Just a few months back I admittedly had never heard of Southern California’s Human Issue. A seemingly random email showed up with band info, photos and the music to their now released album “In Flesh” put out by Smart Punk Records. Their sound is diverse going from more hardcore style to more punk vibes from song to song and there even may be a song played on a piano as well. Visually they dropped a few cool music videos and they were out there hustling on tour with a lot more in store as 2026 rolls along. With each passing single and music video drop I was sucked in and hit up their singer Hunter Martinez to do this interview which took place in early June, 2026. All live photos are courtesy of Justin Erickson with graphic work by Jon Contra.
IE: Hey Hunter, where exactly are you right now and what would you usually be doing at this time of the day if you weren’t answering these questions?
Hunter: Yo! I’m currently in my kitchen, drinking coffee. I’d most likely be playing guitar, sitting on my couch. Maybe have a movie on for background noise and something to look at. I don’t leave my apartment much, unless there’s a show or work, or maybe going out to dinner with my wife. I didn’t live anywhere for a good number of years, couch surfing, touring etc… so I like to take full advantage of having my own space.
IE: For someone who is hearing the name Human Issue for the very first time today what can you tell them about what your band is putting out there?
Hunter: There’s a sense of urgency. The world is moving at a fast pace and so are we! We touch on feelings and emotions living in 2026. It’s pretty raw. Anything you use to cope with or use to get through your day. Seeing the bleak news about the powers that be from your telephone screen, and all the injustices in the world you can’t do anything about. It’s a strange thing living how we do. BUT, in all of this… there’s a sense of hope in our song lyrics. I have a life and I wanna live it you know? Just like everyone else. We wanna connect with good people. For the live set… we have limited time together, and we make it a point to involve everyone in that 15 to 20 minutes we share. Our musical influences range anywhere from 80’s hardcore, to power-violence, some 90’s punk and the classics like Crass, Peni, T-Rex, Bowie, etc.
IE: You have a new album out now on Smart Punk Records that came out on June 5th. The artwork for “In Flesh” is unique and immediately made me think that there is some kind of backstory to it. Can you tell us everything we need to know about it?
Hunter: Our good friend Justin Eckley (@PsychicYouthLarge) is an amazing artist. He made the artwork for the album, the layout of the LP, filmed our videos and created most of our t-shirt designs. The title track “In Flesh” is a bit chaotic, lyrically and musically. I think he just listened through and read my lyrics then came up with this. I wish I had a better backstory but honestly, if there was I can’t remember.
CLICK BELOW TO STREAM/DOWNLOAD “IN FLESH” BY HUMAN ISSUE
IE: The band made some music videos for tracks off the new album including “The World Is Your Oyster” which is a bit of a chaotic video for a short song just over a minute in length. Can you tell us about the making of the video and the storyline behind it or what you want people to get out of its meaning?
Hunter: We shot the video in about 20 minutes. Shot on the same day as the “In Flesh” video. We ran around my neighborhood in North Hollywood. The concept was pretty simple… a scene of a bag getting passed around or stolen from one individual to the next. Whatever the “bag” contains is something important and everybody who gets the bag has some sort of paranoia, and has to run away with it. Ending with the opening of the bag with the contents being anti-climatic… a note that just says “no one cares”.
The song itself is about liberation from something I loved turning into a shitty job and putting up with discouraging, hostile people in my life. It felt like it was holding me down for a number of years and feeling guilty for not wanting to continue going down the path. Meanwhile, I wasn’t putting myself or my health first. I was living for other people, a job, instead of myself. But I’d complain, and I would spiral about it. Turning to self-destructive behavior instead of just making a change for myself. Then finding the urge to break out. Reflecting on how good it feels to do whatever the fuck you want, on your own terms and loving yourself. My intention was to say… we all have issues, nobody can tell you what to do or how to do things. You’re the one living your life. Keep it close to the chest and make changes for yourself. Click HERE to watch “The World Is Your Oyster”.
IE: You also released music videos for the tracks “Vice” and “Waking”. Both are live performance videos with some solid editing work. Can you tell us where you shot both of these videos?
