{"id":56947,"date":"2024-06-06T12:16:24","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T11:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.synthax.co.uk\/latest\/?p=56947"},"modified":"2024-06-06T15:36:41","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T14:36:41","slug":"andy-hunter-interview-dynaudio-core-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.synthax.co.uk\/latest\/2024\/06\/06\/andy-hunter-interview-dynaudio-core-series\/","title":{"rendered":"“I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll do me proud for years to come” | DJ and Producer Andy Hunter\u00b0 on the Dynaudio Core Series"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Andy\n

DJ and Producer Andy Hunter\u00b0 on the Dynaudio Core Series<\/h2>\n

Andy Hunter is a renowned DJ and electronic music producer from Leicester, UK. Known professionally as Andy Hunter\u00b0, Andy began his career as part of the vibrant Bristol drum and bass scene in the 1990s, going on to release a steady stream of music on both major labels and as an independent artist, as well as scoring film sound tracks alongside his writing partner Robbie Bronnimann<\/em>.<\/p>\n

We sat down with Andy for a chat about his dynamic career – from touring alongside Ti\u00ebsto<\/em> and DJing with Grandmaster Flash<\/em>; transitioning from a major label to releasing as an independent artist; and why he\u2019s upgraded to the Dynaudio Core Series<\/a> of studio monitors.<\/p>\n

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\"Clockwise:Getting started in music<\/h2>\n

\u201cI still remember my first gig in Bristol,\u201d Andy says of the first time he played live. \u201cIt was at a place called the Mud Dock Caf\u00e9, a really cool kind of restaurant \/ lounge bar near Thekla. Back in the 90s I would just stroll round Bristol with my mixtapes, going in anywhere and saying \u2018Can I get a gig?\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually went back a few years ago and it was still there. I also got into my first ever DJ magazine at the time – they came round and took some pictures. I was so stoked!\u201d<\/p>\n

Whilst he would go on to be known more for his DJing and dance music production, Andy actually started out as a live sound engineer and tech for touring bands.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got involved with this local band when I was a teenager,\u201d Andy explains of his first forays into music. \u201cI was probably about 13, just helping move gear around and that. I already knew I loved music – I played guitar as a kid, although admittedly I wasn\u2019t the best haha.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to be around it, and for me that avenue turned out to be the more techy side. So I started learning all the gear, just basic stuff at first. I remember one particular gig where we ran everything through the PA – that was the first time I\u2019d put the drums through the mixer, as before that it was just vocals and maybe a couple of guitars. To actually be at a venue where we could put everything through, that blew my mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen by chance I met a guy at a gig in Leicester who worked for a big production and PA company, and he said \u2018why don\u2019t you come along for an interview?\u2019 So I ended up doing that, working as a roadie\/techy \u2013 everything from fixing speakers and making up mic leads in the warehouse, to doing raves in the 90s, stacking up bands with massive speakers. And it was kind of a dream come true really because I\u2019m thinking \u2018Yeah, I\u2019m in music\u2019 which is where I always wanted to be, even just around it in some way. I still had dreams of being involved in studios someday, but my start was via the live route.\u201d<\/p>\n

After several years at a PA company, Andy\u2019s next role took him down to the city of Bristol – joining an organisation set up to help young people get into music \u2013 just as the fledgling Jungle \/ Drum n Bass scene was really beginning to take off.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what allowed me to make the move into studios,\u201d Andy says. \u201cWe were on early versions of Logic – Emagic back then – on the old grey Macs, just after the Atari phase.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started getting into programming with a Roland sampler, a 760 I think, alongside Logic for MIDI and control.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think next up was my first Roland JV-2080 which was amazing, I absolutely loved that.<\/p>\n

\u201cNaturally living in Bristol I started getting into Drum n Bass – which was kind of my first love musically – along with other types of dance music.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d started DJing by then, as well as trying to produce my own tracks. I was in an outfit called Trip, myself and a chap called Martin King. Then I started getting into Trance and Techno, so I started to program that as well, in a group called Hydro. Live electronic stuff, a bit like Orbital I guess, hitting the festival scene. That was with old Yamaha mixers and Roland samplers, with Logic again as a kind of MIDI engine.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Releasing on EMI and The Matrix Soundtrack<\/h2>\n

As he began to take DJing more seriously, Andy was booked to play a gig in San Jose, California. This led to another chance meeting with a rep from EMI, and Andy ended up signing to the label.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were based in Nashville,\u201d Andy continues. \u201cI worked with a producer there on my first solo album called Exodus<\/em> – I used to fly out monthly to produce the record in studios there which was really cool.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then the head of North America EMI started to hear my music, and it turned out he really liked it. So he started to find other outlets for it, which ended up being a bunch of films at the time, some pretty big Hollywood movies.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result, Andy\u2019s music began being licensed in both film and game sound tracks, with his track The Wonders of You<\/em> chosen for the trailer to The Matrix Reloaded<\/em> – the highly anticipated sequel to The Matrix<\/em> – as well as the sound track for Need for Speed: Underground<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah that was fantastic to be involved with,\u201d Andy reminisces. \u201cThat then led to The Italian Job<\/em> remake\u2026 I mean I never really set out to create music specifically for use in film or computer games – my first album just seems to have naturally leant itself to that, and so it kept being licensed by Hollywood and gaming companies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEventually that sync market got really crowded out and things started to slow down, at least for smaller artists like myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut yeah I was travelling the world, DJing, making albums, getting to do what I love. I signed with Network Records based in Vancouver which Ti\u00ebsto<\/em> was on.\u201d<\/p>\n

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