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QUESTION METHOD: CHARLIE HUNTER
 At
any given Charlie Hunter show,
newcomers are easily spotted. They are the ones
looking around the room for the bass player, or
maybe the keyboard player, or both! What they
soon realize is that all of these sounds are coming
from one man and his eight-string guitar.
1. Which was the first record you bought
with your own money?
My record buying realities began with 45's. My
sister and I had paper routes, and would spend
the small amount we made on 45s of our favorite
songs. I think we bought “Fire,” by
the Pointer Sisters, and maybe “Flashlight,”
by Parliament. We played them over and over and....
2.
Which was the last record you bought with your
own money?
The last record I bought was American Hips,
by Jim Campilongo.
3.
What was the first solo you learned from a record
— and can you still play it?
The first solo I remember learning from a record
was probably the intro to “I Feel Fine,"
by the Beatles. I can play it, but I can't remember
what key it's in.
4.
Which recording of your own (or as a sideman)
are you most proud of, and why?
I'd have to say I'm usually most proud of whatever
I've just finished. And that's a new trio record
that should be out on Ropeadope in February 2006.
5.
What's the difference between playing live and
playing in a studio?
It depends on the kind of music you're making.
For a group like mine, that makes its statement
as a live experience, it can be stifling. 364
days out of the year you play in a situation that's
all about the interplay of the instruments sounds,
feeling the percussion of the bass with the drums,
how the horn sounds in an open room. The 365th
day you take that same thing and separate everyone
into different rooms with a sterile headphone
mix and try to be organic. It's a challenge. On
our last record, we tried to make it live as possible
— just two mics on the drums, and as little
headphone use as possible. It helped, but you’re
married to the lessened mix capabilities.
When I go in to put a bunch of
bass lines or guitar parts on something that already
has drum tracks it's a blast. Super fun and super
easy.
6.
What's the difference between a good gig and a
bad gig?
The difference between a good gig and a bad gig
is a hard question to answer directly. It's such
a subjective thing — sometimes what you
thought was the worst gig of your life actually
turns out to be great when you hear the recording
of it, and great for reasons you never would have
suspected. The opposite is also true. The most
direct answer I could give would be that the definition
changes from night to night.
7.
What's the difference between a good guitar and
a bad guitar?
Everyone wants something different from a guitar,
and every guitar has it's own vibe. When I was
14, I saw Ry Cooder playing a Teisco Del Rey guitar
— or some other kind of thrift-store thing.
He would have sounded like Ry Cooder on anything,
but that had the vibe he wanted and it came through
in the music.
8.
You play electric and acoustic. Do you approach
the two differently?
I play almost no acoustic at the moment, but I
have a real affinity for it. When I was growing
up, my mother had all the old Robert Johnson and
Leadbelly records. I checked a lot of that out
on acoustic.
9.
Do you sound more like yourself on acoustic or
electric?
I guess since I play a real particular guitar
I must sound like myself on it.
10.
Do you sound like yourself on other people's guitars?
See my previous answer.
11.
Which living artist (music, or other arts) would
you like to collaborate with?
I feel lucky in that I'm playing with the people
I’m into playing with.
12.
What dead artist (music, or other arts) would
you like to have collaborated with?
I would have loved to have played with Roland
Kirk. So much of what I do comes from him, and
I really would have loved to get it first hand.
13.
What's your latest project about?
My latest thing is a trio record. It's really
rockin’ and I hope people dig it.
Web
site: http://www.charliehunter.com/
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