If you think you multi-task, you haven’t met Hunter Perrin.
Growing up in Houston, Texas, Perrin came from a musical family and started playing instruments when he was really young. He and his uncle started a blues band when he was in high school and then when he went to college at University of Texas he started taking classical guitar classes and began taking music more seriously. From there he studied at Yale for classical guitar as well but one of his teachers urged him to stay in Rock and Roll since that is where he was working the most and seemed happiest. “That was exciting to hear from a professor at Yale!” Hunter laughed.
Perrin then moved to Brooklyn and started teaching guitar at conservatories as well as scoring some films. One of his films, A Normal Life, won an award at the TriBeCa film festival. But his then girlfriend, now wife, is an actress and wanted to get more into film and TV so they packed up and moved over to Los Angeles.
When they settled there, Hunter began teaching at Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers music school in Silver Lake. He then landed a sweet gig touring with John Fogerty and was traveling around the world for about five years. A highlight was playing backup with Fogerty for Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard at the 50th Grammy Awards.
Since then Hunter has been focused on his own work. He has his own band called Thunderado and they have put out three albums. “We are a swampy, garage rock band,” Perrin explained. His second band is with his wife and called Banidito Royale that is very sulky, noir, David Lynch types of tunes. The Flash Cube is another and it is the more instrumental side of Bandito. 8 Track Cadillac is a fourth band that is like a 70s rock and country band with a little Rockabilly thrown in. If that doesn’t keep him busy enough Hunter is working with Tim Armstrong, the lead singer from Rancid. His new project, Tim Time Bomb and Friends puts a song up every day for a year. Now they are pressing vinyl and 45s for the best ones. “I was so inspired by the sheer energy of it; it has a real punk rock mentality of go, go, go. Some bands are so precious about putting things out there and for it to come out everyday was refreshing,” Perrin told us.
The last couple of summers he has been touring in Scandinavia with a punk band called Caravan. “It is fun because they are young superstars who love American music and are good at it so we write a lot and do covers of our favorite American songs,” Hunter explains.
Below, Hunter takes us through his sometimes somber, sometimes Sombrero’d personal style:
When I am traveling and playing shows I wear all black. It looks good and is super practical.
Jeans- 513 Slims by Levi’s. They are more of a cotton pant than a jean.
Shirts- from a cool company in Houston called Hamilton Shirts. They are stocked in high end places but they also make custom shirts that fit perfectly. I wear Western shirts when I’m dressing up a bit from Hamilton too. Pearl snap shirts with sleeves rolled up.
Pants- A new pant place I found is called The Stronghold in Venice Beach. I have a new pair that are railroad selvedge so they are denim with white stripes.
Boots- I always wear boots. I wear R.M. Williams often and the Red Wing heritage boot called The Iron Ranger. They are super comfortable!
Outerwear- I have a nice coat I bought in London when my wife was over there. We went to The Scotch House and bought a green Harris Tweed coat. Since I am in LA my outerwear is a little lame. But this jacket is my go-to when it’s cold. Out in LA I wear lighter stuff like a G Star Raw black jacket. I bought a jacket from the iconic Manuel in Nashville. He made Elvis’ jackets and I wore it at the Rhyman Auditorium. That’s where they used to hold the Grand Ole Opry. I have some shirts from him too.
Suits – If I really have to dress up I have a Dolce and Gabbana tux as my go-to. I also have a Mariachi suit I wear sometimes! One of my guitars got damaged and I took it to a mariachi shop in LA. While it was being repaired I walked into a mariachi suit company. They said they don’t make them for everybody but once I played them some classical guitar they said, “Oh ok! Let’s measure you up.” I played the part of a mariachi guitar player in an opera once and I loved the costume so I love to bust that out.
Jumpsuits (this is a first!)- I love Dickies jumpsuits too. We wear them a lot on the road. I throw them on when working in the house or yard. They are kind of old men suits but I love them.
Hats – I have an old Borsalino that my dad gave me. My friend in Texas named Michael Malone makes me amazing cowboy hats too that are great to wear while performing.
Shades – I wear RayBan Wayfarer’s a lot.
Accessories- I wear a lot of leather accessories from Dean. I usually have knives on me. I’m from Texas! I have a Kershaw on me that is a classic pocket knife. Opinel knives are pretty cool too.
Grooming- There is a killer barber shop in LA called Sweeny Todds. They always shoot Mad Men there. They nail that classic cut there. For my beard I use a beard oil from MCMC fragrances.
Tech – My favorite piece of tech is my electric guitar from Gretsch! I have a 6120 that is beautiful.
App – I use the voice memo setting to record a quick musical idea. It isn’t an app; I use Sterobo soft made by Peterson. It’s an app that is a really great tuner.
Next Tech Purchase – There is a company called Apogee that makes really good recording interfaces. I want the Quartet. It has amazing sound quality.
