Hunter Burgan Q&A part 1 (of 7)

I now present you with the first Q&A* vlog. I looked over every single question that you submitted (except the ones that violated the rules) and I answered as many as I could. Suddenly I found myself with over an hour of video to edit! So, rather than cheat you out of content, I decided to cut the Q&A* into seven parts. I will upload a new part every few days, so check back often! I dare you to watch the video in high quality...it greatly improves the viewing experience.

Thank you for the questions. I hope you enjoy the answers!

-Hunter

*Quotes and Articulations? Quivers and Arrows? Quick and Agile? Quack and Arf?

They Live!

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it! The Hunter, brought to you by Macbeth and yours truly is now available at Journeys.com as well as select Journey's retail locations!!! They live! In the midst of all this excitement, I look across the internet and I see a puzzled look on your face. I immediately know what you're thinking:

"But Hunter, which locations?"

To answer this question as precisely as possible, I am providing you with a list of all the select locations. Just right click or download or super-size (or something) this file:

SELECT JOURNEY'S RETAIL LOCATIONS

I've been told that if I can't sell enough pairs of The Hunter through Journey's that it may not live to see the leaves change on the trees this Autumn. How sad! That's all these shoes ever wanted! (They also wanted to be the most badass bulletproof vegan high top that ever existed, but that wish was granted the day they were created.) The Hunter needs your help to make its dreams a reality. (That last sentence sounds really weird to me, but oh well.)
So...to quote the Bally's classic pinball machine, Eight Ball Deluxe,

"Quit talkin' and start chalkin'."

Update 2-22 at 2:22 PM

Hunter Revenge @ Cinespace on 2/1/09 by Carlton Beener
Okay, I lied about the date and time of this update, but I'm close enough. Two twenty-two at two twenty-two PM is the funniest time of the year (it's a proven fact that 22 is the funniest number) and I if I had not been laughing hysterically, I surely would have written this blog at that exact minute. So what has been going on? Let's make a list.

1. NAMM - In January, I took a trip down to Anaheim to attend the 2009 NAMM show. NAMM is a four day music gear blast that is the Comic-Con of gear nerds. To say that it is HUUUUUGE would be an understatement. Every company that makes any type of anything that's even remotely related to the idea of music is represented. I was asked to sign autographs for Ampeg. While I was there I ran into Tim from Rancid, Geoff from Tiger Army, Maya from The Donnas and a few other friends. I talked to bassist Tony Levin about photography (he carries a camera around his neck and takes pictures all the time, even on stage!) and even snapped a psychedelic picture of Mick Mars. Thanks to @flavapave for the software!

2. The Hunter - My new Macbeth shoe, The Hunter is available now! Order it online now, or wait another week and walk into Journey's to buy a pair. Your feet will thank you!

3. HR Show - On Feb 1st, Hunter Revenge played a very focused set in Hollywood, CA at a little place called Cinespace. We had a lot of fun, as we always do. Everyone who showed up had fun too. See how this works? Anyhow, this will be the last Hunter Revenge show until I have new songs to play. I love playing the old stuff, but it would be so much cooler to play new songs. I will have updates about the new songs soon. Keep your ears open.

4. Shorty Awards - You can read the post below to hear about my trip to NYC to accept the music Shorty at the Shorty Awards.

5. Grocery Shopping - I bought some cereal, rice dream, two frozen burritos, new english muffins (from New England), soups, soaps, and broccoli.

6. President's Day - AKA The Place Where I Wanted To Get An Awesome Vegan Burrito Was Closed And I Had To Settle For A Frozen Burrito Day.

7. Begin Transmission! - The winners of AFI's Begin Transmission contest joined us in the studio! As it turns out, Natacia, Raine, Mark, Courtney, Brock and Christy were all very good singers and really helped us out. It was really refreshing to have people in the studio that haven't heard the new songs 87652348 times already. After so much build up and excitement, the time really flew by and before I knew it, AFI's new friends (and their guests) were on their way home. I hope everyone made it home safely and I look forward to seeing these new friends in the future. Apparently Natacia and Christy commemorated the experience with BEGIN TRANSMISSION tattoos. How cool is that!?