Hunter: “Waking” was shot at Linger Longer Lounge in Phoenix, AZ. The owner of the place let us use the bar to shoot the video before our show there. Our buddy Justin lives out there and wanted to make something quick for us. He directed and made it what it is! Pretty stoked on how that came out. “Vice” we had a few ideas that just kinda fell through. We wanted to have a video out by the time the song dropped and our schedules just weren’t really aligning… so again, we had a show booked at Club Tee Gee in LA, asked to shoot a video before the show and made it happen. Our friends Eric Schrader and Matt Edwards shot and edited this one… they’ve both won Emmys on the hit Nat Geo show “Life Below Zero”.
IE: Midway through the album is the track “Clocks Bow, Trees Frown”. I am sure you will agree that this track is super unique with its almost spoken word approach creating this interlude of sorts right smack dab in the middle of the record. Can you tell us more about how this song came about and is this one that you are consistently playing live?
Hunter: “Clocks Bow. Trees Frown” is a poem I wrote while I was living on my friend’s couch in Brooklyn in 2022. The name of the song is a reference to a bad mushroom trip I had. I remember this tree frowning at me in my neighbor’s yard and when I was inside a friend’s house, the clocks were bending and bowing forward. Anyway, the music part was just some sort of jam I recorded for a demo. I moved back to California after a couple months and recorded the poem over the demo and felt like it’s all it needed.
This poem is about being vulnerable… being honest with myself and speaking loud about my anger, my fears, my insecurities, my feelings. Owning them and wearing these feelings as a sense of pride instead of shame. Being happy with who I am today. Feeling OK in my own skin now as a grown adult. I spent a lot of time in my youth not feeling good in my own skin. We play this song live every night in our set and it feels cathartic to put this out there. Some people even pit to this song!
IE: The closing track “Observer” is another outside the box take from Human Issue with some clean female vocals and a piano being the sole sounds heard on the song. Can you tell us about this one as well?
Hunter: I tracked a fast, full band version of “Observer” with Pete Steinkopf of The Bouncing Souls at his studio in Asbury Park. That version is on the vinyl release only of “In Flesh”. I sent the tune to my friend and rad musician, Anna Postigo with my lyrics afterwards and she responded with “YOU wrote this?!” Without asking, the following day she sent me an audio message of her playing the chorus of the song on piano and singing. I was stoked she sent this, and she sounds way cooler singing it than I do, so I asked her if I could use it for the record.
IE: There are not too many bands out there with two lead vocalists, especially within the hardcore and punk scenes. How did this setup initially start and do you think yourself and Matthew Watkins have sort of hit your stride as gelling together? When I listen to “In Flesh” it seems very cohesive and I can see cases where people who don’t read the liner notes may not even know there are two singers.
Hunter: The two lead vocalist thing started when we tracked the first EP with my friend Heather (Crow Jane). I was listening to the band Witch Hunt a lot at the time we started the band and really liked how they traded off vocal parts. I wanted to try that. We only played a handful of shows with her before she left to pursue her own band. I’ve known Matthew for 15 plus years, playing shows together with previous bands and he’s been an encouraging force with this band since I started it. He would jump in on the mic singing with us live here and there. When Heather left, Matthew was the obvious choice to join us. We have chemistry, we can go off each other really well, our voices mesh well together and we both do things off the cuff. I’d say a lot of the vocal takes for this album were done on the spot in the studio. A lot of first takes, and whatever came to mind. Yes, I’d agree with you that we hit our stride with gelling together.
HUMAN ISSUE @ HOUSE OF BLUES, SAN DIEGO CA. MAY 21, 2026. PHOTO BY: JUSTIN ERICKSON
IE: Human Issue started in 2021 and released an EP in early 2022. The bio that came with the new album described the band back then as a “collaborative music collective” where you went out on tour with various friends filling in on various dates. Can you tell us how things evolved from those days into the solidification of this lineup?
