Introducing: Runner Up

After years of shaping Bristol’s music scene- performing with the likes of Fenne Lily, Kate Stapley, and Hailaker—multi-instrumentalist Dave Huntriss steps into a new era with Runner Up, a project born from abandoned solo ideas and revived through deep collaboration.

Fresh from three years of global touring with Novo Amor, Huntriss brings a newfound perspective to his songwriting, channelling his experiences into Runner Up’s debut album, Departure Fever. Mixed by Andy Monaghan (Frightened Rabbit, We Were Promised Jetpacks) and mastered by Ed Woods (Idlewild, Hamish Hawk), the record is a rich blend of indie, post-rock, pop, and Americana, exploring themes of loss, change, and reinvention.

Featuring contributions from Jemima Coulter (Hailaker), David Grubb (Novo Amor), and members of Two Day Coma, Muncle, and The Malago Ballroom, Departure Fever is a testament to the power of transformation—both musical and personal. From anthemic choruses to delicate storytelling, Runner Up is more than a new moniker; it’s a bold departure into uncharted sonic territory.

How has your experience touring with Novo Amor and performing on big stages influenced your approach to songwriting and production for Runner Up?

Since playing in the Novo band, I’ve picked up lots of tips and techniques I’ve applied to this project to try and level up the overall production quality of the tracks, both on record and live. I experimented with more grand, orchestral arrangements by recruiting Novo’s string regular David Grubb to record violin and viola, especially on ‘1 Year, 1 Month’. I also added a lot of instruments to the arrangements that I haven’t used much in the past like piano, banjo, and synths. And for live shows I’ve been using in-ear monitors and triggering live samples so the whole thing just feels way more tight and cohesive.

Can you tell us more about the process of reviving the abandoned songs from 2020 and how collaboration with your friends transformed the direction of your debut album?

The Covid pandemic really sucked my energy for making new music as I had no idea when things would go back to normal and I’d be able to play it live. When I started recording these songs in 2020, it was just me playing bass and my friend Rowan Bishop on drums. We recorded 5 songs in one day and then I didn’t touch them for over a year and a half. In 2022 I recruited Ollie Lucas to play guitar and Jake Scarborough recorded us both playing at the same time. Having other people involved and enthusiastic  about the project helped to re-light the fire for me, then I felt a responsibility to continue and finish it. It felt great to be excited about it again and that feeling just opened the door for me to get more people involved and keep going.

The concept of 'departure' is central to Departure Fever. How did your personal experiences shape the themes explored in the album?

2018 started badly for me as I went through a break-up, then my best friend moved to Australia, and shortly after that I was pretty broken by the passing away of a musician I really admired. At that point, I felt the lowest that I’d ever felt in my life and a lot of songs came from it. About half of this album came from the start of that year. Even though the rest of the album was written over a number of years and spanned various experiences in my life, when I stepped back the most common and overall theme seemed to be departure in its many forms.

What inspired you to choose the moniker ‘Runner Up,’ and how does it reflect the artistic journey you’re embarking on with this new project?

I was getting a bit tired of trying to come up with a name that felt clever or meaningful in some way. With this project I just wanted the music to speak for itself rather than the name shaping expectations too much. I thought of “Runner Up” while swimming and liked that it was simple, endearing, and maybe relatable. It has a bit of an underdog feel, but I definitely don’t think of myself as a failure in any way. Society has taught us to think that anything other than the best is a failure, so I felt it would be nice to challenge that by owning the name and suggesting that second best is something still worth celebrating and being proud of. 

With such a diverse group of contributors on the album, how did you ensure that their unique styles and influences complemented the cohesive sound of Departure Fever?

I carefully chose people to be involved that I knew would suit the sound I was imagining for the record and tried to give them some creative freedom while recording. Thankfully they’re all super talented, versatile, and lovely people who made the whole creative process so easy and brought things to the table that I wouldn’t have come up with myself. Andy Monaghan (Frightened Rabbit) then did a stellar job with the mix. I sent him way too many tracks but he managed to highlight all the best bits and make everything work together as a whole, whilst also injecting some of his own creativity into the mixes. It could’ve all been a bit chaotic with so many people involved but I’m so happy with how it all turned out in the end and the process was a lot of fun.