Daily Inspiration: Meet Hunter Ambrose

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hunter Ambrose

Hi Hunter, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Music has always been the core of who I am and my greatest passion in life. It has acted as a friend, a therapist, a motivator, and almost like a life force for as long as I can remember. Songs I love have become the soundtrack of my life. For as long as I can remember, I just constantly have had music playing and around me to narrate my days and get me through different times in life. Like many artists, I began singing as a child and could constantly be found singing along to whatever was on the radio or whatever CDs my sister had lying around. I was always known as a very musically inclined kid and I just became obsessed. The artists that I remember I first listened to were Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and different boy bands of the late 90s. As I grew up, I became more aware of different genres of music and different eras of pop culture that interested me. By the time I was about 6 or 7, my parents decided to get me into formal music training through piano and voice lessons. I was naturally musically inclined as it was, but I very naturally showed a lot of ability as well to my teachers. Throughout grade school into high school, I performed and toured with a world renown audition based choir, ICC, and had my first experiences really performing in front of an audience of any kind on stage. In school, I also participated in choirs and private vocal instruction as well as school theatre programs and community theatre productions. I became very aware that I loved to perform and that it would become something I would pursue as an adult by the time I was about 13.
In high school, I started taking performance and vocal instruction from a private studio with two instructors who eventually went on to be my managers so to speak. It was then, I was introduced to the first producers I ever worked with and started writing and recording my first original music by the time I was 16 or 17. I was introduced to Grammy-Award winning producer Narada Michael Walden who was producing what was to be my debut release as an artist. He became my mentor of sorts which was pretty incredible at such a young age. He taught me so much about the recording process, musicianship in general, vocal performance and technique. He introduced me to a lot of incredible musicians in his studio in San Rafael, CA and I will never forget all that I learned from him. It was a truly unforgettable experience to work alongside a legend and to sing in a studio on a mic that Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and other icons had been in front of.
Around this time, I also had enrolled in a pre-undergraduate summer music program at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where I would go on to become an undergrad student.
Rather than deciding to not go to college and pursue a career full time, I then studied vocal performance and songwriting at Berklee in Boston from 2014-2017. Through meeting so many fellow young musicians and collaborating with my peers, and being surrounded by music constantly, I was able to develop my sound as an artist. My “sound” became defined by the dark pop and R&B that had become dominant in the industry in the mid to late 2010s and was mixed with a more timeless and anthemic pop vocal style inspired by different influences of mine such as Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, and Michael Jackson – just to name a few. It was there that I met my future collaborators, producers, Jason Strong and Jannek Zechner. Once I left Berklee, I immediately began writing and recording original music that went on to become my debut singles and my debut EP. Jason and Jannek both worked extensively on these projects and I still work with them today.
My first single, “Right Now” was released in 2019, and was followed by a single called “November”. This track featured a Lady Gaga interpolation of her song”Alejandro” and blew up online at the end of 2019.
Throughout 2020, in the midst of COVID, I wrote and recorded music constantly just to get me through that time. I booked a series of sessions over a few weeks in October of that year and those songs became what would be my debut album, Scorpio Season. I am extremely proud of that project, as it was a labor of love and although emotionally draining to create, it was quite cathartic for me. Throughout 2021, I performed all across the United States to promote the record. In 2022, I moved to Los Angeles from New York to pursue various career opportunities on the west coast. I have released a few singles in 2023 and my latest single “Next to Me” dropped this past March. I have a lot of new projects on the horizon ahead of an evolution of my sound and image that I am exploring ahead of these new releases I have planned.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has definitely not always been easy. This industry is cut throat and is full of people that are willing to do anything possible to get themselves ahead. I have been scammed, betrayed, and disappointed by others many times over. But, all of those negative experiences are overshadowed by my passion for music and the feeling I get from creating. The people I’ve met who have had a positive impact on my life through working in music have been worth all of the strife along the way.
I am very had on myself which I find to be common amongst creatives and sometimes my own insecurities can get in the way of pushing as hard as in this business. But I know it’s what I was meant for and at the end of the day, there is nothing I can’t accomplish. I am extremely tenacious, passionate, and focused. I know I’m meant for this industry.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a pop singer/songwriter and musician. My sound is defined by iconic artists such as Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson Madonna, Britney Spears but is met with a darker pop and R&B inspired edge inspired by artists like The Weeknd, Majid Jordan, Prince, etc. My commanding stage persona, implementation of many referential nods to different artists, my powerful and strong vocal style and my vast range sets me apart from a lot of artists that are dominating the industry right now. I have a lot of things I am proud of myself for over the years, but I think the fact I pushed through a global pandemic to record, write, promote and perform my debut studio album, would probably be the thing that I am the most proud of.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
If you are fortunate enough to be in a. city that has a strong creative community, I would say it’s very important to get yourself out there in your local music scene as much as possible. Attend events, shows, local showcases and mixers. Get to know other up and coming and motivated individuals. You never know who you’re going to meet and who could go on to change your life. Take chances, and be open to meeting new people and trying new things.

Pricing:

• Scorpio Season (CD edition) $15.00

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hunterblairambrose/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hunterblairambroseofficial/
• Twitter: https://x.com/hunterblairnyc?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI_4Em0eod7Q5El6QfZpx1A

Image Credits
Andrew Morales, Savanna Ruedy