It's come a little later than hoped, but The Hunna have finally released their third album, ‘I’d Rather Die Than Let You In’, a wonderfully experimental progression in the band’s career, and a testament to their unwillingness to stand still. The band have taken their fierce foundations and built on them to create a brand new yet still recognisable sound, trusting their fans to follow them on this journey of growth, and they’re “very, very excited” about it finally being out in the world.

While no one wants the current global pandemic to be a focal point when releasing new music, it’s hard to avoid when it’s having such an impact on the music industry. For The Hunna, it’s meant that by the time of its release, the album has been recorded for nearly a year, and certain ideas they had for music videos that accompany some of the tracks have had to be scrapped in favour of something entirely new. Whether that was filming from a distance, or reusing live footage, The Hunna had to find ways around the restrictions and have pulled it off expertly, not letting anything stand in their way.

“We had to really keep our distance and literally created all the music videos ourselves. We also had to do one where we used lots of old live footage, from our tour we did last year from like Europe, the US and UK, and kind of mash up loads of different footage. And then we had a track called ‘If This Is Love’, featuring Phem, and she’s based in LA and had to record stuff from her apartment, and we had to record stuff from our apartment and then we sent it across to do lots of editing. So I guess we have been more creative, yeah, in trying to make things happen – it’s just pretty crazy but I’m glad we definitely got it done which is brilliant.”

While much of their music comes from a place of anger and frustration, what’s clear is that the band members are actually a self professed “bunch of hippies”, and as such they manage to find the positive in every negative. While Covid has changed most things for the worse, it’s important to acknowledge the things that will have changed for the better, and Dan is convinced that moving forwards, musical collaborations will be easier now that we’ve discovered ways to do things from across oceans.

“I actually genuinely believe that after [Covid] we’re gonna start working this way. It’s way more productive and it’s quicker. We’ve even had writing sessions again with some of our friends in LA and we’re gonna write over Zoom which is pretty crazy, and we’ve had all our meetings with our record label over Zoom.”

It’s opened up a whole new world of collaboration for musicians, and to be able to not just write music but also film and edit an entire music video from across the world shows just how much more opportunity this international disaster has also been able to open up. 

And it’s not just ways of working that have the potential to improve. Dan notes other aspects of life that benefit from this newly discovered virtual collaboration, not least the environment, acknowledging that if more musicians were to take this approach, not only would writing music be more efficient, but the reduction in travel would have a direct impact on pollution levels, too. While it’s possible (probable, even) that pixelated faces and bad internet connections could prevent things from running as smoothly as we would like (and nothing really beats that face to face back and forth), what’s been proven is that we can push through anything and continue to make art that resonates. 

And that’s always been the most important thing for The Hunna: that the music resonates with the fans. Everything they do is with them in mind, as they’re all too aware of the part these people play in the band’s success and their ability to live their dream. 

“Without them we wouldn’t be where we are today. There’s this mutual respect of being really appreciative of having fans and people who listen to our music.”

To be able to reach even more of their fans, then, is a huge bonus for The Hunna. Where before, listening parties might have been limited to major cities, excluding a huge portion of their fan base, the current circumstances have allowed them to reach out to even more people, and not just through a like or a retweet, but actually through spoken conversation using these newly embraced online tools.

“We’ve even had fan parties where we’ve released some singles and it’s really cool ‘cause we get to really interact with them and talk with them over Zoom and have listening parties and stuff like that. In a way I actually think it’s created a really cool thing for the music industry and the people within it, you know?

“We want to try and reach and connect with as many people around the world as possible. So I guess this kind of situation, it’s given us that platform and idea to do it.”

While the promotion of the album and the release itself has all taken place during the pandemic, the writing and recording of the album was finished long before we had to start wearing face masks and stop hugging one another. With the freedom to finally be themselves, ‘I’d Rather Die Than Let You In’ is full of songs that show The Hunna in a different light, and it’s clear that they want to continue to grow in every aspect of their lives.

“We’ve always kind of been just bass, drum, two guitars and vocal which is great – we’ve been doing that for years and I think we’ve really refined it and we’ve done a really great job of it – but we’ve always wanted to experiment in sound and try different things but always keep the rock element and value cause that’s what we love and that’s what we do.”

And it just takes one listen of the new record to hear exactly how they’ve experimented with their sound, playing with synths and vocoders, as well as pulling from different genres as a result of endless collaborations. The most important of these is with John Feldmann, the lead singer of Goldfinger who has produced albums with the likes of Fever 333 and Blink 182, to name just a couple. After writing a few tracks with Feldmann (or Feldy, as Dan affectionately refers to him), the synergy was evident, and the band decided to bring him in to work on the whole album. It was this collaboration that ultimately opened up every door for The Hunna and allowed them to embark on this journey that they saw as an “evolution of rock”, similar to the likes of Bring Me the Horizon and Biffy Clyro. 

With Feldmann’s experience also comes a lot of friends in high places, a handful of which The Hunna were able to work with on the record. From Travis Barker, to twenty one pilots’ Josh Dun, to Pete Wentz, “he brought in loads of people like that just to write and experiment with and see what we could create in the studio and it’s come out really, really well”. It’s a change, most definitely, but I think we’d all agree with Dan in that it’s a change for the better, one that has prevented them from the risk of going stale. No one wants to see a band release the same album over and over, and The Hunna don’t want to do what’s easy; they want to stretch themselves and take risks and – most importantly – do it all on their own terms.

