SFist Inverview: Dan Hunter of PlayRadioPlay!

How's the tour been going?
Great. I think every show has been sold-out so far, except for one. It's been awesome

How big are the venues are you playing?
Anywhere between 800 to 2200. In Orlando, it was 2200 - House of Blues. It was nuts.

How's it been for you, playing with Yellowcard?
It's been really good. The crowd reception has been great. I think really the only bad show there was, was last night in Portland. It was weird - a really weird crowd. I told them they sucked and they didn't like that. So...

How many band members are touring with you this time around?
Now I have a drummer - John plays drums [referencing John, who was sitting on the other couch messing around on his Macbook] - and a keyboardist who plays with me live. I've done a lot of different configurations. I've been everything from a three-piece to a six-piece with multiple guitars at one point, even a bass at one point. Now, it's just me playing guitar, drummer and a keyboardist.

How's that working out for you? Do you like it?
It's better now; everything has a purpose. I think we will probably add a lead guitarist eventually but I don't think we'll ever have two guitars ever again - maybe we'll have a bassist but I kinda like without a bassist because bassist are somewhat useless.

Do you run it through your Mac as well when you are on stage?
I send the bass to the board separately and they mix that in.

How is it working with your Mac on stage?
It's been good. It hasn't crashed at all this tour. We've had problems in the past - small things - but pretty flawless on this tour. The main thing that I've had trouble with on this tour is this is the first tour I've played guitar on in every song. I used to play like half the set or not at all and now I'm playing the guitar on everything. I really like it because I love playing the guitar but that's the part that I was most struggling with. I'm better now than I was before.

You didn't start out with the guitar, did you? And, do you write your songs with the guitar?
Sometimes. It's different for everything. Sometimes I start with electronic tracks and other times I start with just the guitar. Texas I think, all of the newer stuff was. "Madi" and "Pirates" - the older songs - were written with electronic tracks.

When did you pick up the guitar?
I've been playing for like five years - four or five - it's always been apart of my music writing but I've never sat down with an acoustic guitar and wrote songs until now.

Have you been writing on the tour at all?
This tour I haven't written as much but last tour I probably wrote about ten new songs. This tour I've probably only done about four.

On a different note, how has the new record release of Texas been received?
I've only heard of one negative review. And I've heard that it's been getting really good reviews and as far as fans, there are some who don't like the "Madi, Don't Leave" remix, the redone thing. Other than that, it seems like everyone has really loved it. People have said that "it's good, start to finish." That was what I was going for. It's better than I would have ever hoped.

Cool. Did you ever expect yourself to be in this position, on tour and releasing albums?
Um...no. When I started making music three years ago, it was just in my garage with a microphone and a multi-track recorder. I mean, so, I never anticipated even owning a computer just for recording. Now I just have a computer to play live with. It's really gotten out of hand! [laughing]

With Texas, what's your favorite part about the album?
I think, something that I say often is, the reason why people really like it, is it's diverse. There's dance beats, more relaxed stuff, "Texas" is a really throw-back track and it's super diverse.

Any track you like the best?
"Forgiveness, The Enviable Trait", the second to last song on the record. I wrote and recorded that after the entire record had been mixed. I did it at my house and it's still a bit unfinished but probably, right now, it's my favorite song.

Does your favorite song change often?
Well, I have a favorite song that I play live and old songs that I still like. But, as far, as my favorite - I mean I always like the new stuff that I've written. I think that's how most artists are. I don't anyone is going to say, "I wish I was writing songs like how I was a few years ago." I mean, I think everyone likes to progress.

Are you ever planning on putting out some of your older tracks?
I'm sure if Texas is a success, then the label will capitalize on it and release a B-Sides or some crap like that. There are some old songs that I still want to re-do like on another record or something. I don't know; we'll see.

You're playing at the Apple Store, next right?
Yeah, Santa Monica.

Have you ever done that before?
Yeah, I did an in store in New York.

And how was that?
It was awesome. That one I played with three other people, but this next one, I will be by myself. It's way different. I've played a few acoustic sets alone and it's been fun.

Do they ever record them and issue a live recording?
No. I think when they do that, you have to play a full set and I play a stripped down thing. I would like to though. It would be fun.

I know a lot people ask you about your straight-edge lifestyle but I want to know how you deal with it on tour surrounded by the rock star life? How does that work for you?
First of all, every venue stamps me for not being twenty-one. That puts a damper on getting drinks. I don't know; I haven't really had any desire to drink. I've been straight-edge coming up on four years now. I haven't had any desire to drink for like three years. The first six or eight months of being sober it was tempting and stuff but since then, I'm so happy that it's not really an issue. It's been good.

Awesome. Good luck with your show tonight.
Thanks a lot!

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