Humans of NGU: College musician Hunter Laird
Matthew Kerr, Contributing Writer
Turning heartbreaking circumstances into art takes an extremely talented and creative mind, but that’s exactly what Hunter Laird did when he wrote his first song. He had no idea just how big his music would get. Now, people wear his merch and listen to his music all over campus. He’s become somewhat of a musical celebrity at NGU, reaching over 80,000 streams with his music in the last two years.
He started writing music in the midst of the pandemic. He was working on mixing and producing guitar tracks from home when the idea to write a song came to him. “I just came up with it one day,” he said. “I was like, ‘maybe I’m kinda good at this.’”
His first song, “Tell Me,” was based on an experience in a relationship at the time that he didn’t want to talk to people about, but he felt like he could put it into music. Despite the fact that he wrote it as a sad song, people received it as a love ballad, which contributed to its popularity at NGU. However, most of Laird’s other songs are sad songs, which he thinks makes them slightly less popular. “People that are happy don’t want a heartbreak song, so it narrows your audience down,” he said.
Laird initially recorded everything from his house, but now he records both at home and in a studio, and he even hires other musicians to play parts for him. He doesn’t just write and record his songs though, he also produces them, even though he had no prior experience.
When working on his first song, he obsessed over it for months, creating hundreds of mixes until it was perfect. “I knew what it was supposed to sound like, but I didn’t know how to make it sound like it was supposed to,” he said. Now he produces for NGU Worship and other musicians at NGU like Garrison Holdman.
Recently, however, Laird has not been releasing music. With school and Campus Band, he doesn’t have time to promote the songs he’s already written. “People don’t realize it takes a lot of work putting stuff out. It’s not just a ‘post it and it’s done’ kind of deal,” he said. He doesn’t play his music live yet either. It’s difficult to find opportunities during a pandemic, and most places only want musicians to play songs people already know rather than originals.
He doesn’t chase fame, either. He values getting a job and having a family once he graduates, so his career as a songwriter isn’t his top priority. In regards to becoming famous he said, “I would love to tour and play music, but also I want to have a family and be able to just be a normal person.” He creates music not for popularity or money, but because he loves doing it.
