Today we’d like to introduce you to Hunter J Pierce.
Hi Hunter J, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story is one of necessity, luck, and passion. My family moved to Austin when I was in middle school. I had been playing drums for a couple of years and found some local bands to play with. In high school, I got really into recording sound and all the different ways you can construct and deconstruct instruments but also everyday sounds; not that I knew what I was doing at all, but it was fun and I loved exploring the possibilities with sound. Around the same time, I was lucky enough to be part of a band that did some cool things like SXSW and ACL.
In my last couple years of high school, I discovered Electronic Music and became obsessed with composing music in Ableton Live. I became part of an EDM duo (now retired RIP) called Far & Few. We did some cool things, had some big label releases, played some big shows, but ultimately looking back, it was a big learning experience for how to produce music and sound design fundamentals. At the same time, I was attending Austin Community College. I wasn’t doing well… Being a fresh 18y/o living on college campus I did many dumb things, didn’t go to class, cared more about having fun and partying than looking towards a career. I dropped out and moved in with a friend while working full-time at a retail store. Somewhere in that time, I realized how mentally miserable I would be if I was stuck working a dead-end job while my aspirations were so much bigger than that. I needed to change my mindset. Music wasn’t paying the bills but it was the only thing I was passionate about, and I’m the type of person that if I’m not enjoying what I’m doing or don’t feel like it will take me somewhere, I won’t be doing it for long.
I went back to ACC and started getting really into my classes. I was studying Music Business and Digital composition. I met a teacher there named Francis Preve (absolute legend and a great friend). He’s a great dude and the only guy I know who I can talk to about Star Wars and Marvel theories for hours. Very goofy, very eccentric. He saw a lot of potential in me and started giving me lots of programs to learn and subjects to study. He taught me so much about sound design and how to think about crafting sounds. The really nitty gritty stuff but also big idea stuff. He is a great mentor.
Near the end of my time at ACC, my former duo-partner in Far & Few, Nelson, introduced me to a friend of his who needed some music done for a video game trailer. I didn’t think much of it, but it was money and I was broke so I did it and sent it off. Not much happened for a while. In my last couple of months at ACC the store, I was working at closed down so I was out of a job and about to have my degree. I had the thought of “If I want a career in sound I need to do it now or it’s not going to happen”. Coincidentally, a couple of weeks later, I got hit up by the same friend to work on a soundtrack for a video game. This is where I met all my dear friends at Imagos Films & Softworks. I came in with a lot of drive and hunger for work and they kept giving it to me. I didn’t care what project I was working on, I just wanted to do more and more. I was working on a lot of game trailers for Astrophysicists Guild and Sound Design for a game called “Starr Mazer DSP”. Some people over at New Blood Interactive saw my work and liked it so they asked me to do a soundtrack for one of their games. I finally felt like I had leveled up and was getting somewhere with this.
The following year I was still working on the game soundtrack but was doing bigger projects for Imagos Films like the E3 presentations for Devolver and bigger game trailer projects. In the fall of 2020, I got hit up by Imagos to partner with another company and work on a Facebook TV/Gameshow doing Sound Design, Audio Editing, and Audio Mixing. I remember having to finish the trailer for the show over thanksgiving but I was staying at my girlfriend’s parent’s house so I just lugged my whole rig with me and worked on a little bitty desk through thanksgiving. It was pretty hilarious but it got the job done. That show gave me a lot of rep and opened doors to work with people I wanted to work with and get jobs I wanted to get. Through 2021 to now, I’ve been working on Multiple Game Soundtracks and have been doing a ton of sound design work and audio implementation for games and trailers. Sadly I can’t speak much about any of these but I’m so excited for them to be finished.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I’ve been very grateful to have friends, family, and colleagues that support everything I do so when things get tough, they are always there for me. But yeah, there’s some real bumpy days and weeks when I just want to give up and go to bed. Weeks where x client needs the thing done by x time so I have to work for three days straight with no sleep to get the project done. Or working on a show where you have 23 hours to get 50 hours of work done every week. The nature of being a freelancer, there’s times when there just aren’t any projects to work on and that can get pretty anxiety inducing.
Looking back on all of these times though I realize how much I actually enjoyed the craziness and chaos. Those times build your character you know? It’s kind of an adrenaline rush, hahaha. At the end of the day, I’m able to do work I love and make ends meet for it and that’s really all I could ever ask for.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
It’s always kind of funny when I get asked this question. For the last few years, I’ve been REALLY into sound design and foley (something happens on screen; I make the sound for it) and I do get work that involves that. But time and time again clients ask for music more than anything, so I just say I’m a Composer/Sound Designer. The past couple of years though, I’ve been doing a lot of audio implementation for video games. This involves audio programming and scripting, so sounds behave like you want them to in the game. I always like to be the guy behind the scenes. More so my work gets known, not me. My team at Imagos Films has done some really cool things with Devolver E3 presentations. All of the music I’ve done for New Blood Interactive has done really well too. I worked on games for them called “Unfortunate Spacemen” and “Maximum Action” (sadly, MA is no longer with them). I’m very diverse in what type of music I can make. I play drums and produce in an Indie Rock band, I have a techno side project, I love metal, so I dig a lot of different types of music; I’m a sound designer so I can figure out how a lot of this stuff is made and reproduce it. I’m very proud of the Indie Rock band I’m a part of. We’re called Shooks. We played ACL this past fall, it was crazy. I’m excited for what the future holds for the band.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Youtube is a crazy good source for education. If I can’t figure out how to get a script to work, or I want to learn more about a type of music, Youtube is my go to.
As far as books go, my lovely girlfriend bought me a book called “The Game Audio Strategy Guide” and man have I learned so much reading it. It’s basically a college textbook but I enjoy it.
If I’m not listening to music in the car, I’m listening to audiobooks. Usually Lord Of The Rings or some other fantasy book.
Voice Memos is the best app, some of the coolest sounds I’ve made have been because I was in an elevator or something and the door sounded cool so I recorded it with my phone.
Contact Info:
- Email: hunterpierce96@gmail.com
- Website: hunterjpierce.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hunterjpierce/
Image Credits
Blake Nelson Nelson Mak