Hunter: I’d like to think that now we have a solidified lineup. For the most part, only two of the members play select show dates/tours. But I’d never hold anybody to be in the band full time you know? Even if it feels like we have a solid group. We weren’t really playing much when the first EP dropped… everybody had other bands and projects they were focusing on. This band initially started as a recording project. I asked Rikk Agnew to play guitar on some songs, Bryan Lothian to sing a couple things and good friends of mine to jump in to sing a part or play something on a song. It wasn’t a live band. So, when it came to wanting to play shows as Human Issue, we’d ask any friends who were open and willing to play the shows so we could be a real live band. Now, we have a set of players who are all committed and focused on this band. It’s really the cherry on top, considering I never thought most of these songs would leave the studio or my bedroom.
IE: Who are the other members of Human Issue and can you tell us an interesting fact about each of them?
Hunter: Matthew Watkins is an artist… he sells his prints at our merch table. Great singer, lyricist and the guy can cook. He’s the only person I know that can sound like Freddy Mercury while singing Queen songs at karaoke. He also sings in the band called Toxins.
Dylan Moore is a pro photographer, pro skater, mechanic, amazing guitar player and singer. He’s probably the most talented guy I’ve ever met.
Ryan Marino is a tattoo artist, graphic artist and sleeps more than anyone I know. He’s a hard worker, don’t get me wrong, but yeah he naps a lot. He also plays bass in Doc Hammer.
Rainier Pesebre plays drums, sings and has the best sense of humor out of all of us. Great guy to have in the van when you’re feeling blue. He’s a teacher by day, line cook by night and sings in Negative Blast.
Barry T. is a musical savant. New to the group but already a staple. Brings energy to the stage and can shred like no other. We met in NY and I’m forever grateful to know him and work on songs together. His previous band was Sleepwell.
Hunter Martinez, me… is a headcase. I play drums in Negative Blast and am a touring drummer for: The Dwarves, Decent Criminal, Culture Abuse, Slaughterhouse and Sharp Shock.
Sam Mankinen and Emmett O’Reilly are both key members of the band even if they can’t play every show… great players and great friends. Whenever these guys can join us on stage, it’s a real treat. Sam plays in The Last Gang and Emmett plays in Pkew Pkew Pkew.
PHOTO BY: JUSTIN ERICKSON
IE: How did the name Human Issue come to be?
Hunter: It’s funny I don’t remember why I wanted to use the name. I couldn’t come up with anything else. I jammed with some friends ONE TIME probably 12 years ago and my buddy Schaefer (who played guitar in that jam) said we should call that project Human Issue. We didn’t end up using it or jamming again, so when I started putting the EP together, I asked him if I could use Human Issue and he said OK! I like the name, kinda funny that it came to mind years later.
IE: Human Issue has a lot going on in 2026 in regards to touring. You had a 2 week run in May on the West Coast with Leftover Crack, you have an upcoming run on the East Coast in September with Bouncing Souls. I saw you played a show with RKL back in April and you also have some good ones upcoming with Camp Punksylvania in June and The Fest in Florida this October. Do the members of Human Issue see the current state of the band as one where you are going to be pushing to play as much as you possibly can or do jobs/families and other responsibilities look like it may be a situation where you don’t hit the road that hard?
Hunter: Yeah! The shows this year have all been fun as hell! Really looking forward to the festivals and Souls tour. Right now, everyone is on board to tour and hit the pavement hard. We have solid support from family and loved ones.
IE: It seems as though the band has an interesting Keanu Reeves story to tell as well. Can you fill us in on the details?
Hunter: Keanu is a nice guy! We played a show with his friend’s band a while back at The Casbah in San Diego. I didn’t talk with him much, but after our set he said to me “whoa, that was intense!”. He sat with Sam and Ryan at a table and they drank beers, talked a bit. But I don’t remember what they spoke about. I think he liked us!
IE: Anything else to add before we wrap this up? Thank you for your time!
Hunter: I think that’s it! Thanks for your time and for hearing me out. Everyone should check out the LP “In Flesh”! (Click HERE to grab a vinyl copy from Smart Punk Records.)
PHOTOS BY: JUSTIN ERICKSON