8. Mammoth Regeneration - Yesterday at 3:30 AM I began the first of several mammoth cloning/regeneration experiments. My goal is to be the first person to successfully regenerate a mammoth. At 3:45 AM I realized that this was going to be more difficult than I first thought, due to the fact that I have no mammoth DNA. I consider this a minor setback. This week I'm going to head down to the La Brea tar pits, hop a fence or two, and "find" some mammoth samples. Wish me luck.

Shirt and Shoes Required!

If you like t-shirts, then you'll love this one. It's made out of nice soft cotton (the kind the Olsen twins love) and features a scrambled version of the artwork that is inside my new Macbeth vegan shoe, The Hunter. You can order the shirt HERE. Oh, and guess what I just realized...
You can apparently order my new shoe, The Hunter, now too! Click here! It's totally vegan and totally available in men's sizes 5-13. Please do your best to ignore the rampant misspellings you may encounter while ordering my shirt or shoes. I lose sleep over these things, but it doesn't seem to help. I simply don't have the time to correct spelling errors all over the internet.

Good buy.
Goodbye.

Win with Macbeth, Peta2, and Tranquil Mammoth!

WIN! WIN! WIN!
Do you want to win a pair of my new Macbeth shoes ("The Hunter") and an iPod Nano loaded with a bunch of music that I have personally selected? I sure would like to win that stuff! Unfortunately for me, I'm not allowed to enter, but you probably are! Click on the picture above to visit the Peta2 site and enter. This ends February 2, 2009, so get going! Waste no time!

Also, read more vegan ramblings by yours truly at: macbeth.com/vegan

Midnight Update!

I've noticed that because I update so much on Twitter, I haven't been including much about what I've been up to in my blog entries. Subconsciously I'm trying to avoid being redundant, but I guess there's no shame in redundancy. I mean, after all, it's the internet; it's already redundant!

Here are 12 FACTS about what I've been up to lately:
(in no particular order)

FACT 1: I have been appointed as Vegan Ambassador for Macbeth Footwear. Read about it here, and here. Also, check out some pictures that Ryan Russell took of me here.

FACT 2: I had a "white" x-mas, meaning that huge snow flakes were falling from the sky when I woke up on December 25, 2008. I was in Grass Valley, and in Grass Valley that kind of weather is not unheard of, or undreamt of.

FACT 3: AFI played KROQ's "Almost Acoustic Christmas" on December 13, 2008. On our final song, "Love Like Winter," I mashed my knee up. I have since recovered.

FACT 4: I saw The Cure play at the Troubador on December 13, and at the Gibson Arena on December 14, both 2008. I love The Cure. I finally met Robert.

FACT 5: Hunter Revenge played at Cinespace on December 21, 2008. Since my usual keyboardist, Dan Kelly, was unable to play (due some sort of family reunion), I had, for the first time ever, two keyboardists on stage to replace him. Missed it? Come see Hunter Revenge play Cinespace AGAIN on February 1, 2009. I'll provide more information about this in the future.

FACT 6: I grew a "holiday beard" and eventually shaved that damn thing off. Beards are for Rip Van Winkles.

FACT 7: I did not get engaged. Google it.

FACT 8: I have a new shoe coming out in February, 2009. It's called "The Hunter" and is 100% vegan. It's also 10,000,000% awesome. Take a look at it here before you order 6 pairs. Yes, the shoes are bulletproof. No, I haven't actually tested them against bullets. Would you like to? "For this next trick I'll need a volunteer from the audience..."

FACT 9: While in the studio, working on AFI's eighth studio album, I recorded twelve tracks of bass on a single song. That being said, I feel I must clarify that at most, there are no more than three distinct performances at any given moment in the song. Also, technically three of the tracks are baritone guitar, doubling my bass line. I still think this qualifies me for some type of award. Excessive Bassist of the Year?

