Photo via Fidelitorium Recordings

Faye Hunter, the founding bassist of the Mitch Easter-led jangle-pop outfit Let’s Active who played on the band’s 1983 debut EP Afoot and follow-up full-length Cypress in 1984, died Saturday night in Advance, N.C., of an apparent suicide, the Raleigh, N.C., News & Observer newspaper reported tonight. She was 59.

According to the paper, she posted the following quote on her Facebook page Thursday night in what “was to be her final message to the world”:

What you had yesterday is only memories; what you will have tomorrow is your dreams and what you will do today, let it be love.” ~ Santosh Kalwar

A friend of Hunter’s told the newspaper that she had “been talking about this for quite some time. The past three or so years were really bad,” as Hunter had “become physically worn down, very thin and having physical problems from the stress of working and caregiving.”

Hunter formed Let’s Active with Easter and drummer Sara Romweber in 1981, and the band signed to IRS Records that same year. The group was closely associated with and performed alongside R.E.M., and Easter rose to fame producing that band and others, including Pylon.

Hunter left Let’s Active following the release of the band’s debut album, Cypress.

Tonight, Easter’s recording studio, Fidelitorium Recordings in Kernersville, N.C., posted on Facebook: “Today’s news has broken our hearts. Faye Hunter, you will be missed and loved forever.”

Below, in Hunter’s memory, is the original video for the “Every Word Means No,” the opening song of the Afoot EP, as well as footage (via bosstime41) of Hunter’s final public performance, also of “Every Word Means No,” filmed this past May at a celebration of Winston-Salem music.

Let’s Active, “Every Word Means No”



Vagabond Saints Society featuring Faye Hunter, “Every Word Means No” (May 10, 2013)