On The Verge

Mr. Hunter

San Diego, Calif.
Inspiration from Within
www.mrhunterband.com

During a trip to Amsterdam in early 2012, guitarist/songwriter Chris Marcus was walking through the city, listening to some unreleased studio recordings by his five-member band Mr. Hunter. That’s when Marcus had his epiphany: “I suddenly got what the lyrics were saying; it was as if I hadn’t understood my own songs up to that point. And the idea of a job where you were locked in a cube from 9 to 5 seemed like the silliest thing in the world.” Upon his return home to the U.S., the newly-inspired Marcus quit his day job on the NYSE trading floor and moved to California to devote himself full-time to Mr. Hunter. The band’s debut, The First Chapter, featuring vocalist Kara Ayn Naplitano, is full of upbeat songs about having belief in oneself and following dreams. Both the lyrics and the extended jams are uplifting, as the band describes the struggles and eventual triumphs of the character Mr. Hunter. As powerful as The First Chapter is, however, Marcus says their next album is even more so. It may very well be—it’s what he was listening to in Amsterdam.