Play “Younger me” by Hunter Leath.

Tell us the story behind “Younger Me.” Where did the idea come from?
The song was written back in 2018 with two friends of mine. We were talking about what we would say to our younger selves if we could, mainly about the twists and turns that life takes- mostly the unexpected ones. Every kid has a dream to do something great, and then we all grow up and sometimes it feels like we missed that “great opportunity”– music, sports, medicine, whatever that may be. But in turn, we look back at where life took us, and most of the time that is a much better place to be.

Tell us about the recording process and the instrumentation.
For this song, I started with a little percussion loop to track guitars over. I almost always start with acoustic guitar, and then build around it. We wanted this one to feel nostalgic, so I tried to make the instrumentation fit that vibe.

On a more general note, what does normally your creative process look like? Do you set aside “songwriting time” or does it just happen when it happens?
I typically have time set aside to write. I keep a log of random ideas and hooks in my phone, but I’m not usually the “hop out of bed at 3am to write a song” guy. I like to mull over an idea for a while and then sit down and start to develop it.

If we rewind to the very beginning, how did your musical journey start?
I grew up around music. My dad played and is from a very musical family, so it was always playing in the background. Whatever he listened to, I listened to…so The Eagles, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Billy Joel, etc. I’ve always gravitated towards singer-songwriters and the process of songwriting. I was the kid would read the liner notes of albums for fun to see who played on them and wrote the songs.

How did this interest in music translate into writing your own songs?
My first song was written when I was 12 years old– and was terrible. But it started that passion for me. There’s nothing like having an idea and seeing it come to fruition in a full song, and to know that you had a part in creating something that has never been before. In college, I really began to hone in on the craft of writing songs, and I realized it was something I wanted to do more than just a hobby.

Finally, what’s next on your agenda?
I’m currently a staff songwriter for a publishing company based in Nashville and produce demos for a wide variety of clients around the world. I plan to keep doing both of those and hope that some of these songs will sneak off of the page and into people’s radios!

The original drums in this song were converted to MIDI using the ‘Tracker’ in Superior Drummer 3 and then replaced with the sounds from the Singer-Songwriter EZX. Song used with permission. All rights belong to the copyright owners.