FACT 10: Speaking of awards, I was successfully nominated for two Shorty Awards. One of the categories (#awesome) isn't an official category, but still quite awesome. Go vote for me in the other category, #music: http://shortyawards.com/user/TranquilMammoth I need your votes to win! Voting ends January 23, 2009.

FACT 11: Joe Principe (of Rise Against fame) and I are having a conversation right now about how to make bass the "it" instrument for 2009. Kids all over the world should (and will) want to play bass above all other instruments. Ever hear of Bass Hero™? Well maybe somebody will invent that once they catch on to what's happening.

If you're asking yourself, "Where's the 12th fact, Hunter?" then I'm asking you this: Why are you calling yourself Hunter? Is it your name too? (I'll admit that Hunter is a pretty strange name to call yourself, even if it IS your name.) The answer is this: In 2009, numbers don't matter as much as they did in 2008. Think way back to the baker's dozen. I'm not sure what year that was invented, but I can tell you that twelve equalled thirteen that year! Be happy with eleven.

Now quit reading this and go give blood!

Update! Hunter interviewed by Bea Arthur!

Since everyone loves an update, I thought I'd post this interview I found online yesterday. The funny thing is, I don't remember doing this interview. Oh well...Enjoy!

Hunter Burgan: Before we get started, I just have to tell you that I recently watched some episodes of Maude on DVD...and you are hilarious! I love it more than Golden Girls!

Bea Arthur*: Thank you. So what's new, Hunter? What have you been up to?

Hunter: Well, Bea, I've been pretty busy. AFI has been working non-stop on new songs, Hunter Revenge is playing the Pomona Warped Tour on Friday, I bought new curtains, Dan Kelly and I just finished mixing a record for our friends' band, I've been drinking lots of coffee, I have a new shoe coming out soonish and well...I've also been planning some secret stuff.

Bea: Secret Stuff? Well you'll have to tell me about that later, but first...tell me, what do the new AFI songs sound like?

Hunter: They're great. We have a bunch of really catchy songs that I think you're going to love...even with your finicky taste, Bea.

Bea: Well you know I'm partial to the Stones and Zeppelin.

Hunter: And I'm confident that you'll find a place in your heart for our new stuff as well.

Bea: We'll see about that.

Hunter: Yeah we will.

Bea: Moving on... Tell me about Hunter Revenge's show this Friday.

Hunter: It's Warped Tour, in Pomona, and I'm playing the Kevin Says Stage which is a smaller, more intimate stage.

Bea: So the audience will be closer to you.

Hunter: Exactly! Hunter Revenge is not about barricades and boundaries. It's about intimacy and relationships...the relationship between the band and the audience.

Bea: Speaking of your band...who do you have playing with you this time?

Hunter: Dan Kelly, as always, will be playing keyboards. Ian Fowles from The Aquabats will be playing bass, and Ryan Seaman will return to the drums for his first appearance with me since 2005. It's going to be a lot of fun.

Bea: Just out of curiosity, will you be selling shirts or records?

Hunter: Just shirts and CDs.

Bea: Well that sounds like a blast. I'll try to make it out there. Where can I get tickets?

Hunter: You can buy tickets by clicking here.

Bea: Did you just insert a link?

Hunter: Yeah.

Bea: Cool. Now let's talk about these curtains. What do you look for in a curtain?

Hunter: For me, a curtain needs to be tall, dark and thick.

Bea: You're a man of my taste.

Hunter: Bea! I'm talking about curtains, not-

Bea: So am I.

Hunter: You dirty bird!

Bea: Moving along... What band did you and Dan Kelly mix?

Hunter: They're called Artichoke Heart Soufflé. They write fun songs...the whole project was fun. Have you heard of them?

Bea: Yeah, well no, but I was just looking at their website. Cute drawings. So what else is going on...oh yes...coffee?

