#greathunter

[clittleshop]

This guy just found out that groundhogs can climb up to 40 trees. #havanese #greathunter #groundhog #whitedog #whitefluffydog #floofer #goodboy https://www.instagram.com/p/Ceb_jOWOrbk/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[clittleshop]

I am sure the chipmunk went this way. #havanese #dog #chipmunks #chipmunkproblems #greathunter https://www.instagram.com/p/B1_WOL3FqZy/?igshid=7a3358gi5hcv

[clittleshop]

Camouflage Rocket can sneak up on chipmunks better #greathunter #camoflauge #dog #havanese (at CLittleShop) https://www.instagram.com/p/B10zpOmlQ1U/?igshid=1klr468ro9zyn

[jenekru]

#openseason #greathunter #homeland #leninskoe #vocation (at Leninskoe, Russia) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwThZPQF2-R/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1kf1q6t9dc14v

[sometimesalwaysmusic]

GREATHUNTER

GREATHUNTER (GH) is the dream-pop project of Andrew Grosvenor (above left) and Leigh Newton (above right). The duo recently release their debut LP, PREY, and are set to drop a new music video in the coming weeks. We chatted with Andrew about their unique song-writing process, their incorporation of album and single artwork, and future plans for a live show. Give their album a spin and read on to learn more about the band!

VITALS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greathunter

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greathunterband/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/greathunterband

Latest Release: PREY (EP, July 2017)

Upcoming shows: Stay tuned!

SA: How did this project come to be? GH: In 2016, my other band, Those Gulls, was on a bit of a hiatus so I started thinking about new music projects to work on. I was listening to a lot of shoegaze and post-punk at the time and started thinking about taking some older songs I had shelved and re-arranging them to have layers of synths, orchestral sections, and choral vocals. Essentially, moving them away from conventional guitar-based rock.

At the same time, this approach ended up giving the songs a common thread since otherwise they were written in fairly distinct periods – four were originally written when I lived in China, two were from the first few years I was back in Canada, and one was a newer idea I liked but didn’t know what to do with.

SA: What bands, musicians or artists would you cite as the biggest influences on your sound?  GH: Like I alluded to, I happened to be listening to a lot of MBV, Echo and the Bunnymen, New Order, around the time we started working on PREY. Arab Strap also influenced me in terms of blending live instruments with programmed parts. Leigh would definitely add Jesu and Boards of Canada to the mix as well. 

SA: I understand that this is a relatively new project, but what would you consider to be your biggest success? GH: It is very new, but the album has been finished for a while, so I would say just pulling the trigger and finally having it released. That makes it sound like I was resting on my laurels, but really I was working for quite a while on getting all of the non-music side of the release ready to go. My friend Elena developed the logo, typeface, and album art and she had to deal with me being very picky!  Getting everything finalised and into a nice package was important to me even if it meant waiting longer to have the music out there. 

SA: Conversely, what is the biggest challenge you have faced, and how have you dealt with it?  GH: I think the challenge, and it’s only as big as you want it to be, is promoting the record. So far this is only a recording project – we didn’t play a record release show and there is no tour lined up. Having kind and interested people on local radio and in the arts/culture media in Ottawa is really wonderful and helps to spread the word. I appreciate any exposure we can get with their assistance! Sometimes Always is a great example of the kind of local support that is out there, so thank you! But, of course, I want to keep promoting it and inviting people to check it out without beating it over their heads. We are talking about how a live show would work and I’m hopeful we’ll get that off the ground soon enough. 

SA: How do you approach the song-writing process, and how does it compare to other bands you are currently involved in (Those Gulls, HAMN)? GH:  This was really different than writing and recording with other bands I’m involved in. To start, it was a lot more systematic with each song becoming a mini project unto itself. Once I had the basic concept down and had chosen the songs to use, I started discussing the idea with Leigh and we developed an approach where I outlined each song in a kind of Gantt chart, from start to finish with the instrumentation I wanted along the way. Then, with the charts and a basic demo of each song, he started programming synth parts, drum loops etc. We probably had 8-10 layers per track before any of the live instruments were added. 

The next step saw us taking the core programmed tracks to The Nest studio in Ottawa and start recording the instruments and vocals. For the former, I knew from the start I had to have chamber instruments on the record. That meant getting a few local musicians who I already knew, and also reaching out to a few others who were introduced to me and asking them to play. I was also very happy to have my brother-in-law record trumpet and round out the group of session players. We also wanted to increase the vocal presence so a lot of songs feature additional singers, Satellites and End of Fear in particular have a number of vocalists. 

SA: What are your thoughts on the Ottawa music scene?  GH: I love it and I’m very fortunate to be a part of it and to have made amazing friends because of it! 

There’s always so much going on practically any day of the week in terms of live music, tons of really incredible radio shows playing local music and helping support the scene, and great writers and organisers helping promote new music. It’s an ever expanding universe right here in the capital. 

SA: Your new album, PREY, features artwork accompanying each individual track. What made you decide to do this, and where do these photos come from?  GH: I’ve always loved the notion of an ‘album’ – you know, a selection of songs with artwork, photos, words that help bring it together into something slightly greater than the sum of its parts. Since GREATHUNTER is a new project, and since the songs are sort of personal retrospectives, I wanted to find photos that captured additional themes or feelings that related to the music. I happened to be going through a few hundred (a small fraction) of my father’s old slides and digitally scanning and enhancing them. I found among those a bunch that stood out to me as being particularly interesting and, that even though taken decades ago, still had mystery in them and told part of a story about my family. 

SA: What comes next for GREATHUNTER this year? All the best, and congratulations on the recent release!  GH:  Lots, we hope! I would like to try bringing these songs to life on stage, so ideally we’ll get a show organised this fall. There are a few covers we did that will be released in due course, along with one finished video for Time to Depart and a second one in the works. Aside from that, we’re going to continue sharing the album and thinking ahead to writing some new music. Thanks a lot!

[thymeforcocktails]

I spy... 🐛🐞🐜 #greathunter #ontheprowl #marionjane #thymeforcocktails (at Thyme for Cocktails)

[theartofhunting]

great hunter | collecting colors | tie-dye gym sack | available today at werkschau hm-design #greathunter #collectingcolors #gymsack #tiedye

[theartofhunting]

New silkscreen prints. Limited to 40. A5. Huge plans with these! #greathunter #print #silkscreen #bear