Issue 36: Ande Hunter of As December Falls
Welcome to The Band Bible! I’m truly glad to have you here. If you’re a new reader, purpose of this newsletter is to address, break down, and shine a light on the business of being in a band. Each issue, we do this by interviewing (and celebrating!) someone who is making waves through their incredible work with or for artists, or is an artist themselves. Learning the business of being in a band is something that is often inaccessible or shrouded in mystery, and it shouldn’t be, so I hope The Band Bible is able to play even a small role in helping to change that.
When making notes for this introduction, I kept coming back to one word: heart.
The word “heart” feels so alive in relation to As December Falls. It feels present and palpable in all they do, like a Midas Touch of love. Heart is in the vulnerability of their lyrics, in the strength of their relationship with their fans, and in the infectious sense of joy they emulate while performing live. Across the board, heart is the common denominator.
With this in mind, it’s little wonder as to how they’ve managed to achieve all they have, and do so entirely independently at that.
The music of As December Falls is music through which people have found themselves, seen themselves, and saved themselves. Their music is honest and open about all the things it’s most difficult to be honest and open about — mental health, fear, fights, sadness, stress, and more. As a result, their work is just as medicinal as it is skillful. It’s a tonic that reminds us that no one is an island, that we are never alone in all we’ll feel and face over the course of our lives. That reminder is rich in comfort and power, and it also makes each song feel like a liberation. It provides the listener with the opportunity to experience a catharsis — the gift of being able to process something, to sit with something — and once you do that, you can start to let it go. As December Falls cultivates an environment where people can know that they’re safe in having their “something,” and crucially, not feel shame or isolation for whatever that is. To listen to As December Falls is to be reminded that we’re all just trying to navigate our brains to the best of our ability and be okay in this weird world. To have a band that creates a sense of community and oasis in equal measure by wearing their hearts on their sleeves is nothing short of a gift.
This sense of community As December Falls creates doesn’t just bring people together through music — it, quite literally, took them to the top in the process. Their July 2023 album Join The Club hit No. 1 on the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart. This is a fantastic achievement by any measure, but for As December Falls, it’s particularly of note because they’ve achieved this while intentionally remaining an independent band. They’ve gotten as far as they have by sticking to their guns and treating their fans as their label, eliminating middleman positions to foster a deeper, more nuanced relationship with everyday people who love and support their work. Heart is alive not just in their music, but in the way they conduct the band as a business.
There’s a lot to be said about a group who chooses to do things in a manner that’s harder, but in a manner that’s more true. The commitment As December Falls has upheld to preserving their agency and authenticity allowed them to break down the doors of mainstream success, redefining what’s perceived as possible in the music industry. There’s a prevailing sense that you have to sign a part of yourself away to other people in order to “make it” — whether that be your money, your time, your freedom, or your creativity. As December Falls is playing an instrumental role in rewriting that script. They are proof positive that independent artists cannot just thrive, but reach the same heights that artists with teams can. You don’t need a manager, a label, an agent, or to automatically know all the right people from the jump. You just need heart.
No matter what your dreams or line of work may be, As December Falls exemplifies that success on your own terms is achievable. Their story is one that proves that with hard work and staying true to yourself, what may seem “too good to be true” can indeed become your reality. This makes the band’s success feel not only refreshing, but like a symbol of hope. As a result, As December Falls are not just rock stars, but the people’s rock stars.
As December Falls already has an exciting 2025 in store, which includes the likes of an Australian tour and the release of their fourth album, Everything’s On Fire But I’m Fine, which is set to drop on August 8th. Ahead of it all, guitarist Ande Hunter speaks about the band’s decision to remain independent, how their relationship to the industry has changed as the band has grown, the commandment he’s leaving behind in The Band Bible, and more in the interview you’re about to read. Enjoy.
Photo by Camphaus Media
Most artists start out operating independently, but what made you all choose to remain that way?
We have always been fiercely independent. We firmly believe in a wild concept that if an artist writes a song, they should own the masters to the recording of that song. I definitely believe there is a world in which labels and organisations can work with artists in a fair and proper way but 99% of label deals are absolutely awful for the artist. We also saw more and more just how inept the music industry is at large at cultivating real connections between fan and artist. We found that by removing the middle man, the fans really became our label.
You're a qualified lawyer. Is there anything in the legal wheelhouse that you think bands who are just starting out should do or be aware of?
My background is in criminal defence and I never really dealt with any corporate stuff but the one piece of advice I would give to any band is do not sign a music contract with anyone without having it checked by a music lawyer! You also need to be striking up deals with labels/agents etc at the right time. For example, if you've been a band for a month and are yet to sell any tickets or records but are already in talks with a label, you have no bargaining power and you're going to walk out of that deal with the worst terms possible. On the other hand, if you spend the years really growing as an artist, growing your fanbase and turning your business into something sustainable, then you have the right bargaining power to start those types of conversations when it makes sense.
Photo by Camphaus Media
How do you all navigate simultaneously tending to As December Falls as a creative entity and a business?
Everything is on fire at all times and absolute chaos. Nah I kid, I've been managing the band and running the label side of As December Falls for 10 years and 3 albums at this point so learning time management was essential from the get go. I very much have two parts that I can switch between which is the creative side - writing music, recording in the studio and being on tour etc and then the business side of digital marketing, running the label, managing sub-contractors etc. No one taught us this stuff, we literally just learnt by making every mistake possible and then trying not to repeat those mistakes.
You just had your first No.1 album with Join The Club. How has your relationship to the industry changed as the band has grown?
2023 was a really interesting year for us, we'd spent so long living in our own little DIY bubble of booking and promoting our own tours, releasing our own music and just doing our own thing but that year was when we really started breaking into the mainstream and the industry started to take notice of us. We played Download Festival for the first time, sold over 6,000 tickets on the Join The Club tour, won best breakthrough act at the Heavy Music Awards and got to number 1 in the UK Rock Charts. But it was so funny, literally the weeks before the album was about to drop, we were in talks with certain magazines about being featured on front covers and stuff but they still wouldn't pick us because they still didn't believe that we were on track for the charting position. This time around it feels a lot easier because we've already proven ourselves with the last record so we're already getting a lot more support from the industry.
Lastly, which "commandment" would you like to leave behind in The Band Bible?
Learn marketing. That's it. That's the big secret to success, not just in music but in any business. That's what no label or manager will tell you. Yes, the music has to be good (that's the bare minimum) but an average artist with amazing marketing is going to do much better than an amazing artist with terrible marketing. There are 3 questions you need to work out the answer to:
- How do you attract attention from new people?
- How do you capture that attention in a way that you can reach those people whenever you want?
- How do you take that attention and make money from it?
If you can nail the answer to all three of those questions, you will have a sustainable and successful career in music.
A huge thank you to Ande for taking the time to share such thoughtful answers. Everything’s On Fire But I’m Fine is available for pre-order here. To keep up with As December Falls, click here for their website, here for their Instagram, and here for their TikTok. Last but not least, check out the music video for their latest single, “Therapy.”
As December Falls are Bethany (lead vocals), Ande (guitar), Timmy (guitar), and KC (drums).