The Hugs

The Hugs
Background information
Origin	Portland, Oregon, USA
Genres	Garage Rock * Neo-Psychedelic * alternative rock *
Years active	2007-present
Labels	1965 Records, Columbia, Sony BMG
Website	http://thehugsmusic.com/
Members	Danny Delegato Jack Burgess Keagan O'Brien Kauri Voss
Past members	Brendan Welch Kelly McKenzie Nicholas LoCascio Skyler Weaver Davey Appaloosa

The Hugs are an indie pop and psychedelic garage rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States. Formed in 2007 by lead singer-songwriter Danny Delegato while attending Cleveland High School. Current members include Danny Delegato (lead vocals, songwriter, guitar), Jack Burgess (lead guitar, vocals), Keagan O'Brien (drums, percussion), and Kauri Voss (bass, vocals). A self-described "pop" band, their music is primarily influenced by the 1960s British Invasion movement and post-punk The Hugs have self released four studio albums and two E.P.s.

The band gained recognition after being signed by major label Columbia Records in the United Kingdom and 1965 Records. The band was discovered on MySpace by famous rock photographer Roger Sargent of NME magazine. Label A&R executives Mike Smith alongside 1965 Records founder James Endeacott who first signed The Libertines and The Strokes signed The Hugs together in 2007. The band enjoyed extensive exposure in London, England thanks to a busy English touring schedule and a substantial backing from Sony BMG at the time. In 2008 recording sessions with Liam Watson at Toe Rag Studios in Hackney, London began but the recording sessions of 9 songs were later declined by the label for release. In 2009 The Hugs were released from their recording contract and have been releasing albums independently since.

In 2007 Portland Mercury wrote "Not too long ago, Roger Sargent—one of the two British music industry legends in question—was advised to set up a MySpace page in order to "reach out" to fans of a new photo book he had just published on the Libertines. Sargent's music industry notoriety comes from behind a camera's lens (the Guardian UK called him "The UK's most important music photographer"), as he is known for his portraits of Oasis, Franz Ferdinand, and Bloc Party. Speaking of his first introduction-via-MySpace to the kids from Cleveland High, "I got a somewhat cryptic message from a band calling themselves D&K. It was so annoyingly cryptic I had to check it out. The first song played and I was hooked, but the only thing was, I thought it was some kind of hoax. There was no way this music could be made by school kids."

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