The Hush Sound

With the ever-exploding Chicago music scene, which is rapidly becoming known for producing some of today’s best underground bands, comes The Hush Sound – a much-needed breath of fresh air from the monotony of today’s oversaturated music scene. The Hush Sound offers something different. Comprised of four members (who all sing, by the way), this indie-folk-pop-rock band spurts out songs that are full of catchy guitar riffs, uplifting piano parts and layered male/female vocals. Their style is hard to pinpoint as anything but original and imaginative.

The Hush Sound first began as a casual pastime when longtime friends Bob Morris and Greta Salpeter began playing music together for fun during their free time. Introduced by mutual friends (Bob a sophomore in high school and Greta only in seventh grade), they were an unlikely musical combination: he had been in rock bands since age 12 and she was a classically trained pianist since age 3. “I had horrible stage fright at first,” Greta admits, but Bob wasn’t about to let her quit. “He told me that I have talent and that I needed to pursue my passion, music, and we started writing songs together after that.”

It wasn’t until winter of 2004/05 that the band started writing seriously. Originally an acoustic/piano duo, The Hush (later adding the “Sound” after finding out a rapper shared the name) decided to branch out and try their hand at adding drums and bass. Coincidentally around the same time, Darren Wilson and Chris Faller, friends from another local Chicago band, were looking for a new band to play with. Bob got in contact with Darren and jammed out about 5 or 6 songs that would later be a part of their first album. “At first, it was only Darren who joined the band,” Bob explains, “Chris on the other hand, was hesitant.”

The band went on to play their first show as a three-piece in a friend’s basement. The next day before watching the tape of the performance, Darren invited Chris to come watch it with the band. Chris was impressed with what he saw and ended up coming out to a practice a few days later. There was immediate chemistry and by the end of February, Chris had joined The Hush Sound and left the other two bands he was in at the time. The lineup was complete.

By the end of March of 2005, The Hush Sound took all the songs they had written into the studio to record their debut full length. Appropriately titled “So Sudden” (a reflection on how quickly things were moving for the band), the record showcases a diverse collection of songs… most catchy and tuneful, some quirky, while others are haunting and beautiful. Colored with imagery evoking lyrics reflecting on personal life experience and hardship, each song has its own character. Yet, they are unified by a certain flair that is The Hush Sound.

Since January of 2005, the band has blossomed around the Chicago-land area and has played sold out shows with Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is… and Motion City Soundtrack. They have quickly secured a strong local following, and have sold a surprising large amount of records in such a short period of time (as a DIY release with no label support at the time, they sold 300 CDs in two nights). Only five months after the band started seriously writing and playing shows, they gained the attention of Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz through their page on purevolume.com. Since then, they have found a home on the renowned indie label, Fueled By Ramen / Decaydance Records, who plan to re-release “So Sudden” fall of 2005. Keep an eye out for The Hush Sound, as they will be playing shows around the Midwest during the fall, and have plans to record a follow up to “So Sudden” this winter to be released summer of 2006.