The Hunna release their self-titled album on 28 October, and the excitement is building. With a fourteen-date UK tour running from Cardiff on 18 October to Birmingham on 5 November entirely sold out, MetalTalk’s Monty Sewell put her rock boots on and headed out to the band’s recent album launch party.
Words: Monty Sewell
London’s best rock’ n’ roll hangout on a Thursday night? Yes, please. Open bar? Oh, go on then. One of the finest bands on the cusp of musical greatness launching their album in person? You’d be an idiot to say no.
Thankfully, I proved my intelligence and went along to The Hunna’s self-titled album launch party with proud excitement for what was in store. Held at Aces & Eights (right by Tufnell Park station for those who haven’t yet had the pleasure), it was one event in the string of several during the usual gruelling pre-release promotions tour.
Heading from work, I could have sworn at the gods for the bad traffic. For all my claims of being a ‘middle finger to the sky’ kind of rocker, I do bloody hate being late. It actually turned out to be a blessing. On my walk up to the venue, I could see frontman Ryan Potter, guitarist Daniel Dorney and drummer Jack Metcalfe outside the entrance catching some fresh air.
“Hey guys, super excited for the launch!”
“Thank you, thank you, it’s gonna be good!”
“Brilliant, I’ll catch you inside.”
Downstairs, Aces & Eights features a cosy events room with a red-draped bar as you step in. Along with a few recognisable faces from the scene, the air of ‘so we can just get a drink??!’ was rife amongst the attendees.
Pint in hand, I joined the smattering of fellow writers, bands and industry intrigues. Moments later, The Hunna strode on in and settled down at a table of their own. Tattooed to the brim and dressed in that effortlessly punk-grunge-rocker way, they were without question the guys of the night.
Ignoring that initial ‘do we approach or not?’ hesitancy that clouted the room, I decided to go and join them. More than eager to chat, they were an absolute delight. Describing their previous hardships with various industry vipers, they stated the album felt like a real forward turn in the direction they’ve always wanted to go.
“It’s self-titled for a reason,” the band said. “We feel like this is finally us being able to produce the sound we want, with our say alone. It’s why it’s the best we’ve ever done. We’re super proud of it.”
And proud they should be. After a brief introduction from management, ‘The Hunna’ is played from start to finish as we mingle, never mincing our words of congratulations when a band member comes by for a chat. The material is superb, a real journey of a record that has its hard-hitting thrashers as well as its softer moments.
The band have released their new single, Apologies. It is “a song about someone trying to take revenge on an ex by using a third party that wasn’t involved, which in turn causes a ripple effect of destruction,” Ryan Potter says. “The main message of the song is ‘you don’t need to use me to get your revenge, just go out there and be yourself.'”
Apologies has been released with a video showing the band in excellent spirits, almost reminiscing about those early days. “When we recorded this song,” Potter says, “we wanted it to feel like a garage band, which is how we started together. So it only made sense to shoot it in a garage, and with our musical influences, we wanted it to have a throwback feel to the likes of Bowling For Soup and Weezer and have some fun with it.”
As the night goes on, Potter, Dorney and Metcalfe play their parts with endearing genuineness. With the album due to drop on 28 October 2022 and an impending Uk tour starting this week, they had nothing but excitement on their lips. Everyone I spoke to had nothing but good words to say about The Hunna.
They are the nicest guys with the sharpest music. Catch them on their tour, catch them where you can and, for god’s sake, get your paws on that album.
The Hunna play some intimate album store acoustic shows in November too. For details and tickets, visit https://thehunna.bfan.link/albumstores.
