04/01/2025
It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of artist & engineer Don Hünerberg. We are mere weeks away from the reissue of Don's wildly unique and immensely enjoyable Phase Murmur album.
Additionally, Don was a huge part of our TwinArt presents Instant This Instant That! compilation of which he contributed interlude pieces between each track with his group Intense Molecular Activity.
As a musician Don had more of an underground cult following but as a recording engineer he was connected to a massive swath of important NYC music via his work at Plaza Sound Studios and the Radio City Music Hall Studio. Don was an engineer on the Ramones debut album, Richard Hell & The Voidoids' Blank Generation, Blondie's debut, recordings from ESG, Glenn Branca, Sonic Youth, Golden Palominos, John Zorn and more. In the Modern Harmonic family, he recorded and produced the title track to the Instant This Instant That! comp, along with some of the recordings on our Julia Heyward album.
His earliest works are when he was an assistant engineer as you stroll his long list of treasures the Ramones and Blondie are about as mainstream as he got, but more likely it was those jobs as an assistant that made him inseparable with 80s NYC art rock, avant garde, & free jazz.
The works he's performed, recorded, mixed and the like are truly art so we wanted to share that with you in a tribute playlist (Listen Here: https://sdz.sh/tW8msA). It kicks off with a track from Phase Murmur and goes into an previously unissued bonus track from the project as those are the teaser tracks we've had up.
His album and an expanded edition of Phase Murmur on CD will be available on January 31st. Don is now reunited with Peter Gillespie, Don's musical partner in the Phase Murmur project. It will be crushing to not be able to celebrate the release day together.
