Our client, Hush, Love, made their debut in early March with the release of their first single, These Depths for You. They describe themselves as an indie pop band, comprised of lead singer, Lisa Ritchie, and instrumentalists, Tom Halpin and Nick Rifken.
The three of them have an easy, ongoing banter and seem to work well together—when one of them comes up with an idea, the others take it to the next level. It began when Tom needed to record some music for class and the band he’d originally contacted backed out.
Tom: So then I thought of Lisa. I was super nervous about it because she’s really good. I figured she’d probably already recorded a record on her own.
Nick: Tom and I had known each other for a while and I respected and liked his music and I said if you ever need a drummer let me know.
T: So I called Nick up.
Hush, Love’s sound stands out against the backdrop of Ann Arbor’s indie music scene, which is best characterized as eclectic, according to Nick, after a brief debate with his band mates.
T: There’s not as much pop as elsewhere. It’s mostly folk and electronic music. And…dream pop?
N: I don’t even know what you’d call it. Indie electronic? Have you heard Chrome Sparks? It’s that sort of sound. It definitely characterizes a certain culture of Ann Arbor. It’s very eclectic.
Lisa: Yeah, very eclectic.
As they ride the success of their EP, Hush, Love plans to continue writing new songs and experimenting with other musical influences. As with any collaboration, the final product is very much a mix of the trio’s individual tastes.
N: I do ensemble music, Cuban and jazz. There’s some Incubus,
Copeland, Kelly Clarkson, John Mayer. You name it, as long as it’s good, I’m willing to listen.
T: Jimmy Eat World, Lydia, Brand New. Pretty much anything that’s angsty, really.
L: I’ll write these songs and I’ll show it to [Nick and Tom] and you can just hear how much it changes based on their styles. It becomes a collective work.
This collaborative nature was picked up on in an enthusiastic review at The Grapevine, which said, “These Depths For You is as deep as its name suggests, with an ever-changing pace it moves away from the usual expectations of the indie pop-rock genre and ventures into other areas, occasionally verging on soul, or funk.”
Subsequently when asked what their nemesis band might sound like, there’s some playful disagreement at first.
T: They would sound like fluffy, fluffy rainbows.
L: But that’s what we already are. I feel like they would be the exact opposite!
It will be interesting to see what Hush, Love comes out with next. In the meantime they will be performing at the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival this weekend, and at Creative Rights’ fundraiser In Progress next month. Although they initially wanted to play and produce music without legal support, Nick realized they could benefit greatly from some legal expertise.
T: [Creative Rights] helped us form our LLC. All the legal stuff. They negotiated our booking contract, helped us with the Performing Rights Organization—I don’t know if we’d been able to do it without their help.
N: There’s all this legal jargon you don’t understand unless you’ve had the proper education. There’s no way I’d be able to ask regular lawyers all these questions.
While promoting their music, Hush, Love has played at a wide variety of shows.
N: We’ve played some weird venues. We played at a marathon.
T: The magic stick (a club) in Detroit.
L: A hoola-hooping show.
N: The EP show was great!
L: All our fans were there. They’re the most loyal fans in the whole world.
If you want to find out what makes their fans so loyal, come hear them play at the In Progress event on September 14-15th! Or check them out beforehand at their website: hushlovemusic.com/.