INTERVIEW: Let Hunter deBlanc take you home
Photo: Hunter deBlanc’s new single is called “Take Me Home.” Photo courtesy of the artist / Provided by press rep with permission.
Hunter deBlanc pulls from several influences for his unique musical sound. There’s some alternative, some pop, some danceable beats, some dazzling piano work. Now a wider audience is ready to jump on the bandwagon of the Louisiana artist thanks to his latest single, “Take Me Home.”
deBlanc has been plying the waters of the music industry for six years, and he has earned a great deal of goodwill and some national recognition for his 2017 recording Daydreaming, featuring the singles “Tides” and “Sydney.” Now his fans — both old and new — have a chance to check out his latest artistic effort.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with deBlanc about “Take Me Home.” Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What inspired the song ‘Take Me Home’?
‘Take Me Home’ is all about nostalgia for me. The track started out as an Ableton demo on my MacBook, as this nostalgic ’90s-esque beat, reminiscent of Primitive Radio God’s ‘Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand,’ Savage Garden, Beck, INXS. To me, the vocal melodies incorporate more of a modern vibe from current acts such as LANY and The 1975, while the actual lyrical content of the song takes me back to the carefree days of the ’90s/early 2000s — hanging out with some friends at an afterparty or a bar we were probably too young to be at, waiting for someone to come pick you up, and ride home with the windows down singing the songs from our youth.
Are this year’s singles building up to a new album?
Eventually I’d like to have all of the singles I’ve released after Daydreaming consolidated onto one album, but I’ve got a few more singles to crank out before then!
Were you satisfied by the response to the album Daydreaming?
Yes and no. I moved my first 1,000 physical copies of an album with Daydreaming, and I know that isn’t like platinum or anything really worth a shit. But to me that was a huge accomplishment. It was featured by a number of publications. A few big names like Huffington Post hosted some album reviews for it, and it seemed to be well received at first. But ultimately my goal was to tour for this album, and in the end I just couldn’t get enough momentum going with it to hop on any tours. But I’m still super proud of the release overall, and I’m still here cranking out tunes.
What’s the music scene like in Louisiana? Is the area supportive of its musical acts?
The scene here is supportive, but definitely not as supportive as it collectively gets credit for, and that has to do with an overly saturated market for music. But then again I guess that’s anywhere you go. There’s a few people back home trying to do a few things that help the local scene, and they’re actively trying to put local songwriters in a better spotlight. So a shout out to them — fighting that good fight.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Hunter deBlanc’s “Take Me Home” is now available, streaming on YouTube and Spotify. Click here for more information.
