Interview with Ryan Kattner (Honus Honus) of Man Man
10 AUG. 2014 The other week I sat down with Ryan Kattner, otherwise known as Honus Honus of the band Man Man before they performed on stage at Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park, NY, here's the short of it:
AS: Now one of the main differences between this album and some previous albums was the band line-up, right, in that it definitely down-sized for this?
RK: We did downsize, but the band line-up always fluctuates at least since Six Demon Bag with Chris and I being the main stays. I think it’s good to have new blood in, it just keeps things energized and it keeps it from getting stale.
AS: Did it make the writing process easier on this album, or was it more difficult for that reason?
RK: It definitely was focused in a way that it hadn’t been before, just having Chris to bounce ideas off of or to build out musical ideas with, it was definitely more efficient and I know its to for there to be friction but sometimes friction can be very unproductive and I really didn’t want to work in an environment like that anymore.
AS: In the past, you’ve stated that you don’t want this to be just another Man Man album, what do you want it to be, what has it become?
RK: I don’t know what it’s become yet; I’d like more people to know about this record, we’re very proud of it. When I made that statement, I just didn’t want it to be written of as “oh we know what Man Man sound like” but it does get tougher the longer that you’re around and making records, people have an idea in their heads of what you’re about and I think it’s always good to challenge that.
AS: Now in College you studied Film Studies, right?
RK: I did, I studied Screen Writing and Play Writing.
AS: How did you go from that to being in a band for about 10 years?
RK: Terrible error of judgment. I thought it’d just be a chapter I thought it’d just be one record, why not, I’ve never played in a band before, I’ve never written songs before and I didn’t think it would kind of, take hold. Hopefully, it will still only be a chapter of my life and there will be other things happening.
AS: Are you looking forward to something else?
RK: I think everyone should be looking forward to something else. I enjoy what I do and I don’t take it for granted and I’m really lucky to be doing this but like anything else, it’s not easy.
AS: Now you also didn’t have any proper musical training, right?
RK: I messed around on a guitar and learned some chords, but as far as training, there is no training, I bought a keyboard when I was 21, I didn’t even know the names of chords at first, I only lean red the names of chords a handful of years ago. I don’t know any music theory, but I don’t think you need that chords order to write a song. I think all that matters is that you write something you believe in and you sing how you feel it, without being to whiney, I think that’s the crucial thing, don’t be a whiner.
AS: Do you have anything else you would like to add for the listeners?
RK: Stay in school; follow your heart
The full radio broadcast including interview can be heard here: http://www.mixcloud.com/RecessWithSpinelli/recess-with-spinelli-165/