Austinist Interview: Red Hunter of Peter and the Wolf, Part II

Any proper road trip demands that you acquire at least a few odd trinkets for your (ahem) friends. So... what'd you bring back for us?

Yes, there is something I did bring back for you: Spanish boots of Spanish leather.

While you were away, tons of stuff happened in town: UT lost a big football game, Trophy's reopened, the Little City cafe on the drag closed down, and at least half a dozen new "urban lofts" were announced. Also, we threw a kick-ass party at the Mohawk. Did you keep up with what was happening at home? Two months may have been a relatively short amount of time, but did you notice anything different when you got back?

Seriously, did I see a PF Chang's downtown? We'd better watch out or Laredo's gonna be the new Austin.

The launch point for your sailboat tour was at Brooklyn Bridge Park. What'd the disillusioned hipsters there make of your shenanigans?

Actually there was this one disillusioned hipster chick that wouldn't put her hand down, like she was perpetually toasting everyone. I couldn't figure out what the hell so I just raised my bottle and we toasted the whole lot of 'em.

For Lightness, Peter and the Wolf signed with The Workers Institute. How'd you end up with these folks, and what's gonna happen to your own local label, Whiskey and Apples, now that you're hobnobbing with the likes of Sigur Ros? Do you, in fact, hobnob?

I keep forgetting to ask Joel and Ann who run the label how they first heard of us because it was real early on, before bloggers or anyone were writing about the shows. But he was at Geffen representing Sigur Ros when he got into Peter and the Wolf. When he left Geffen, Sigur Ros decided to put out their EP on his new label, and that's right when they signed me... sweet timing! As far as hobnobbing goes, I hear Jonsi's a good kisser and that's all I got to say about that.

Someone described Lightness as exploring "the dreamy mindstate of a traveler looking for something," and we certainly get some of that mental imagery from just looking at the tracklist, which includes songs like "Midnight Train," "The Highway," and the ambitiously-titled "Canada." Describe what the album, as a whole, means to you.

It's about traveling without a bunch of stuff weighing you down. And being heroin chic.

You mentioned last time that you were planning to have a documentary crew trail you during the tour. In hindsight, are there any moments that you now regret weren't recorded for future generations to see? On that note, what were some of the more awesome moments caught on film? When can we see some of that?

The cameraman was on night duty as we headed to Baltimore. Night duty means you watch the sea for buoys while everyone else sleeps. At 4am he totally spaced out and we crashed into a buoy. I wish to god we got that on tape, because it was super chaotic. We thought we were goin' down, the boat spun around, and then everything was very quiet. After that moment, I think we all descended into sea madness over the next couple of days. The fate of the documentary is in his hands, and he went completely nuts and disappeared at the end, so I have no idea when or how it'll surface.

How, exactly, does one pass the time on a long trip down the Intracoastal Waterway? Which of the Hunter un-siblings got seasick first: Jana or Red?

Actually we all had pretty good sea legs. Even when it got a little crazy, everyone toughed it out. We passed the time by singing the Red-Headed Stranger album from beginning to end over and over again.

Learn any nifty sailing tips? Did you or any of your crew engage in fisticuffs with surly bargesmen or Deliverance-types? Our knowledge of anything east of Houston is preciously limited. Enlighten us!

I learned that people on the run from the law might be totally fun to party with but you should not loan them your last $20. I learned that pizza tastes reeeeaaaaally good when you've been at sea for 30 hours with nothing to eat but Gatorade and pickles. Most importantly I learned that sailing for two weeks straight with five weirdos during hurricane season is actually quite insane.

What was the first non-home place you went to after you got back to Austin?

Basically there were a lot of people I realized I wanted to kiss and I'm still crossin off the names. You're on that list, Chen.

Your fall tour starts back up in just a few weeks. Why the huge rush to get back on the road?

He's married to the sea. (My friend just typed that, but she's right, I guess.)

Who (or what) are you taking along with you this time?

I'm focusing almost entirely on a new instrument that I tracked down in Chinatown... it makes the sound of eternal sublime suffering times jimi hendrix. It's called an erhu and I will make that thing screeeaaaam until every skinny weirdo from Cape May to Catalina Island knows its apocalyptic sound. The boa constrictor holds its secret.

Austinist is part of a ragtag bunch of folks throwing a CMJ afterparty on November 1st, at the Galapagos in Brooklyn. Will you promise to stop by after your show at Pianos? We'll even have zombie makeup, totally DIY.

I will bring my child bride, she will walk across the rocks, and she will make the water holy.