by Oliver and Dawn St John

     The name The Hush Sound, originally adapted from a lyric written by band member Bob Morris, is appropriate for the amount of exposure the band has had until recently. The Hush Sound have, however, put paid to that silence with a high-quality collection of songs in new album Like Vines, a tour with labelmates Panic! At The Disco and, starting in November, a headlining tour of their own.

     The Green Room, having previously featured the song "We Intertwined" in our Listen Up! section, caught up with the band at a gig at Rochester, NY's Club at Water Street. Unsurprisingly for a Friday night show, the venue was packed. While many of the patrons were likely there to see the headline act, Copeland, the audience contained a fair number of Hush Sound t-shirts and hoodies as well, which is always encouraging to see.

     Something noteworthy about the Hush Sound is that they have a great rapport with their audience. Perhaps it's because they're still relatively unknown, but they don't hesitate to wander around the venue before and after their set. In fact, our interview with them, due to the lack of a backstage area in the club, took place right on the sidewalk outside. It was very casual, and very down-to-earth.

     The Hush Sound, consisting of Greta Salpeter, Chris Faller and Darren Wilson in addition to the aforementioned Bob Morris, cite a wide variety of influences: Greta names Elliot Smith and Fiona Apple, Darren singles out the Flaming Lips. Bob and Chris note Sufjan Stevens and the Zombies respectively, and both are also quick to name the Beatles. All of these and more can be heard in their music, yet the blend is distinctly their own. In a musical climate which places so much value on homogeneity, one would think that the band would feel pressured to sound a little more like what's currently popular, but it seems there's nothing to worry about there. Bob explains, "It's never something we really set out to do, it just kind of happened." Greta follows up, "We started this band on the philosophy that we were going to do what we like and not what other people like, and so we just wrote music that we enjoyed playing." The set opener, "Don't Wake Me Up", available on the most recent release, Like Vines, and also streamable from the band's site, is a perfect example of this finely blended sound.

     The band recorded and released their debut album So Sudden extremely quickly - within three months of their formation. As such, it is unsurprising to learn that the band feels that their sound has evolved and changed greatly in the intervening time. "We didn't put a lot of thought into the first one," says Bob, "we just wrote the songs, and felt really strongly about the songs - it was supposed to be an EP, but then we kept writing another one, and another one. With the second one, everything was thought out a lot more." Having said that, So Sudden accounts for a healthy share of the songs in tonight's setlist, including the tempo-shifting "Momentum", which has much of the audience bouncing around.

     The songwriting typically falls to Bob and Greta, and lead vocal duties on any given song fall to whichever of the two wrote it. Backed up by Chris on bass and Darren on drums, Bob plays guitar and Greta plays keys. When pressed for any brands or models of instruments favored, Darren yells "C&C Drums!" - the company sponsors him, and he says that of all the drum makers out there, they are very much "the one". Chris tells us that the other members of the band have a liking for vintage (or at least reissue) gear. The bio on the band's website (www.thehushsound.com) also suggests that Greta would like to learn to play the cello, but this may not be something we will ever see on a Hush Sound release. Says Greta, "I don't really have the time. I took lessons for a year and a half and never really got good enough, and when you tour you really don't have that much time to practice, which is ironic, because you think that bands go out on tour and come back and all of a sudden they're monster musicians, but it's not true; they can play their songs well and they can perform as a band well, but individually sometimes playing suffers... Maybe when I'm done performing. Who knows?" Greta's bio also indicates a strong inclination toward art and literature, and this has certainly been an influence itself. "In terms of songwriting," she explains, "half of it's music and half of it's literature. A ton of images and philosophies in songwriting come from things you've picked up in reading, from daydreaming during English class or whatever." Perhaps this is true of the Hush Sound's songwriting, but I'm not certain that this applies to very many of the tunes currently populating the Top 40.

     Greta Salpeter

     Environmentally speaking, the band do what they can to recycle, but point out that it is far from practical to be able to keep one's impact low when criss-crossing the country on tour. In time, perhaps, a hybrid vehicle or one running on an alternative fuel may be considered. "Everyone needs to think about that," says Bob. "I hear all the time that we're running out of oil, and nobody's doing anything about that. And that's kind of scary." Also noteworthy is that Greta's brother is working on creating a cleaner, more efficient fuel.

     When we finish with them, the band are off into the building, where two hours later they will begin their energy-packed set. When the band takes the stage, no one cares about the long week they may have had, nor any plans they may have for the remainder of the weekend. Everywhere we look, people are dancing. It doesn't matter if they're graceful or even in rhythm with the band; that's not the point. The point is that The Hush Sound's groove is contagious and the entire audience has been infected.

     Bob Morris