WATCH: Matt Hunter & the Dusty Fates Share “The Narrator”

Debut album, Reindeer Soul, out June 7th via Dromedary Records

May 9, 2024May 9, 2024 Ron Hart 0 Comments 2024, Dromedary Records, King Missile, Matt Hunter, Matt Hunter & the Dusty Fates, Reindeer Soul, SAVAK, The Narrator

Matt Hunter & the Dusty Fates (Image: The Dusty Fates)

Longtime session musician Matt Hunter might not be a name with which most indie rock fans are immediately familiar.

But some of the artists he’s worked with through the years are, including J. Mascis & the Fog, Silver Jews, King Missile, the Wharton Tiers Ensemble and SAVAK.

He was also a co-founder of Western Massachusetts underground heroes New Radiant Storm King, which put out nine records on many different labels over the course of 20 years, and toured with the likes of Guided By Voices, Built to Spill and Polvo among others.

As a resident of New York City, Hunter can be found playing and recording with avant rock adventurers The Whimbrels, which also includes Norman Westberg of Swans amongst its ranks.

Now Hunter steps out in front with his own band, Matt Hunter & the Dusty Fates, which also includes a pair of drummers in Roger Murdock of King Missile and Hampus Öhman-Frölund along with a cast of unnamed NYC luminaries. Together, this ragtag ensemble, with Hunter handling most of the guitar and bass duties, have created a full-length album called Reindeer Soul that will be released on June 7th via Dromedary Records.

Matt Hunter & the Dusty Fates Reindeer Soul, Dromedary Records 2024

“The idea for the Dusty Fates is that it would be an unstable, constantly changing cast of people, with me as the sole full-time member,” said Hunter. “I love the idea that a band’s dynamic can constantly be in flux, based on whoever’s around, who wants to play at a given time, and who might be best for a particular song. It means that your songs can be completely different every time they’re performed, and you have to be ready for that. I find that thrilling.”

Rock & Roll Globe is happy to premiere the album’s first single “The Narrator,” with a video directed by Sohrab Habibion from SAVAK.

“Your own story is the hardest to tell,” Hunter says of the song. “You can never even be sure it’s completely yours. So you have to have both some confidence in what you’re doing, and enough of a sense of humor to keep your sense of self when things go wrong — as they inevitably do. As many of us in underground rock were reminded this week — you never know the end of your own story.”

So with that, please find the video for “The Narrator” below and pre-order Reindeer Soul here.