This week at Soundsphere HQ, Dom Smith chats to Ryan ‘Tino’ Potter of The Hunna fame. Topics include passionate fans, living dreams, catharsis in music and how he has developed as a person.
We asked Ryan how he would define success, and he talks about how he would like to see his band as a household name. On a deeper level, he talks about how the fans connect with the band and what it means for them is more how he defines success. “We’re talking to fans every day and sometimes not even about music or ourselves, sometimes it’s about personal issues they have and helping them through it, and you know getting messages and saying how our music has helped them in whatever way possible, so I think, to be honest truly, that is success.”
The Hunna formed while at college many years ago, and this led to their first single “Bonfire” which was released in October of 2015. Soon festival slots beckoned, and the guys played the likes of Reading and Leeds, Dot to Dot Festival and BBC Introducing in the summer of 2016 before releasing their debut album ‘100’ in August of that year. In 2018 came second album ‘Dare’, which came out to much success. Now the band are gearing up for the release of ‘I’d Rather Die Than Let You In’, which has collaboration with Travis Barker on the track “Cover You”.
This was a dream come true for the band, who also worked with Josh Dun from Twenty One Pilots on the new record, which was recorded in Los Angeles. “Josh Dunn was insane, Travis obviously, he’s an icon. When you watch him play and just being around him, the amount of professionalism is insane,” enthuses Ryan. Recording in America has positively influenced the lads great new material along with themselves. ”Especially for us, boys from Watford that had this dream to now be on the 3rd album and surfing in Malibu with John Feldman was just insane, the whole thing was kind of a big dream come true for us.”
Development and growth is another thing we ask Ryan about, coming into the third album how has he changed and developed as a person? “I can kind of calm myself a bit more, and take things more in my stride and let things kinda sink in,” he says. Around the time of the first album, there was maybe a bit too much being carried away, but now the lads have become more mature. “You have to put what’s important as the forefront, which is performing at the best of your ability, and making sure that everyone that you perform to feels exactly what you feel with the songs.”
When we ask about what film could the latest Hunna album possibly soundtrack, he mentions the 2012 crime-thriller ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ starring Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes. From this, we ask if the record had any sort of catharsis for him and the band considering the record will be darker in tone than the previous efforts. “I mean it was definitely catharsis making it, writing it and watching the songs come to life from what we had in our head and the feelings of it, it’s come out probably better than I ever thought in my head, so we’re super excited about it and it’s definitely helped us to put some things to bed. There’s still bits of anger and stuff there, it still hasn’t completely gone, but it definitely helped us to get into this next chapter for us and put a few things to bed and move on.”
It’s been interesting to hear from Ryan on how The Hunna have evolved as a band and have matured, we can’t wait until that album drops.
