Singer Van Hunt goes own way
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, July 03, 2009
Any mention of singer-songwriter Van Hunt is often prefaced by the phrase “Grammy–nominated” or “Grammy-winning” and yet, the critically acclaimed singer is still waiting for his big moment in the spotlight.
Good thing Hunt, a one-time Atlantan who relocated to Los Angeles in 2007, has never measured his talent by industry standards. After his third studio album, “Popular,” was shelved early last year by EMI record label Blue Note, Hunt had no choice but to go it alone, and the experience has been both liberating and frustratingly eye-opening.
9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. $15 in advance, $18 at the door. Apache Cafe, 64 3rd St. N.W., Atlanta. 404-876-5436, www.apachecafe.info
RECENT HEADLINES
The singer, who can’t seem to shake stylistic comparisons to Prince (not that he would want to), returns to Atlanta this weekend for a pair of Independence Day gigs at Apache Cafe. He brings with him an independently issued compilation of outtakes titled, “Use in Case of Emergency.” Hunt took a bit of time to chat by phone about what he’s been up to for the past year.
Q: How is life in LA?
A: Life in LA is wonderful outside of the recession and the way that it has worn down the city.
Q: Do you miss anything about ATL?
A: Well…[crickets]
Q: Tell us about your latest release, “Use In Case of Emergency.”
A: They are all demos, remixes and B-sides. They were recorded between 1997 and 2005. Financially, it was the product that was there and it was easy to get it to market and much easier than trying to finance a whole new record on my own. I needed to get back in touch with my fan base.
Q: Any updates on the situation with EMI/Blue Note? [The label never released “Popular,” the album scheduled for 2008].
A: There aren’t any changes. There has been no money for changes. They asked for a certain amount of money for me to get my record back and I don’t have it. I imagine they will hold onto it until it is profitable to release it. Getting over it is pretty easy once you are left with no option.
Q: How is it different working without a label? What sort of impact has it had on your music?
A: Creatively it is certainly liberating, but the rest of it is really not that fun. I wanted a happy medium between the system of recording, marketing and distribution which I think is very important to any product you want to bring to market … but I never had that with the record industry. Now that I’m on the other side of it trying to be the artist and the industry, I realize what the importance of the system was, but I also realize there was a lot that was missing since it is basically dying now.
Q: Why do you think commercial success has been elusive?
A: Money. You have to have money to market a product in this day and age. The label will tell you they spent a great deal of money on my project and they probably did, I just don’t think it was strategically spent well. It is easy to find the people who would want this product and market it to them. If you just did that and were successful with it, I would have doubled the numbers that I sold. It’s not like I was making avant-garde jazz.
Q: What do you consider your greatest success as a musician?
A: Probably expressing myself. It isn’t all that easy when you are a nobody coming from Dayton, Ohio, with no advantages and I had absolutely given no one any reason to listen to me. It’s not like I came in saying, “Hey, I got some tracks sounding like R. Kelly.” I came right through the door doing what I do.
Q: What can we expect to see from you in the near future?
A: I’m definitely going to come out with what somebody, not me, keeps calling an opus. I have to put out one more recorded album … I love the concept of coming up with a bunch of songs and recording them at the same time and making them available for people to hear where you are coming from. I’m going to do that at least one more time and then go on tour, and then I don’t know.
