* En anglais uniquement
Brooklyn's grungy rockers
Hunters revolve around core members (and couple) Izzy Almeida and Derek Watson. Despite very different backgrounds -- Almeida spent her formative years between Albuquerque and Rio de Janeiro, while Watson grew up near Philadelphia and went to wrestling matches with his father -- the pair bonded over their love of
the Melvins,
Sonic Youth,
the Stooges, and
the Cramps when they met while working at a Chinatown arcade in 2009. At the time, Watson was in a noise band called Realms, but he and Almeida soon began writing songs together. Gigs at venues like the D.I.Y. mecca Death by Audio and self-released cassettes and 7"s led to 2011's debut EP, Hands on Fire, which featured production work by
James Iha. The duo officially became a quartet with drummer Gregg Giuffré and bassist Thomas Martin in 2012, and early the following year
Hunters signed to Mom + Pop Records. The band reunited with
Iha to work on its self-titled debut, which arrived in October 2013. ~ Heather Phares