EXCLUSIVE: The Hunna’s Ryan Potter spoke to the Daily Star about the band’s “anthemic” new track Hide & Seek – and hanging out with rock titans like Good Charlotte
The Hunna are back with new music and frontman Ryan Potter says the “sky is the limit”.
The Watford-born rockers have just dropped their new single, Hide & Seek, their first in nearly three years. Ryan tells Daily Star that Hide & Seek captures “everything” The Hunna is, where they’re at right now, and how far they’ve come.
This is a new era for The Hunna. No more “outside noise”, and more creative freedom than ever before. The shackles are off, the engine is on, and the band are driving pedal to the metal – as far as this next road will take them.
Next stop? The festival circuit. They’ve just played 2000trees festival and are heading for Y Not Festival in Brighton at the end of the month. They’re also heading out on tour with Palace Royale later this year (see dates below).
Ryan spoke to Daily Star’s Sam Huntley about the new single and a whole lot more, including how they found themselves at a creepy farm in Arizona with Good Charlotte…
How are you guys doing? You’ve got a couple of festivals coming up. 2000trees, Y Not as well. Excited?
“Yeah. Very excited for the festivals. 2000 trees, it’s our first time here and awesome being main stage as well. And Y Not, main stage again, which we’ve done quite a few times. And there’s always a really good vibe down at Y Not.
“So yeah, we’re looking forward to just just going and doing our thing, you know, bringing an energetic live show, which we always do. And, yeah, seeing people that we know [like] our fan base, and then hopefully meeting some new people and just having a good time showcasing some new music. So yeah, just bringing good vibes.”
What is the band’s wildest festival experience?
“I probably say one that’s leaping out to me right now is when we were in America. We were in Arizona, and we were on a festival, we were touring with Jimmy Eat World at the time, so we were at the festival with them, and then Good Charlotte was there, and there was a few other bands as well, of that kind of stature. I believe it was called Zombie Prom.
“It was around Halloween. And so we were doing festival there. It’s so hot. And then in the evening, we were, like, hanging out with Charlotte and that, and down the road was this, like fear farm thing, but America style, so it was just like the most intense, scary fear farm ever.
“We all went, and obviously we had a bit to drink, and we were having a good time. And then we were in these mazes and fear files of like, people properly get it up in like, different kicks, masks and chainsaws and sh** like that. I remember just being there, and we were just all losing our minds to me especially, to be honest. That was, that was pretty funny. There were a few things that went on there…”
Partying with Good Charlotte and Jimmy Eat World, that’s pretty surreal.
“Yeah [laughs] it was one of those ones where [you’re] dreaming of being in a band or doing this, and then being in Arizona, doing festival with these guys, and then going to the fear farm. Yeah, it was just one of those moments that was just a bit surreal. Awesome.”
Tell us about your new single.
“Yeah. Hide and Seek. Yeah, first single in like two, nearly three years. So it’s been a while since we’ve released some new music, and that’s this is going to be the start of, you know, a whole year now, the next few months of the year, kind of dropping more singles…
“It’s kind of got everything that that we feel The Hunna is, I guess, accumulating all the years of The Hunna and where the where we’re at at the moment, sound wise. So, yeah, it’s an exciting one. It’s got a lot of energy. It’s got a big, big anthemic chorus, which we love. This one is particularly exciting. It’s a good, good start. I’m excited to get it out.”
How has the band evolved since the last record in 2022?
“That record was coming out of a bit of a difficult time after COVID and some other situations that we were in within the industry with, with management and labels and stuff. So we’ve, you know, this record, the up and going onwards, where, you know, we’re self managing, at the moment, on a new label, independent label, but it’s, you know, we’ve got the most creative control and the most control in general that we’ve ever had, really, and that was really important for us with the previous situations that we’ve been in.
“We know we know who our fans are. We know where we want to go, and we know, you know what we want to do in that we know how to steer the ship ourselves very well, and we’ve made a lot of good friends within the industry. So it it just felt like that’s right time for us to for us to, yeah, just kind of take it on ourselves and and it’s been a really refreshing experience. It’s been really liberating.
“And we’re really enjoying making music in this way. It’s literally just us without really any outside noise. So is that’s been really nice. The record before was a kind of start of a new chapter. It had, you know, kind of had the heavier elements to the band, I guess, which, which is a big part of us, especially our live show. And you know, we’re definitely taking that forward, continuing, but also we’re starting to really kind of merge, I think everything of our whole evolution, really, from the first albums all the way through.”
