Burgan was bassist in The Force when joining Ukiah, California-based rock band AFI, meant as a temporary replacement for regular bassist, Geoff Kresge, for touring and a record, Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes, but eventually became AFI's full-time bassist in November 1997. The Force broke up in September 1998.
Burgan loves Prince's music and even had his own side-project called Hunter Revenge dedicated to singing early-80s-style R&B. A talented multi-instrumentalist, Burgan can play drums, bass, guitar, saxophone, clarinet, and piano. He was the drummer and one of the founding members of the Frisk, who played their final show in December 2005. He was the drummer of the Nevada City, California, band, Badical Turbo Radness (BTR) in the mid 1990s. He has also played drums for the Eyeliners, Gardening, Not Architecture, F-Minus (one show), and the Halo Friendlies on tour.
Hunter was featured on Tegan and Sara's 2007 album, The Con, playing bass on the songs written by Tegan. He appeared with them on Late Night with Conan O'Brien playing the shakers on the song "Back in Your Head." He has also confirmed an upcoming side project with Tegan, and contributed lyrics to three of her songs on the 2009 album Sainthood.[6]
He also played bass on Golden Shoulders's "Little Nixon," from their 2009 album Get Reasonable.[7]
He is often referred to simply as "Hunter," as his last name is never given in the list of band members on AFI's albums, with the exception of Crash Love. He plays Fender American Jazz Basses and Ampeg Amps.[8]
In May 2011, when asked why he had stopped recording with his Hunter Revenge project, Burgan stated "I had a lot of fun writing songs in a very specific style. However that is not the only style of music I want to write and can write." He also noted "I'm doing a lot of other music stuff now that's in different styles that are at least a little of a better representation of what I want to do musically."[9]