"well... music is my life. it rips me open, kicks me in the face, then picks me back up and says, 'good game'. it's with me on a good day as i race down the highway singing my face off. it's there on a bad day when the only cloud in the sky is over my head. music makes the best of movies come alive. it's the theme song in your head when you leap out of bed to start a new day or decide to pull the covers back up and snooze for just a 'few more minutes'."
hunt, a houston, texas native, started playing piano in junior high, then stopped a few lessons later. "it's a long story, but basically i thought my piano teacher's mouth was going to swallow me whole. plus, i wanted to play guitar." still traumatized from piano lessons, he began playing guitar in high school opting to learn by ear. four years later hunt moved to oxford, mississippi. there he formed a band with friends, playing local venues and surrounding college towns.
this is the point where his music career becomes "divided by glass".
christmas of 1999: hunt's mom, sister, and grandmother bought him a 4 track tape recorder with the hopes of one day hearing some of his music. little did they know he would fall in love with recording. "i recorded myself and friends like crazy. i just loved creating good music and the challenge of making it sound great." however, hunt quickly outgrew the 4 track. he worked as a bartender saving up cash for a 24 track home studio.
by late 2000, hunt had two songs on college radio. he not only wrote both songs, he also produced, recorded and mixed them, playing most of the instruments. a year later, hunt officially started his own recording studio, wide studios. he produced bands from country to rock and solo projects from gospel to pop. still honing his craft, hunt craved more. "i was having a blast working with artists, but i wanted to speed up my learning curve. the only way for me to do that was to work along side a well established producer and learn from him."
early 2002, hunt began to work with grammy award winning producer, dennis herring ( buddy guy, jars of clay, counting crows, modest mouse, elvis costello ). herring, a mississippi native, has a studio in oxford where national acts would come to record. "the studio is dennis' private setup so there wasn't any staff, just us. i was able to spend so much one on one time with him. he taught me immensely, production technique, song writing all with incredible gear. i cut my teeth on some high performance equipment."
while working with herring, hunt met and became close friends to nashville based grammy award winning producer/engineer/mixer jacquire king ( tom waits, third eye blind, buddy guy, modest mouse, smash mouth, kings of leon ). "[jacquire] is great. such an amazing person. he is truly gifted. jacquire repeatedly took the time to talk me through his thought process when making decisions, whether it was regarding song arrangement, mic choice and placement or moments spent just listening to music and talking about the mix." hunt and king worked on projects in mississippi with herring for nearly two years.
summer of 2004, hunt moved to nashville to pursue a full time career in music. there he continued to work along side king on several major label projects, soaking up everything king and others had to offer. "i worked with smash mouth on their latest record. after a long mixing day, greg [ camp , guitarist] wanted to hear some of my songs. half way through the first song, jacquire and steve [ harwell , lead singer] came in to listen as well. they liked the songs so much they invited me to open for them that weekend at Riverfest in Georgia. the next thing i knew, i was on stage in front of 15,000 screaming fans, playing my songs. what a rush! that was a great weekend."
still in contact with king, hunt branched out beginning to obtain his own work producing, engineering, and mixing various artists. most recently, hunt teamed up with friend and producer neilson hubbard ( glen phillips, garrison starr, strays don't sleep ). "neilson is crazy good. he and i are very similar people, but bring different musical styles to the table. he excels at so many things. since we're both artists, we relate to the artists needs and wants. i love helping musicians get great tones and sounds out of their instruments. capturing the appropriate sound is critical for the feel of the song." once the appropriate sound has been captured, hunt can focus on the mix. "the mix is key, but often taken for granted. the instant a mix comes together and gels, it's obvious to everyone in the room. the look on their faces is instant gratification."
now in 2006, andy hunt continues to make music, challenging himself and those around him to "pull out the goods". "i'm lucky to be making music for a living. all of the projects i've worked on have been great and the people i've met amazing. i just love creating. music is what i do, its my life."