What was it like working with Josh Dunn from Twenty One Pilots? (I’d Rather Die Than Let You In, 2020)
“They’re an amazing, amazing band. Josh is an extremely lovely guy. Our time working on third album in Calabasas with John Feldmann [Goldfinger] was, again one of those experiences that was very surreal and special to be over in Calabasas working with John Feldmann himself from the production side, who he’s worked with, and where he’s come from. And we just clicked really well.
“We were over there writing stuff, yeah, we just had a really good relationship. It kind of went from there, you know, you’re in Calabasas Feldy’s got his his friends and his hook-ups. So he was, you know, he was kind of just allowing us to meet these people.
“We were just hanging out and just connecting. And, you know, he [Josh Dunn] was up here not to come in and listen to the song. And he really liked him. So, so yeah, he was happy to do his thing. And, you know, he was, he was amazing, you know, very, very quick, very pro. He’s an amazing, amazing drummer and musician. And, yes, again, just really nice guy. So it was just a really, like natural, natural thing. Really, very nice experience.”
What was Travis Barker like to work with? (I’d Rather Die Than Let You In, 2020)
“That was very impromptu, actually. There was talks of it for a while whilst we were over there, and then we’d actually finished the album, and then had come back to the UK. And then I think we got like, a call, like, two weeks later or something, and it was like, we had to, we were going back over there just to finish some little bits on the record.
“So we went back, and then we were just in the studio one day, just finishing some bits. And Feldy just called him up because he lives in Dubai, and he said, ‘Yeah, do you want to come down and meet the guys, you know, hear the song and potentially jump on it?’ And he was, yeah, he was taking a shower at the time, as far as I remember… and said ‘I’ll be over in ten’.
“So, yeah, that was it. He came over, we, you know, chat, and he listened to the song, and then he just went in and did his thing. You know, it’s Travis Barker. So it was pretty quick. He knows what he’s doing. So again, yeah, just, you know, a very chilled yeah situation, really. Surreal, looking back and seeing how far you’ve come, to be in those situations with those people, and to have them want to be a part of what you’re doing is obviously very special.”
Any dream collabs for The Hunna?
“Hayley Williams from Paramore would be a top one. We’re big Deftones fans. We love Chino [Moreno]. I mean, it’d be a dream to one day have someone like him on a track. Who else? Sam Fender, he’s great.
“And we’ve, we actually hung out with him eight years ago Festival, and just got really well with him, like he’s just, he’s, he’s amazing, obviously, but was a really great human being. So, so yeah, I’d love to make music with him.”
I feel like you guys transcend genres – so that opens you up to a lot of collabs…
“Yeah absolutely. That’s the thing as well. I think, with our band, like, we’ve always been in that space where, I think, over the years, sometimes it’s been difficult for some people to kind of put us in a certain place because we’re kind of always evolving. And so you should, that’s what music is about, and and life in general, it’s about growing and evolving.
“We like to express all the different sides to us and different sounds to the band. The first stuff was kind of more in the indie rock lane, and that’s progressed from there and I think we’ll continue to do that, but always staying, you know, with what The Hunna is really and I think we do a good job of being able to kind of go around all these different spaces, but still bring it home. That definitely opens it up, like where as the thing we’re not limited to, you know, like you say, we could kind of work in any sphere, and with many different artists, which is exciting for us.”
What’s on The Hunna’s bucket list?
“We’d love to do Glasto, one day. We haven’t done, like Rock AM Ring, like Pinklepop and stuff like that. We’d love to do Primavera, which was recently, was obviously that one day, and we’d love to, we were supposed to do Lollapalooza around COVID, and we’re supposed to do loads of things around COVID. And obviously that happened.
“So here was stuff like Lola, which would be awesome. We’d love to do that, I think, more on the festival side, but also personally as a band, just continue to take the band to new heights. And, yeah, just take it as far as we can go. Really [the] sky’s the limit.”
The Hunna are touring with Palace Royale later this year. Gig dates below:
03 Nov – SWG3 (Galvanizers Yard), Glasgow04 Nov – NX, Newcastle upon Tyne05 Nov – The Prospect Building, Bristol07 Nov – O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester08 Nov – Leeds Beckett Students’ Union, Leeds09 Nov – O2 Academy Birmingham, Birmingham
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
