Van Hunt Laid Bare
Van Hunt interview – March 8th 2005
I heard that it’s your birthday today – Happy Birthday!
Yeah it is, thank you very much for reminding me.
Don’t you mind working on your birthday?
No, I always work on my birthday and I like it.
What do you reckon you’d be doing otherwise?
Playing with my son – he’s two years old.
Tell us a little about your background and is Van Hunt really your real name?
I’ll start by going backwards. Yes Van Hunt is my real name and I’m from Dayton, Ohio. That’s where I grew up and spent a lot of time.
Do you come from a big family?
No not really. My immediate family is just me, my mom and my little brother.
You mentioned that you were influenced musically by your father and his friends – how so?
Well, like a lot of fathers in the US and probably over here too (UK)…he would get together with some of his friends and sit around playing cars doing what young men do. I just got a chance to sit in and watch and hang a little with them and it was fun. I noticed the way the music moved them. From then on, I knew I always wanted to be a part of the music.
Were they in the music scene back then?
Some of them were…more as listeners than musicians though.
Were you inspired by any other musical influences as a child?
Beside them no! Besides all the records they would listen to, no! That was all the music I needed at the time.
Is Ohio renowned for anything in particular?
Yeah they have the Ohio Players, Roger Troutman – Zapp and lots of group.
How did the record deal with EMI/Capitol come about?
I was in Atlanta doing a few hip-hop demos and I came across the attention of Dallas Austin who’s a brilliant producer. He took my tape to Capitol Records and that’s how I got the deal.
Ok, he’s worked with massive talents including TLC and Usher. Did you get to work with him after that?
No, not at all. We didn’t work together on the record. It was always understood that I was gonna produce my own record.
You wrote the classic Dionne Farris track “Hopeless” on the Love Jones soundtrack back in 1997. Did that open any doors for you careerwise?
No, not really.
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About Petrol Records
About Petrol Records