“It’s a hard job cause it’s something we haven’t done before, it’s like stepping out of your comfort zone if that makes sense, but it was something we wanted to do which is most important. Like we haven’t been forced to put these elements in our music by a label or anything like that it was completely our own decision and it was just such a nice feeling to actually succeed.”

It’s easy to forget that our heroes have heroes of their own, and that they, too, can be starstruck and inspired by other bands and their art. One particularly poignant moment was being able to include Blink 182’s Travis Barker on the song ‘Cover You’. For any band who grew up in the peak of pop-punk – and even for those who didn’t – Blink 182 are a staple of any playlist, and the band’s members have become legends in their own right. For a band whose members are in their late to mid-twenties, there’s nothing quite like being able to say Travis Barker plays on your record, and The Hunna haven’t taken it for granted, especially the band’s own drummer, Jack Metcalfe.

“That was a dream come true to have Travis on that song, it really was. It was so cool to have him come down and play on it and it’s Jack’s favourite drummer of all time so you know, massive dream come true for Jack to have his idol play on his band’s record. He was just so stoked about it.”

While in LA with Josh Dun (“absolute fucking legend to be honest with you”), the band were able to experience Blink 182’s Forum show from side of stage, where at one point Barker stepped off the drums to let Dun take over. With both drummers playing a part in the creation of ‘I’d Rather Die’, this was a priceless experience for the band, and after catching twenty one pilots at Reading and Leeds festival last year (both bands played main stage on the same day), Dan, at least, found inspiration from seeing both of these iconic drummers in action.

“It was just incredible, like the energy [twenty one pilots] have – the music, the stage performance and the stuff they do and how entertaining it is… It’s genius. I love it. So inspiring. 

“Again, they’re actually a really good reference to you know, what rock has become, like their sound and how they’ve developed it… that’s the kind of band we want to be and that’s the kind of shows we want to be playing.”

And by taking these opportunities and learning from them, it’s only a matter of time before The Hunna reach a similar level of notoriety – at least in the UK. They’re slowly making their way up festival bills and with the backing of such huge names in rock / pop-punk sitting behind them, this record will only accelerate that growth.

That’s not to say that it was easy to get there, though. Whether it was a case of vocalist Ryan Potter and Dan pooling all of their income from working multiple jobs, or dealing with some really negative people, The Hunna had to push through a lot to get to where they are today. Their one piece of advice, however, would simply be to not give up.

“We have a personal philosophy of, if you want something bad enough, you’ve just gotta go grab it. Like it’s not gonna happen overnight, it’s not gonna be easy, there are gonna be barriers, there’s gonna be walls and you’ve gotta climb them or break them down. And it’s just one of those things like, one minute you think you’re up and you’re not, then you’re down. But if you want it bad enough, just go get it… Whatever it takes, we’ll do it.”

It’s a philosophy that the band absolutely live by – made evident through their undeniable success – but there’s always more to learn, and the making of ‘I’d Rather Die Than Let You In’ taught the band some valuable, lifelong lessons, too. Most importantly, the process highlighted that we shouldn’t “waste a single minute and you never know what could become of the time you have left”, a lesson was learnt in the final 20 minutes of a session with Feldmann in LA, after they’d already written two songs. While the band were ready to call it a day, Feldmann grabbed each member double espresso shots and urged them to keep going. They “threw back those shots and were like, ‘Ok let’s go’, and out of nowhere, ‘I Wanna Know’ came”, a track that would eventually be one of the band’s all time favourites. 

“We just bashed it out and thought how cool that one of our favourite songs from the album was written in 20 minutes… And it was just really cool – we love it and just had fun with it and Ryan was just being reckless with the lyrics, you know that ‘give a fuck’, throwaway kind of attitude.”

To think that without that super strong coffee, this particular track never would have existed is a crazy notion, especially given that it was one of the first few tracks we heard from the record. That said, when asked about other favourites, Dan reels off almost every track name, explaining the back story and at least one detail that makes it special. Whether it’s working with Evanescence’s guitarist on ‘One Day You’ll Thank Me’, or experimenting with Ryan’s vocals on ‘Young & Faded’, it’s clear that each of these songs will continue to take up a special place in the band’s hearts for one reason or another.

There’s hope, too, that these songs will nestle themselves into the hearts of their fans, and all Dan and his bandmates want is for them to find something that helps them get through what is a really shit time. 

“Sometimes the world sucks and you know, you want to say something about it – wanna feel something about it – and I hope that’s relatable and people can listen to it and feel something and help them feel more encouraged. We just wanna make them feel like maybe they’re not alone.”

Throughout our entire conversation, it always comes back to the fans and how much The Hunna care for them, and we end our chat with some sound advice that only further highlights just how genuine and passionate these guys are. After everything the band went through with their previous label and management (“It was a definite battle”), all they want for their fans is to never have any regrets looking back. 

“There were so many times where we could have thrown in the towel, or felt defeated or you know, thought maybe we should just stop. It’d just be easier to stop, but actually, fuck no like this is what we do, this is what we like doing and we believe in ourselves and we believe in one another and we can try and we can succeed, and all you have to do is try. 

“And at the end of the day if it never goes well or it doesn’t go your way, all you can do is at least remember that you tried. I’d prefer to be old laying in a bed, thinking fucking glad I tried, than thinking, “Shit I wish I did”. You know? Fuck that.”

Luckily for The Hunna, their hard work has paid off, and to be here with a third album that’s better than the last (which was better than the first) is an incredible place to be. This is a band that will never stop trying and will never lose sight of where they came from, and for anyone who joins them on this journey, there’ll be endless rewards. 

YASMIN BROWN