Composer Highlight: Hunter Long / by and Play

Here we are half-way through this VERY cold week, and we hope that everyone is keeping bundled with a bounty of knitted goods! We are looking forward to presenting a non-New York dweller (not that we don't love everyone that lives in the neighborhood) to you. Hunter lives in Kansas City and runs this super rad collective called Black House Collective (you should check it out if you haven't already) that Maya did a project with in St. Louis in November. Take a look at what he has to say, and don't forget to mark those calendars for this coming Saturday at 7 PM @ Spectrum where you will get to hear the premiere of Hunter's an animal kind of trick.


Tell us a bit about your piece. 

I feel like this piece is a bit distracted. It kind of hops around from mood to mood without really staying with any one idea for very long. I really started from the point of creating a sense of dialogue between the instruments. So I suppose the intent would be the type of caffienated, rambling talk between friends that keeps getting interrupted as people you know walk by and said hi. Then the conversation gets sidetracked as you talk about that friend once they've left.

 

Did you have any particularly invigorating or difficult times when writing your piece for andPlay?

This piece has definitely been a learning experience for me. I'm relatively new to writing for strings so there's been a lot of study involved in the process. This is also the first piece I've written without percussion in over a year. So it was fun working on a piece that doesn't have someone literally keeping time.

 

What music has most recently inspired you (to write, dance, sing, be a better person, etc.)?

If I'm honest the music I've been listening to most has been Drake and Tame Impala. I can't say that it inspires my music directly. But it's what I play when I'm drinking coffee and getting ready to get some shit done.

 

You are stranded on a desert island. What snack do you bring?

KIND bars I guess. Could they sustain life?

 

Lastly, do you have a fun fact that you have learned recently?

Some penguins are ticklish.

 

If you want to know more about Hunter take a look at his WEBSITE.