate: “It’s interesting because a lot of artists have cited Minecraft as a big inspiration. Do you think there’s a reason for that?”

Ginger: “Yeah it’s kind of crazy to me. I don’t know. I just remember we were DL Minecraft players. Like it was not cool to play Minecraft.”

Farheen told me her college essay was even about playing Minecraft.

Farheen: “I wrote about feeling like I had a double life. Because I had my real life with my real friends, and then Minecraft with my Minecraft friends.”

Floodgate: “Do you still feel that dichotomy between your music life and your personal life?”

Farheen: “Not really now. Maybe I did before but not really now. But we’re so good at living a double life. You’re never bored, you have so much going on.”

Ginger: “Yeah, I feel like this is the first time in our lives where we’re not living double lives. We were for a while, video game versus real life was the double life. We didn't tell a lot of people when we started music. But now it definitely all feels like it comes together, and we can live openly as weirdos.”

I asked about how their friends reacted when they first started making music.

Farheen: “It’s so awkward being like, ‘so, I did a thing.’”

Ginger: “No, literally because in 2022 we got really weird and psycho together. And then we just started doing music, but we didn't really tell anyone. And then we slowly would tell friends as we were doing it. Like, ‘oh so we just released a song.’ It was just kind of embarrassing.”

Farheen: “It's so embarrassing. It’s so much better to tell people when you're doing something right away versus months into it because then it's just awkward. That's for everything too, not just music. If you're doing anything, you have to tell people right when it starts.”

The duo just dropped their mixtape, Beautiful Disaster.

Floodgate: “Do you think Beautiful Disaster is the next stage in your music? Is the sound shifting?”

Ginger: “Oh yeah, definitely. It's the accumulation of our whole sound,” Ginger says. “I feel like we pulled stuff from our original inspirations and sound that we started with. We created this baby that's like the bible of MGNA Crrrta. It feels very much like the genesis for everything to come. This is our first really cohesive project that's setting the whole foundation for what we want to do next.”

Floodgate: “Were there any specific inspirations for this project? I know you're into early 2010s pop.”

Ginger: “Yeah, I feel like that has always been inspo, but I feel like with this project specifically, Grimes is a massive inspiration for us. We're really inspired by Porter Robinson, and then also Courtney Love and Hole. When we were working on this mixtape, Farheen would just send me pictures of Courtney Love.”

Floodgate: “Did you see that news update of the Kurt Cobain case, a third party investigation revealed that his death was likely a homicide.”

Farheen: “I don’t think she killed him. I hate it when bitches are like, ‘Courtney Love killed him.’”

The conversation then shifted to Instagram.

Floodgate: “Are you guys on social media, consuming stuff?”

Ginger: “Oh yeah, I'm addicted to Instagram Reels. I'm just on them all day. I wish that I was one of those artists where I'm watching these meaningful references and studying all this stuff. All I'm doing is listening to music that I like and watching Instagram Reels.”

Floodgate: “I think there's cultural value in that still.”

Farheen: “There’s no use pretending like you’re not living in 2026. I'm not gonna pretend that I'm a victim of the plague or something.”

Ginger: “Yeah, I feel like you have to embrace the world now. I don't want to ever be posing or trying to pretend that I'm living this weird, curated, alternate life that is inaccessible. I literally am on my iPhone all day.”

Floodgate: “I’m sure you’ve explained it before but where did the name for the band come from?”

Farheen: “I studied political science in college. In freshman year we were looking for a name. When you're choosing to name something, everything you see in life you're like ‘oh that could be a name, that could be a name.’ I was just doing my homework and they were talking about the Magna Carta document in my textbook. I was like ‘oh yeah’ and then we just fucked it up and took out the vowels and added three r's.”

Ginger: “The triple r is for Riot Grrrl, that whole movement. That type of girl music is so inspiring for us. I feel like it definitely set the stage for us.”

Floodgate: “So you're into history?”

Farheen: “Yeah, that’s why we’re here.” Gesturing to the museum around us.

Floodgate: “Is there any specific time period that's really inspirational to you?”

Ginger: “Ancient Rome and ancient Egypt are always a hyperfixation. I'm obsessed with Cleopatra and Julius Caesar and their kid. It's so drama. It's the ultimate historical tragedy and fate, ultimate metamorphosis, it's just so good.”

Asked whether their lyrics come from personal experience or the fantasy worlds they build, Ginger says it’s usually more abstract.

“Sometimes it’s a feeling or a vibe, but it’s never direct. I like leaving it open to interpretation so people can relate to it in their own way.”

Floodgate: “What can fans expect from the Beautiful Disaster project?”

Ginger: “I feel like people will just listen to it and see. It feels kind of like our diary but also a spell book at the same time. Very magic vibes.”

Farheen: “Diary, spell book, story book, ancient scroll. In ancient Egypt they found tablets. It’s like a tablet.”

