Synth pop hooks like Chvrches and The 1975 blended with the piano driven sensibility of Elton John or Billy Joel would be a very accurate description of Louisiana’s own, Hunter deBlanc. As a pianist and singer-songwriter from Lafayette, Louisiana, he has been performing live for the past 5 years, and has now started to explore his inner song-writing muse. He just completed his new album titled “Daydreaming” released September 8th 2017.
His music video for the song ‘Night Noises’ is on its way to 200K views – it was made with a zero dollar budget, with all original filters, made entirely with Snapchat. The video and album captured the attention of outlets like Huffington Post in this review; https:// www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/59f6155ee4b05f0ade1b5817
Said Hunter about the album, Daydreaming,
“ay. “All the songs have to do with day, night, time, and space. It’s all a metaphor for the dark time I went through after my younger brother Alexander overdosed and died in 2014. I was on top of the world right before it happened. I had just self-released my first EP, I was living it up, and had never really experienced loss before. Then it happened, he overdosed, and I found myself spiraling into the darkest place I’ve ever been. It felt like an eternal nighttime, and I began struggling with my own addictions, which is what ‘Back 4 More’ is about in particular– the repetition of addiction, and continually returning to the same places night after night with a fear of being alone.
The album was originally going to be called ‘Night Noises’ due to the initial darker tone of the first few singles, but at some point, I found the whole writing process to be very therapeutic, and I began to see things in more positive light. I battled my demons, and I decided to call the album ‘Daydreaming’ in order to end things on a more positive note, and shine some light on the recovery process, as opposed to keeping it hidden in the closet with my ‘skeletons’, as talked about in ‘Night Noises.’ That’s also why I made the decision to release the album on Alexander’s birthday, August 31.”
With the success of his solo career, Hunter has landed a performance spot on a cruise in the south pacific near Australia and plans to have an Australian tour in 2018.
Check our interview about the single.
Why did you select this song as your current single?
This song was among some of the very first material written for the album, and I think it is my strongest track. It was produced at two different studios, one in my town, and one up in Baltimore with platinum record producer Paul Leavitt.
How does this single relate to the rest of the Album, EP or Mix-tape?
All the songs on the album have to do with night, day, space, and time. This song fits in the night time spectrum of the album, as well as the following day.
What was the writing process for the song?
I started writing the song on a little synth that I had borrow from a friend for a few months in order to explore some new sounds for the album. It began as a piano composition that I had written a few years back but never developed into an actual song.
What does this song’s lyric mean to you?
The song is about the repetition that comes with addiction. My younger brother overdosed and passed away in 2014, and after that I began to struggle with my own addictions. I was self-medicating heavily with drugs and alcohol, and I found myself in a really dark place, returning back to the same places every night for more of the same debilitating substances, which revolves around the lyrics saying “I took a walk on the dark side of the moon.” I would wake up late the next day in my “cold, dark, empty room” with the sun bursting through the curtains, with a heightened sense of loneliness and self-loathing.
What would it be like to see you in person performing this song?
This song would definitely be the closer for the night at my shows. It’s high energy, easy to sing along to, and it would be a real crowd mover.
Could your fans summarize who you are as an artist by this song?
I’d like to think my songs differentiate a lot, so probably not.
Is there a video planned and or completed and if so, what was the idea behind the video?
I actually shot my first music video for this song. Since the song lyrics say “I took a walk on the dark side of the moon”, I wanted the vid to feature an astronaut going out on a bender one night and then waking up super hung over the next day.
One last question, what is your motivation behind your music?
The motivation behind my music is whatever moves me at the time, whether it is a past or present relationship, the loss of a family member, or just the way that music helps escape, cheers us up, makes us sad.
