Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Hunter Reed. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hunter , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

Oh forsure, ever since I’ve been involved with music I’ve always received comparisons to other artists based on how I look vs how the music actually sounds. It used to really bother me
That’s something that used to make me very insecure when I first started because I didn’t want people to look at me and think they already know what the music will sound like. So I think because of that I’ve always tried to do music like no one else or have stuff that catches the listeners ears quick and shock them. I don’t want anyone to be able to guess what they’ll hear next from me.

Hunter , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Well, my Name is Hunter
And I’m a Rapper, singer, songwriter, producer
I was born in Pennsylvania
My parents and I moved to Texas when I was nine.
I had ADHD and my mom used to make me color to get me to just to sit still. So I loved to draw I won a lot of art contests in middle school
And I always had a deep connection to music.
I’m not sure what it’s called but there’s a condition where when u hear music u can see colors and I have that. Music just has a way of speaking to your soul. Making music is actually a totally different experience than listening to it. But in a really poetic way.
Where listening to music can pull an emotion out of you I find myself pulling emotions out of myself to draw inspiration for new ideas. It’s really the coolest thing ever. And there is nothing like have having an idea and hearing in your head and then bringing it to life. And now you just put a new idea out in the world. When I was a kid I would always freestyle in the bus with the older kids so I could sit in the back with them and I loved the feeling of saying a crazy line or rhyme and making everyone scream and there was just no better feeling as a kid. So when I was in high school and really started writing songs i always had that feeling in mind when trying to come up with the craziest shit. At first I’d just write songs rip a beat off youtube and go to a studio and pay to record 2 songs at a time. When I was 17 I left home and was homeless for a while but I had a friend who had a new MacBook and hardly used it so I got a usb mic and started teaching myself how to record and make beats and uploaded songs to SoundCloud. I caught the attention from some associates to rap-a-lot in Houston and I worked with them for a while as a producer and songwriter and learned a lot about the process and lifestyle of people in the music industry
Later on I moved to Austin and started pursuing my own music career. Doing local shows open mic nights and everything in between. At the end of the day I’m a flawed human being. And I create music as a way of both venting out my frustrations with life by sharing my experiences and also having a means to do really dope shit.
And I can only hope that my music can help inspire or speak to people in a positive way and make them feel good, ready to party or even make them really think about life. Because that’s all my music is. My life

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My whole life it’s always felt like climbing Everest. Struggling is nothing new to me but I’ve made peace knowing it’s made me who I am. I’m living proof that u can be at the absolute bottom of the bottom and pull yourself up and not give in to none of the bullshit that destroys so many people lives everyday.personally I always had a drive to create. No mater what. When I couldn’t afford studio time I saved up change jars and extra hustle money to get a laptop and a usb mic. I could t afford to pay an engineer so I had to learn how to mix vocals I couldn’t buy any beats online so I just started making my own. After days and days and months and years of trial and error have made me into the person I am today.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Just before my son was born I was feeling like I started to really generate a buzz in Austin. I was doing shows regularly. Had a manager and was starting to get booked to perform instead of paying to perform. I was working on my first album and dropped it shortly after my son was born. During the first few months he was here I was really absent and out every night doing shows trying to promote the project and I just realized that I had to spend more time with my kid and be more present in those early stages cuz you never get that time back if your not careful

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealhunterreed/profilecard/?igsh=MWQ3d3NteHdydmowMQ==
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@hunterreed488?si=9bdqAhWSbG8csAMO
• Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/8T3xDkTT6Qodmn3H7