Ginger: “No literally, it’s like the tablets of girlhood.”

When asked about underground artists they’ve been listening to, the duo quickly point to a few favorites.

“Xavier and Nett,” Farheen says.

Ginger adds that she’s also been obsessed with scenecore recently. “People treat it like an aesthetic, but the music is actually so creative.”

Floodgate: “And you have a picture with Nettspend?”

Ginger: “Oh yeah, we met Nettspend a couple times. We met for the first time when we did Palomosa in Montreal, that festival was so much fun. We saw MIA there too.”

During the set, M.I.A. launched into a rant about being “canceled,” speaking about herself in the third person.

“Everyone was shocked,” Farheen laughs. “I was just waiting for it to happen.”

Moments later, the rant ended and she launched straight into “Bad Girls.”

When the conversation turns to artists and responsibility, the duo take a hands-off view.

Ginger: “I feel like it's up to the artist. There are artists where they just say whatever they want and what comes with it, comes with it. I feel like it's their choice.”

Farheen: “It’s not even an artist thing, it’s anyone. If you want to be racist then be racist. Yes, you should do whatever is best for humanity but I’m not gonna waste my breath. That’s between them and God, you reap what you sow.”

Ginger: “We believe in fate a lot, there’s definitely karma and balances to the universe. If you navigate the world with pure intentions, ambitions, pursuits, inspirations, and visions, I feel like the universe will grant that for you. Evil just gets met with evil.”

When I mention that fans have been uploading homemade visualizers and music videos on YouTube, the pair are surprised.

“Really?” they say in unison.

“That’s how art moves forward,” Farheen says. “You take something and put your own vibe on it.”

Their editing skills actually started with fan videos.

Farheen: “I ran a Hunger Games fanpage. All my Photoshop and editing skills come from making Hunger Games fan edits in sixth grade.”

Floodgate: “So you’d say your career might not be in the same state if you hadn’t gone down that path?”

Ginger: “No, I don’t think we would even be doing this if we weren’t obsessed with that whole thing. We met because of the Hunger Games.”

Farheen: “I feel like the Hunger Games has changed the whole trajectory of my life.”

Floodgate: “It seems like you guys are real lore heads, you love story lines. Have you ever wanted to incorporate something like this into your art?”

Farheen: “We do. Like you know how Grimes has this crazy vibe going on, there's so much lore. You know how in Dragon Tales they have that secret compartment in their house and they find the magical egg and it transports them to the dragon world. We've used that so many times in our videos, just like that.”

When asked about the greatest world-builders, they cite fantasy writers like Suzanne Collins, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Frank Herbert.

“I love an author that dedicates their whole life to lore,” Farheen says. “Narnia is a big one for me. I've watched the first Narnia movie maybe 200 times. I was addicted to it. I had it on the DVR and I would just watch it every single day. My parents were freaked out by it.”

Floodgate: “What was the first artist you remember consciously deciding to listen to, and becoming a fan of?”

Farheen: “Kesha, and Taylor Swift, I’m the biggest Swiftie ever. We just finished the Era’s Tour doc. I’m the first one to have been to all these Taylor things, I will be defending her forever.”

Ginger: “Probably Lady Gaga, my mom was obsessed with Lady Gaga and my grandma too.”

Despite their cult following, the duo still seem surprised by their audience.

Ginger: “We didn't expect to be touring. I feel like we started music and we never thought anyone would actually listen to it. It’s a little bit trippy with this mixtape because there's way more people than usual tapped into it.”

Farheen: “It’s so gagging when a show sells out, I’m like ‘wait.’”

Ginger: “I’m literally always shocked. I just can't conceptualize people going and buying a MGNA Crrrta ticket, but I’m here for it. We make it worth it.”

Farheen: “I remember once, at our New York show last year, someone was like ‘I flew from Arizona to come here’ and at first I was like ‘wait, what? Why?’ And then our manager was like ‘no, you have to say thank you so much.’”

The conversation eventually circles back to the internet.

Ginger: “Even in nature I’m on my phone.”

Farheen: “Ginger will literally go on a run and be on her phone the whole time while she’s running.”

Ginger: “I just love it, I don't know. I love my iPhone and I don't feel ashamed about it, that I'm this reliant person on this thing. I feel like this is my vice. In Mesopotamia, someone would just be on their slab all day. I feel like that would be me.”

Asked one last time about the mixtape, Ginger takes the longest pause the conversation has seen thus far. 

“Just live it, love it. This project is very unapologetically what it is. You’re either gonna get it and relate to it and love it, or you’re gonna be like ‘I don’t get it.’ We weren’t trying to do something that everyone is gonna get.”

She struggled through that response, the only question she was seemingly unprepared to answer. The last sentence flowed naturally though:

Ginger: “I feel like it lowkey is pretty good.”