Ryan Hunter from Envy on The Coast

Keaton caught up with Envy On The Coast’s lead singer, Ryan Hunter on their first headlining tour. Despite being on voice rest, he was able to tell us via hiptop a bit about himself as a musician, and Envy’s upcoming release, Lucy Gray, which hits the shelves on August 7th.

Keaton: Your first full length album, Lucy Gray comes out August 7th. What should fans expect, and how would you describe Lucy Gray in comparison to the EP?

Ryan: We all feel that we’ve made huge strides as musicans, people, and song writers and judging from the feedback we’ve received thus far, it really shows on the new record. There’s a lot of really personal stuff within the skeleton of this record.

Keaton: How does it feel to have kids singing along during your shows?

Ryan: It’s heartwarming. You spend your time pouring every ounce of yourself into something and it’s really nice to see that other people share it with you.

Keaton: I know that there had been some not so great press about you guys. how do you deal with negative feedback?

Ryan: I nervously laugh at it. I won’t lie and tell you I brush it off easily. I’m a really insecure person who takes things personally. Fortunately I have Brian, who is unbelievably talented and ripping those people to shreds in more ways than one.

Keaton: You guys do a lot of touring. Where is your favorite place to play, who are favorite bands to play with, and is there any performance of yours that you feel was the best?

Ryan: It’s too hard to narrow it down to one answer for each of those questions. I love coming home to Long Island and playing there. Other favorite cities…probably Seattle, San Francisco, Providence. Favorite bands would be the Dear Hunter, Circa Survive, Hit the Lights, The Sleeping…there’s too many to list.

Keaton: Why did you ditch the camo hat?I mean it has its own myspace and everything.
Ryan: because people had trouble finding me.

Keaton: Before Envy On The Coast you were Writ In Water. Writ In Water had a song called Envy On The Coastline. Did that song mean something special that caused the bands name to change?

Ryan: It was more the aesthetic value of the name that initially attracted us to the name. The song was about a particular band that I developed a jealousy for ironically enough.

Keaton: Besides the release, what does the future hold for Envy On The Coast as a band, and you as a musician?

Ryan: Tour forever. Make records till we drop dead.

Keaton: there was some rumour about dan (I think) leaving the band…what was with that?

Ryan: Haha yeah I don’t know who started that…but he didn’t find it funny. We did though.

Keaton: What is your favorite lyric…that you wrote?

Ryan: Hmmmmmm. that’s way too hard to narrow down. It would definitely be from a tune of the new record.

Keaton: You always have some inspirational thing to say, so what advice do you have for all those aspiring musicians out there?

Ryan: Keep playing and always play from the heart. That’s going to sound cheesy now…but one day you’ll find yourself in a predicament and you’ll understand how important it is to keep that in mind.

Keaton: do you conisder yourself a rockstar? Has rockstardom changed you, or your outlook on life?

Ryan: Definitely the farthest possible thing from a rockstar. This life has definitely changed me however.

Keaton: Where did the title Lucy Gray come from?

Ryan: Look it up. Do some research…tell me what you find and try to figure out who she was. then come to me and we’ll have a super long conversation about what you think it means. Peace.