Interview with

RYAN POTTER

of

THE HUNNA

Interviewer: Kelsey Hentschel

The Hunna are being introduced to the world with their debut album “100”, and they’re definitely making one hell of a first impression. The band from Hertfordshire, England has stepped onto the scene as UK’s next big Indie Rock sensation, with their debut is filled with guitar riffs, powerful drums and of course that unique voice owned by their lead singer and guitarist Ryan. One of out interviewers, Kelsey, was lucky enough to get the chance to chat to Ryan about their upcoming Australian tour.

Your first Australian tour is coming up in January, which I’m super excited for by the way. Have you ever been to Australia before?

Ryan: No, none of us have ever been with the band or on holiday. But we’ve always wanted to go so were pretty excited.

What are you most looking forward to? Any tourist attractions you’re keen to see?

Ryan: I think like the whole experience really, coz it’s going to be so different to what we’re used to here in Hertfordshire. We’ve heard a lot of stories from people that we know, and we’ve actually had a lot of Australian fans offer to take us surfing. So that’d be cool.

You’re recording the second album at the moment. How has this time differed from the first album?

Ryan: Yeah. I think a lot of people are going to be quite surprised by some of the songs, in a good way though. I think we’ve challenged ourselves. We wanted to make an album that still has The Hunna sound from the first album but its obviously a development. We’ve grown as people in the last year and experienced a lot of new things. And again its an album about kind of what happened in the past year to us, and the journey.

Why did you guys decide do a deluxe/acoustic album?

Ryan: Well we did the main album, and there were a lot of songs on there anyway. I think there were 16 tracks for the first album, which had like bonus tracks on them. And because we spent like two or three years before we got released just like writing so many songs we just had a lot to give. And with the acoustic stuff, we’ve done a lot of acoustic stuff in the past and we always like doing it and it kind of puts a different twist on some of the songs which is nice for us to do as well because it freshens it up, and for the fans to hear a new side of the songs as well so we thought it’d be cool to do it and its gone down well.

How does it feel to be selling out venues like O2 Academy in Brixton, Glasgow, & Manchester?

Ryan: Its Crazy! Its still really weird for us because everything has kinda happened really quick to get to those venues over here and to see it grow so quickly is just so exciting, and what we’ve always dreamt of and what we’ve always wanted. So we’re just really excited to get out there and do it. To meet more people and to just have a good time.

Recently put out the summer music video. How was that to film?

Ryan: Yeah it was awesome it was the first music video that I kinda did on my own without the guys this time. So it was a bit nerve racking for me, but no it was super fun. The team were amazing, and I got to go to sunny Spain to do it which I wasn’t complaining about. The idea for the video was done really well and it came out exactly how we had planned it.

Do you have any hobbies outside of music?

Ryan: I mean we play a lot of football. Sorry, soccer. We play a lot of soccer. We kinda just do normal things now. Because the band since we started has always been the main thing that we always focused on and just getting our music out there and trying to make this happen. Now that its all happening we don’t get a lot of time to play soccer or do those things that we used to do. We just kind of meet up with pals and go to the movies. We love movies. Just normal kind of things really, to split up from the crazy life.

What was the first song you guys wrote on 100?

Ryan: Im pretty sure the first song was bonfire. I wrote the lyrics for it when I was like 20/21, so like 3-4 years ago now. So yeah that was the first one. I remember being in rehearsal when we first jammed for a bit and loved it and it developed more. By the time we were about to get released with the label and everyone really loved it and we always knew that it was a great song. Its kinda cool that that one has made such a big impact as well.

Did this influence the rest of the album?

Ryan: I definitely think the album grew organically. Every song kind of stemmed from a different experience in life that we’ve had up until we go signed. That’s what the first album’s about things that have happened to us before being released as a band. Bonfire is the first song that anyone had heard of us. Its had a lot of radio time over here and it’s a fan favourite really wherever we go.

What’s your ultimate goal for the band?

Ryan: Our goal has always been to be the biggest band in the world really. We’ve always wanted to be as big as bands like Arctic Monkeys and Kings of Leon. You know just a global band that can play stadiums and headline major festivals.

What has been you favourite live-music performance?

Ryan: When we played Kentish town forum in London. That was awesome, we played really well. There was Community Festival as well this year in London. We didn’t know what to expect and it was huge. I think it’s the biggest performance that we’ve ever done.Going out to so many people and getting the reaction that we did. Looking forward to more of those. That was a big highlight.

Festival sets are shorter than headlining shows, how do you figure out which songs to keep and which to ditch?

Ryan: It is quite hard because the first album has so many songs on it. We kinda just go on ones that we really love to play live. I mean we love to play all of them but theres ones that live compared to the album like some of the bonus tracks, bad for you, and still got blood. Stuff like that are amazing live. Rock my way as well. Ones like that have a bit more of a festival vibe, a bit more fun and crazy so people can let loose and go mad. For instance, sycamore tree, we wouldn’t normally play that at a festival but we will play at our own shows.

What’s your favourite lyric from your music?

Ryan: I’ll be in your bed wearing red like the rose that you gave to me, from bad for you. That’s probably my favourite. We all love that song very much and the fans have really picked up on that one as well.

Do you ever forget the lyrics to your songs while performing?

Ryan: Not really. There has been a few times where because some of the shows have been so crazy that I’m just taking it in that sometimes it’ll come to me singing and I’ll be like “oh shit, I’ve gotta sing.” And then I quickly remember that I’ve gotta sing and it comes to me. So far I’ve never had a really bad moment where I forgot any words. Touch wood.