HUGH INTERVIEW
Who are Hugh & how did this beautiful quartet come about?
Hugh is Joshua Idehen, Izzy Brooks, Martin Kolarides and Andy Highmore. We all met about a year and a half ago at a rooftop screening of ‘Notting Hill’.
We love the simplicity & intrigue of the name, which seems to marry well to the vein of your music. How did you land on Hugh?
Josh: Izzy is a HUUUGE Hugh Grant fan and swore blind the lyrics of Not Fair Too Far reminded her of the bit in the rain of Four Weddings. Plus our other name, Heart Foundation International, my idea, was deemed rubbish.
How would you guys describe your sound in an adjective filled sentence?
Emotive, ethereal pop songs.
“Sex,drugs,and Rock n Roll” has long been a cliche within music, as there’s four of you we’ll share it out, what four words would you use to describe your music careers so far?
Partisan. Hop. Skip. Jump.
You just delved into your first live outing, how was that received?
Josh: You know, I rarely can tell if I’m to be honest. Personally, I feel best about music and live performances when I don’t care as much, else I spend most of the night asking everyone ‘was it alright?’ and only remembering what people said went wrong. And it’s usually some minor shit, or me making a big deal about whether they said it was ‘good’ or ‘great’. However, if I look back on the facts – a bunch of strangers spent a sweaty evening listening to our music for almost an hour and clapped at the end – then I’d say it went brilliantly.
Are there any new bands that are inspiring you at the moment, or any that have been the soundtrack to your days as growing musicians?
Josh: Lately I have been loving The Acid, How To Dress Well, Oneohtrix Point Never, FKA Twigs and Sharon Van Etten. I think a lot of my writing comes immediately after being inspired by an album or a track.
We first discovered your music with the excellent ”Not Fair Too Far” track. Following that you have just released your debut “I Can’t Figure You Out” EP to much acclaim, with a stunning video to match. Where did the inspiration for the title track come from and how did the video concept fit in to place?
Tino: The idea for the video came to us through the amazing director Eoin Glaister, We knew we wanted something that represented the sometimes confusing push and pull of a relationship and when he sent us his concept of having a teasing and aching romance played out on horseback we just thought what a mad and unusual way of telling the story.
Josh, we know you’re a very busy man with various exciting projects, including Benin City, on the go. How do you keep your writing and work on each project separate in the creative process?
Tempos help. Hugh is really a mid tempo band and isn’t really about the explosiveness Benin City is known for. Plus, Andy, Tino and Izzy put themselves into the song which makes most of the difference, really.
Given the great reception to the release, have you got anything else up your sleeves music wise? Are there any places people will be able to catch you gigging in the coming months?
A lot we’d like to announce, a lot of music we’ve been sitting on for far too long. Soon as we get all our ducks in a row, we’ll be announcing some cool stuff. Soon.
Finally, if you could create anything, for personal or worldwide benefit, what would it be and why?
Telepathy for everyone over 18. No more secrets, no more miscommunication. We’d all be a lot nicer and empathic to each other. Plus every adult will be perpetually embarrassed. Probably more sex. Sure, privacy will be demolished but we already have facebook so we won’t miss it that much.
