A Conversation with Charlie Hunter  (continued)

PM: So once you got to the eight-string, how did you start to teach yourself this new task of essentially playing two instruments at once?

CH: Trial and error. It took a long time. And I started listening to a lot of organists, because they do the left-hand bass thing, foot pedal bass, just to get an idea. Like Big John Patton and Larry Young, Jimmy Smith, just to kind of get a foundation for what I wanted to do. And a lot of that stuff I just really, really shedded. I shedded a lot of bass players, and also shedded a lot of drum set, too. It's not like my drum set playing is great at all, or that I would even think about playing in front of people, but it's a great kind of a cross reference, because that taught me how counterpoint works, how rhythms work together, and how it's supposed to feel when you play one rhythm over another rhythm.

PM: Right. And learning independence of your hands.

CH: Exactly, yeah. That's the big thing. Because on a keyboard, independence is really no problem because you're using two hands to do it, and that's not a big issue. You should be able to be as independent as you want on the keyboard, do whatever time against whatever time you want. That's not that big of a deal.

PM: And it's not like guitar. All the keys are like laid out in front of you.

CH: And it repeats itself every octave, etc.

PM: Right.

CH: No, but the deal with the eighth string is it's just too difficult, and the technique is just really a little bit too hard, you know? [laughs] But it's a challenge.

PM: It boggles my mind, frankly. And even though you're only a number of years into this brave new bag, you're really good at it.

CH: Well, I'm trying. It's all about being a better musician, that's my attitude. If tomorrow I couldn't play an eight-string, I really would try to make a good contribution on bass or guitar, or whatever it may be.

PM: Right. Is your early teacher, Joe Satriani, still a friend?

CH: Well, I haven't talked to him in years. I'm sure he is still a friend in spirit, but I haven't talked to him in a really long time.

PM: So you don't know, for instance, if he's hip to what you're up to?

CH: Oh, no. He knows.

PM: Do we know if he likes it, or --

CH: Yeah, yeah, he's down.

PM: That's great. I remember I used to see him with The Squares in Berkeley. What a great guitar player he was, even way back then.

CH: He's great. He's a great teacher, too.

PM: So how long have you been in New York City?

CH: About five years.

PM: And that must have been a huge change in your life.

CH: Oh, yeah.

PM: Because I know how much the West Coast is not happening. I mean, it's beautiful, but...

CH: Yeah, for the music scene, it's kind of slow. Also, prices became so difficult to deal with, as far as living there. That kind of chased a lot of people away, a lot of musicians away. Because you figure if you're a musician and you can go to New York and live cheaper there, you might as well do it, because that's the spot where all the greatest musicians are.

PM: Can you really live cheaper in New York?

CH: Not necessarily, but I mean, it's different. It's just a different pace. You can get so many more gigs out here.

PM: The metropolitan area has so many more clubs.

CH: Exactly. There are that many more musicians, but you can really make it happen for yourself out here.

PM: There may be that many musicians, but [laughs] how many eight-string guitar players are you going up against?

CH: No, none.

PM: You gotta love a guy that invented a gig.

CH: I guess so. Well, I didn't just invent it, I had to make it happen, and it took a long time. And it's still taking a long time. That's why my attitude has always been: make music, don't rely on the instrument. Only rely on the instrument as a bonus thing. Make music with it. Because who cares what you're playing if you're not making music?

PM: Right. Be about the music.

CH: Yeah.  continue

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