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MUNNYCAT is looking forward to taking its dance beats outdoors tonight at Youngstown State University's Fall Fire Fest.
"I think it will be pretty awesome," Khaledzou said. "MUNNYCAT's show is pretty over the top. I think it will work really well. We'll have a full band backing us, some theatrics."
His partner, K808, added, "No concert hall could contain us. We blow the roof off any building they put us in."
It's no surprise the production duo knows how to sell its music. Its music has been used to sell a variety of products in recent years.
Now based in Los Angeles, MUNNYCAT has its roots in the Mahoning Valley. Khaledzou is Austintown native Khaled Tabbara; K808 is Hubbard native Katianne Timko. They moved west to pursue their individual musical goals, but it's their work together as MUNNYCAT that has attracted the most attention.
"We had just moved to LA and were so happy," Tabbara said. "Life was really exciting, and we decided to return to what initially inspired us about making songs. We went back to childhood. What did we love?"
For Timko, it was early '90s pop and girl groups like the Spice Girls. For Tabbara, it was old school hip hop -- Run DMC, Beastie Boys and early Beck.
"They wrote the neural pathways about what I like about music," he said.
That playful sound has landed MUNNYCAT placement in national commercials for Target, Cadillac, JCPenney and Wendy's. A minute-long spot for EA Sports' FIFA'19 video game that features its song "Level Up (La Da Di)" has been viewed more than a half million times on YouTube and inspired many commenters to ask, "Who does this song?"
The success in the commercial world gives the duo the freedom to create music without the interference of a record label.
"Our songs are unaffected by what a business person thinks," Timko said. "This is what we sound like. It's super-honest art that is making us money. That's pretty crazy. We joke we're having big corporations subsidize our music so we can give it away for free."
Tabbara leads the Youngstown band The Zou, and The Zou's annual Halloween concert last year included some MUNNYCAT music, but Fall Fire Fest will be the duo's first official MUNNYCAT show back home.
Fall Fire Fest is part of YSU's 78th Homecoming celebration. Set up in the M71 parking lot, the event will feature a bonfire, food vendors, activities presented by several on-campus groups and an outdoor concert with Two Guys Under the Stairs, Drop the Act and headliner MUNNYCAT. Admission is free and the festival is open to the public, not just YSU students.
"Over the summer they reached out to see if maybe we were interested in doing something with YSU in the coming year," Timko said. "About a month ago we got an email asking us to play Fall Fire Fest. Fall is our favorite time of year to come home. We're going to go to White House (Fruit Farm), pull out all the stops and have all the fall fun."