Chapel Hill’s Wylie Hunter & The Cazadores refuse to show up on the scene quietly. Equipped with a voice that is equal parts gruff and grace, Hunter wields a heavy pen, with intimate lyrics that play well beyond the songwriter’s 23 years. Hunter’s highs and lows are matched by The Cazadores, a band that’s not so much been assembled but patched together from open-mics and other friendships forged from the Triangle music scene during the past year. Guitarist William Taylor’s (The Fooligans, Skylar and the Ugly Girls) soaring riffs command attention while being lifted further skyward by Charles Cleaver’s (Max Indian, the Tomahawks) keyboards. Backed by the hard-hitting rhythm section of bassist Seth Barden (Brand New Life, Sinful Savage Tigers), and drummer Paul Fisher (Tripp) it’s easy to hear why the Triangle’s Independent Weekly has said the band’s “excitability and wanderlust are worth watching.”
The band will play two shows this coming weekend at the Local 506, including a Hungry Heart of Gold: Neil Young vs Bruce Springsteen, a benefit for the Family Violence Prevention Center on Jan. 7 and a going away show Jan. 9 for keyboardist Cleaver, who is moving to New York City to join his girlfriend.
Hunter sat down and answered a few questions for TVD recently:
Like most musicians, I’m sure you guys have a shared love of vinyl. Tell us about it… what is it about the sound that you like?
There’s something so classic about vinyl, I’ve always felt like part of living the musical dream is having a vinyl collection. I still call albums “records” because that was always the dream: to make records. Nowadays music is so disposable, if you don’t like the 30 second clip you hear online you never have to listen to that song again. With vinyl you’re made to listen to those album cuts, the ones you may miss on the first pass.
What’s the last vinyl record you bought?
I think the last vinyl I bought is a live Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers record from the 1985 called “Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Pack Up the Plantation.” I got it at Nice Price Books in Chapel Hill. It’s pretty awesome; the band sounds tight as hell.
You recently bought a tour van. Have you put it to good use yet? Any funny stories from the road?
We just bought the van a couple months ago, so we’ve had a few chances to use it. A couple weeks ago we played at The Earl in Atlanta and decided to drive back to Chapel Hill after the show. As the night went on it turned out to be the coldest one of winter so far, even in Atlanta, and as we drove back to Chapel Hill the heater in the van decided to quit on us. Instead of just turning off though, it took the cold air from outside and blew it straight at our feet. Seven hours straight of all five of us bundled up with as much padding as we could find. Its only funny now because its over.
What’s your most essential item on the road?
It’s a tie between deodorant and Emergen-C. It’s easy to forget when you’re moving fast to keep up appearances and make an effort to stay healthy. These accomplish both between the two.
Pick your favorite songwriter:
That’s a tough question but overall, I’d have to say Bruce Springsteen. I feel like a lot of people first heard Springsteen because their parents loved his music. I found it when I was 18 years old and just about to drop out of school to pursue music, so I had a different perspective. To me the way he wrote felt like learning a new language, a clear, beautiful way to say the things that I wanted to say. I think the way he uses language is still his biggest influence on me.
