[From the Ithaca Times] About five years ago, Texas native and musician Jana Hunter came into prominence as a result of her creative relationship with neo-folk musician Devendra Banhart, but she’s always been a wholly individualistic artist. As a solo musician, Hunter adeptly dances between rock, acid psychedelia, drone, pop, noise, and folk traditions. There’s nothing quite like Hunter’s darkly soulful songs, and she consistently remains a unique voice in the underground indie music community.
When we spoke to Hunter, she was on the last leg of a road trip with friends. Soon, she leaves for a nearly three-month long tour. For her concert at No Radio Records, Hunter will be joined by NYC musician Matteah Baim. “I haven’t been around the country in a while, and I’m very much looking forward to it,” Hunter says. “Matteah is one of my favorite performers. She’s a good friend and a good person, and I’m really looking forward to spending time with her.”
Hunter’s debut album, Blank Unstaring Heirs of Doom (2005) — a ‘greatest hits’ compilation of previous recordings from the last 10 years, including “Farm, CA,” which appears on Banhart’s trendsetting ‘New Weird America’ compilation, Golden Apples of the Sun — was also the inaugural release for Gnomonsong, the label founded by Banhart and Vetiver bandleader Andy Cabic. Hunter more than holds her own, and Blank… is an enveloping, gorgeous (and remarkably cohesive) album self-recorded with battered electronics and splashed with moments of hazy graininess, ghostly dream worlds and swampy, southern comforts. Hunter’s haunting songs rise above the ranks of many of her improv-inclined peers in that she has a knack for both tight, surprising songwriting as well as a sharply drawn sense of production (in this case, extremely listenable lo-fi). Not to mention Hunter’s distinctive, husky vocals that rest at the heart of every piece.
In spite of Hunter’s affiliation with Banhart and other neo-folk musicians like Vetiver and Castanets, she exists in her own hermetically sealed creative world; she’s musically more aligned to ‘outsider folk’ musicians like Gnomonsong labelmate Michael Hurley than anyone in the so-called ‘freak folk’ community. “I’ve never really seen myself as someone operating in the folk tradition, especially when I first started writing music,” Hunter says.
Growing up, she listened to Guided by Voices, Pavement, Cat Power, and Smog, and followed record labels like Drag City, Matador, and K Records. “I wasn’t listening to folk music, I never even heard what I consider to be ‘folk’ music. I was into the pop and indie of the early ’90s — that’s my lifesblood. Since then, I’ve grown and changed a lot as a performer. I didn’t really listen to folk music until after my first record was entirely done. I don’t consider myself a folk musician; I don’t really know how to place myself,” Hunter says.
In May of 2007, the Arlington, TX native released her sophomore album, There’s No Home, to nearly unanimous praise. The album marks a significant transition for Hunter in that it noticeably veers away from her trademark waterlogged-hiss lo-fi aesthetic — previously she had recorded almost exclusively with two- and four-tracks, as well as a host of other degraded analog equipment — and towards a cleaner studio production style.
“It seemed as though people had more of a tendency to embrace There’s No Home. It’s definitely recorded better, and I think that we as people respond better to things that we can hear well,” Hunter reflects. “And for me, the recording medium effected the kind of music that I make. I’m very much a recording artist, in the truest sense, as much as I am a songwriter. So when I record on a four-track through heavy reverb — versus in the studio, hearing a crisp, clean sound through headphones - it’s going to markedly change how the song sounds, or what I choose to do with it.” Indeed, There’s No Home was completed almost every step of the way digitally, whether it was working in a professional home studio, or recording initial song sketches on a laptop.
Although There’s No Home marks a transition away from her murky, mysterious songs of years past, it also illuminates some of Hunter’s most incandescent songwriting moments. “I wanted to bring a kind of structure [to it]. A less intuitive, and a more thoughtful approach,” Hunter says. There’s No Home builds upon some of her poppier moments from Blank…, such as “Restless” or “K,” and the results are quietly affecting.
Currently, Hunter isn’t quite ready to work towards a third full-length album — although that’s not to say she doesn’t keep busy with a myriad of other projects. “I’ve been working on a lot of improvisational recordings, but they’re not good enough to release,” Hunter claims modestly. “I’m at the point where I’ve started to send my label [Gnomonsong] stuff, to see if they might be interested in working with any of it. But as far as another ‘Jana Hunter’ album, I’m not working on that. I started working with a band that plays my songs, and I want to develop that relationship first. I want that ensemble to inform any songs that I may write in the future.”
Hunter’s interested in cultivating a tighter relationship with her band, but as a solo artist, she’s still apprehensive about collaboration. “I’ve always been scared of collaboration because I worry that my own insecurities would creep into the writing process,” admits Hunter. “Second guessing myself, and unnecessarily slowing down the process. My ideal situation would be to work on something at home, by myself, and send it away to someone else to have them work on it and never actually share a room with them.” Hunter laughs.
Lately, though, Hunter is welcoming a new musical community into her life. About a year ago, Hunter moved from her home in Houston — where she had lived for nearly 10 years — to Baltimore, MD. “The city has a really strong and active music and arts culture,” Hunter says. “It’s been… rejuvenating. I’m interested in being constantly productive —not just in the sense of participating with other people, but also being part of a supportive community. There have been moments of that in other towns, but not as intensely as in Baltimore.”
Hunter joins the ranks of other noted experimental Baltimore musicians, including Dan Deacon, Beach House, Ponytail, Ecstatic Sunshine, and Wzt Hearts. “With Houston, [music communities] come and go,” Hunter explains. “There’s always been a really strong improv and noise scene in Houston, like with the band Indian Jewelry, and I think that continues to be the case. But as far as the rock scene, it tends to be in and out. A lot of Texas bands, with the exception of Austin, are very isolated. There seem to be stronger links to other cities within the noise scene, like [Baltimore’s] Nautical Almanac has strong ties to Houston.”
But no matter where Hunter ends up, we have no doubts that she’ll continue to make some of the most understated and quietly innovative pop music today.
Jana Hunter will perform at No Radio Records this Saturday, July 12. The show begins at 8pm. Matteah Baim will open.