The Dynamics of Hunter St. Marie
October 30, 2020, I am at Empire Control Room and Garage to watch and photograph Robert Wagner’s Black Crows Experience. My musician photography adventure was only a couple of months old. I truly felt like I had been thrown into the deep end of the pool and told to learn how to swim. So much talent. This night was my first night being exposed to Hunter St. Marie. I have been and continue to be enthralled by the talent of this master guitar player. He is a machine of precision. I give you Hunter.
1. Who is Hunter St. Marie?
A husband, father, guitar player, and engineer.
2. Tell me about your projects.
I create and perform music with my wife, Cari Hutson. I also create and perform music with my band, The South Austin Moonlighters. I like to engineer live sound and I work with a handful of diverse clients. I also like the creation of music and produce and engineer artists in my home studio.
3. Give me your interpretation of the Austin Music Scene of the past, present, and your hope for the future.
Even though times are ever changing, things mostly stay the same. Once a cheap college town where hippies and red necks met to imbibe and indulge, Austin is still a place where people of all walks of life meet to imbibe and indulge in various forms of entertainment. From large scale touring shows to open mic poetry slams, to bachelorette parties and fraternity blow outs, the city provides opportunities for musicians of all styles and talents to exist and work towards their goals.
With BMI bringing an office to town, the future of music in Austin seems like it’s moving in the right direction for songwriters. Film and TV are here and active and that creates jobs for engineers and artists alike.
4. A.I. and music, your thoughts.
I’m not really interested in artificial intelligence creating music. I can see the benefit of AI in engineering to an extent, but in my experience, humans find something to identify with in a song, whether it’s the lyrics, notes, or groove. While we have been using drum machines for quite some time, they’ve been used as supplements to further the message in support of the singer or lyricist. The human ear/brain is very powerful and even if it were to fall “victim“ to an artificial creation, it would be short lived. The “loudness wars” of the early ‘00’s proved that even when maxing out the sonic capabilities of a particular medium humans get fatigued from lack of dynamics. I’d argue that would parallel AI in music creation.
5. What is the question you are never asked?
The one I can’t answer.