Hunter: Yeah. I love the dark roast. "Dark and crisp" as Jarrod Alexander would say.

Bea: Mmmm that sounds good right now. So when is your new shoe coming out?

Hunter: It comes out in the Spring '09 collection, which comes out well before Spring the season.

Bea: Yeah that always confuses me. Why are the seasons for fashion out of sync with the real seasons?

Hunter: No one will ever know.

Bea: And I'm going to assume that this is another collaboration with Macbeth?

Hunter: Yes you are, Bea, and it will be a correct assumption.

Bea: Ok Hunter, I need to wrap this up. Before we go, can you tell me anything about the "secret stuff" you're planning?

Hunter: Not if I want to maintain the secrecy. However, I will tell you that both Matt Wedgley and I have put a lot of time into this so far.

Bea: I have an idea of what you might be talking about, but I won't say anything. If it's what I think it is, then it's going to be AMAZING!

Hunter: Thanks...it will be!

Bea: When will you let everyone in on your secret?

Hunter: In a couple of weeks...just keep your eyes and ears open.

Bea: I'll be sure to. Thank you for the interview Hunter.

Hunter: Thanks, Bea.

*may not be the real Bea Arthur, so just to avoid any libel suits, let's just say that this isn't the real Bea Arthur.

Shoe Odyssey: A Look Inside Macbeth - Episode 3

EPISODE THREE! Shoe Odyssey: A Look Inside Macbeth

Watch the full documentary exclusively on www.MacbethFootwear.com!

Shoe Odyssey: A Look Inside Macbeth - Episode 2

EPISODE TWO! Shoe Odyssey: A Look Inside Macbeth

Watch the full documentary exclusively on www.MacbethFootwear.com!



WIN FREE STUFF:




DOWNLOAD "SHOE ODYSSEY" RINGTONES, WALLPAPERS, BUDDY ICONS, AND MORE!

Launch of "Shoe Odyssey" Film Series & Contest

EPISODE ONE! Shoe Odyssey: A Look Inside Macbeth

Macbeth Footwear Presents: "Shoe Odyssey: A Look Inside Macbeth"


"Shoe Odyssey: A Look Inside Macbeth" - Macbeth Footwear's documentary on Foot Science and Awareness - launches today on www.MacbethFootwear.com. The documentary has been split into three parts which will be viewable on Myspace, YouTube, Facebook, and several other sites, while the full-length version will be viewable exclusively on the Macbeth Footwear website.

The film was written by Hunter Burgan (AFI, General Foot Awareness Expert) and Dan Kelly (Head of Security for Macbeth).

Burgan pulled double-duty writing all of the music for the film, as well as hosting the three-part series. A graduate of the School of Life, Hunter takes his inspiration from arboretums, PBS, Mensa meetings, scuba diving, yoga and sunsets.

Kelly is inspired by Bruce Lee, cotton candy, The Alliance of Guardian Angels, rock carving, and General Patton - although he found the movie about Patton to be a little weak.

Foot Science and Awareness is a little-known branch in the footwear industry that has only recently made its way into mainstream science. Currently, Burgan and Kelly are the only two people in the world focusing on this research.

We invite you to follow this three-part series over the next few weeks, as we explore the origins of Macbeth Footwear, and its place in the history of the world.

It's gotta be the shoes...

Through a partnership with Macbeth, I have created the first of many shoes.

You can buy them here.
I've been getting a lot of great feedback from people about these shoes. I'd like to point out a few things about them. For starters, they are 100% vegan. They are made mainly out of a fake leather material. The smallest size available right now is a men's 5, but I'm trying to get smaller sizes made. Yes, there is a heart on the side. For all the "men" out there that dislike the shoe because of this fact, pay attention: It's a BLACK heart. Black as in tuff. Black as in dark and evil. Black as in black-is-the-new-black. Get into it, bro.


I also recently wrote and filmed several things for Macbeth, the first of which will soon be taking the internet by storm...stay tuned for that.



Stay Fresh!