Music producer and content creator Hunter Galvin ’21 earned his stripes as a budding beatmaker while majoring in Music Industry at SUNY Oneonta, composing catchy tracks in his residence hall room and during classes inside Fine Arts Studio A.
After finding sudden success as a content creator on TikTok and Instagram through his viral “Take A Seat, Rap on The Beat” series (more than 200 million views and 900k followers), Galvin has made a name for himself (“Hunna G”) and has big plans for the future.
But he hasn’t forgotten his roots. Galvin recently returned to campus to speak to students about his time at Oneonta, his newfound fame, and how to get started in the music industry. He also gave students the chance to show off their own musical skills, which you can view here.
My Journey So Far
Working alongside my close friend and longtime collaborator Johnny 2 Phones (Gabe Woodley, also a former SUNY Oneonta student) on music and content, I got pretty good at the social media/content creation thing. About a year ago, I had an idea to sit down with my laptop in Washington Square Park in New York City, where Johnny and I now live, and invite underground artists and anyone who passes by to rap or sing overtop beats I’ve made. We literally took a marker and wrote on a poster board from Michael’s “Take a Seat, Rap on the Beat.” I edit and upload the finished products to Instagram and TikTok – and it’s really taken off. In a matter of weeks, the series had more than 200 million views and I gained more than 900k followers. So that was really exciting. Since then, we’ve had some bigger artists want to be involved, like Machine Gun Kelly.
A Day in the Life
When I shoot videos, we set up in Washington Square Park, and we could be out there anywhere from one hour to six. I take the footage home and organize the files, edit the ones I like the best. All of my downtime is used making beats and going to networking events in the city. We’ve been lucky enough to get brand deals with Beats headphones, and I just signed a deal with Monster Energy. Brand deals and sponsorships are where it’s at for artists and creators who are just starting out. And selling beats, when you can.
Why SUNY Oneonta?
I had heard that Oneonta had a really good Music Industry program. Other similar programs I was looking at were very performance- or music theory-centered, and I wasn’t looking for that. I liked that the Music Industry major here was very diverse. The ability to have a minor in Audio Arts Production was a big deal for me.
My Activities
I was in Music Industry club and Hall Government. I was the president of Littell Hall Gov, actually, and I’m still friends with a lot of the people I met living there. Going in, I was lucky enough to get the Dean’s Scholarship to help pay for college, and then during my four years I pretty regularly made the Dean’s List.
Best Experiences
I brought a crazy sound system with me to school, and I’ll never forget coming out with a song with Johnny in 2018 that performed well (“Gelato” now has 2.5 million streams on Spotify) and having a kid who lived upstairs in my dorm tell me “I heard you make that beat from your room!”
One of the coolest memories was getting to open for A Boogie Wit da Hoodie during the 2018 OH-Fest downtown with Johnny. I was his DJ and I remember my voice cracked when I introduced him. That was a wild experience.
More than anything, I really enjoyed using the studios on campus and being able to reserve them. I enjoyed doing group projects. We’d have sessions in there and get creative, and it was a great resource to have right at your fingertips.
About My Major
The opportunities that you have as a Music Industry major at Oneonta were pretty priceless. I got to meet alum and producer/songwriter Scott Harris, which was very cool. That was a really good connection to have, and I still am in touch with him. He invited us down to the city after we met him.
My favorite professors were Andris Balins and Dr. Joe Pignato. The class Beats Production with Andris was helpful because he’s very detailed and, for the audio arts field, it’s necessary to really know how to use the tools. I ended up doing an internship with him for a couple of months and continued to work for him after graduating, during COVID, which was helpful to get more experience during that tough time.
Overall, the diversity of topics you learn in this major is great. Taking legal classes was helpful, the Career Planning class was helpful. It’s all very well-rounded as a program, and there’s a lot that I ended up using and still use to this day. The class I’m speaking in today, Music Industry Communications, was one of the key classes to take, so that’s a pretty full circle moment for me.
Dreams, Goals, Plans
I think I want to expand the “Take A Seat” series and shoot in other cities or even countries. But I’m trying to focus more on song placements this year and less on the social media side of things. I want to do more studio sessions and write/produce more music, really leverage the connections I’ve made through social media and focus on collaborations with established producers and artists, all while maintaining the DIY, organic roots that made the series a hit. I started out making EDM (electronic dance music), so a dream collab for me someday would be to work with deadmau5 or The Weeknd.
Advice for Students
I would say use what’s available to you here. Looking back, the everyday people we met here, it’s insane how those relationships played into our career. Johnny and I live together and work together. Other friends we made here are working at agencies or videographers that we’ve used. The connections you make here are invaluable, and you should make the most of it now because it’s a lot easier to form those relationships in a place like Oneonta, which is a lot different than New York City. Surrounding yourself with like-minded people will do a lot for you.
Another thing is to make the most of every experience. I took Astronomy here and it wasn’t my favorite class but something like that adds confidence. I used to be pretty shy but I gained a lot of confidence and came out of my shell at Oneonta. That came from trying new things and learning what works and what didn’t, and that’s somethings I still do today.