Interview with Oh, Hush!

Our very first Band Of The Month/Spotlight feature was none other than this mysterious band known as Oh, Hush! back in June 2008. Since then, they have released a debut album (The Yellow Album), an EP of cover songs and are largely known for their tunes and less of their looks. Full of wit and bustling with energy, this band is all about the fans. Don’t believe? They give advice, reply your messages and even help with your homework! Oh, Hush! recently took some time to answer some of our questions in the interview below:

Does Oh, Hush! really make everyone blush?

I honestly can’t say for sure!! I think at some point, Oh, Hush! has probably made everyone blush!! We are a very blush-inducing band… lots of love songs… talking about topics that make people blush. So I think it is more likely than not that we do indeed make everyone blush!!

If someone guesses the identities of Oh, Hush! correctly, will the band reveal itself to the world then?

By “reveal” do you mean like…. take our clothes off???!?! Cuz we’re not superly into that idea… even though it seems lots of people do it to sell records these days.

For the few e-mails we get from people once in a while asking us to reveal ourselves, we literally receive 100s and 100s of e-mails from people telling us to NEVER reveal ourselves!! Which is actually kinda interesting I think! That said, I know at some point we’ll let everyone know who we are. We don’t really plan things out too far in advance so I don’t know exactly when that will happen. I know that we’re not quite ready to reveal the band yet. But I’m confident that when the time is right, we’ll know, we’ll reveal it, and it will ideally be worth every bit the anticipation!! But for right now, we’re still holding out to reveal on the VMAs next year!!

The band has recently released ‘The Yellow Album’ a couple months back, how would you summarize this album on what it’s about and what can listeners take away or expect from it?

The album can be summed up in two words: YELLOW. LOVE.

I would first start off by telling you to check out the songs on our music player! All 6 of those tracks are on the record and depending upon when you read this, a track that has snippets from all 12 songs on the record is up there! Check it out!

Beyond that we really just poured our hearts and souls into creating a CD that we were proud of from front to back. Something that was fun but yet still had something of value to say! Something that was easy on the ears but also hard on the rock! Something that was instantly like-able and dance-able, but still had great staying power!

We cranked out 12 tracks that we think listeners will want to listen to from start to finish and then start it back from the top again!! The CD has a bit more diversity than you’d expect from most bands.. I think which is largely due to the fact that we’re releasing it ourselves. Record labels force you to put your sound in a tiny box and deviations from that sound are not allowed. We were able to experiment with our sounds and songs a bit more and I think there’s really something for everyone on this CD.. and in most cases, I think every song on the CD will be for everyone! Check it out for yourself and let us know what you think!!

Could you tell us a bit about the writing and recording process for this album, was it harder to record since members of Oh, Hush! are also in other bands?

That definitely does pose a bit of a challenge for us! I think the project certainly centers around one of us, and other people bring in other ideas and we develop the songs off of that! Sometimes someone might have a guitar line that we write around. Other times someone has a drumbeat. Still other times someone has a great line or a lyric and we work around that. There’s definitely plenty of mp3s flying around all the time during the writing process. And then getting people to play their parts sometimes involves people recording it on their own and bouncing the files over the computer back. But all in all, it’s really been a great time working in this somewhat unorthodox fashion!

‘The Yellow Album‘ has been pretty well received. Did you expect it to turn out that way or was it a complete surprise?

Only “pretty well?” Hopefully it’s better than pretty well! But I guess beggars can’t be choosers so that’s better than it being panned and sucky! haha Obviously when we finished the record, we picked the strongest 12 songs we had and felt that we had a record that was competitive with and as good as anything out there! We believe in all of the songs and think we put together a great collection of music that people will enjoy for many years to come!! Of course you never know how people are going to receive your music.. even though I might like the songs, other people might not. All the same, it’s been nice hearing from our fans that they really enjoy the CD!! We enjoyed making it!!

Will you pull a ‘Gorillaz’ on us fans and create a cartoon/3D animated personality for each member? If that were to happen, any specifics to how the characters will be/look like?

Certainly that’s been proposed by some people!! haha We think it’s more likely that there will be some kind of “live show” before we do the old cartoon character thing. We’re trying to keep this thing unique and we don’t want to do anything that’s been done before. All the same, if we DID have cartoon characters, all I know is mine would have special powers… maybe some kind of special ring that allowed me to fly or become invisible!!

Which 2 bands would be invited first on an Oh, Hush! tour and why?

You seem to be implying that Oh, Hush! would be headlining the show?!??! I would imagine that we’d probably be opening for other bands when we first start playing out.. all the same, we’d love to go out and play with amazing bands like Fallout Boy or Panic At The Disco or Cobra Starship or Butch Walker or heck I’d like to be the band that crosses over and plays with pop artists like Rihanna or Katy Perry or Justin Timberlake! I think that would be a ton of fun!!

Oh, Hush! has been in the music scene for over a year now. What has Oh, Hush!’s greatest achievement been so far since its inception?

We’ve certainly had a lot of really cool things happen in the past year! Sirius Radio picks up our song “Going Down In Style” out of the blue and spins us for 14 straight weeks!!?! All of the amazing contests we’ve had with the karaoke kontest and the 100s of entries into that. Our logo contest and the 100s of entries. The 1,000+ “hushing” pictures we did in the album cover. The puzzle that we did and our fans put together online was a pretty amazing accomplishment! I think the greatest achievement is simply that after a year and a half, our fans are still with us and truly get what we’re all about! That a band really can be ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC! And at the same time, we’re ALL ABOUT THE FANS too!! We’ve been offered lots of things if we’d just give up the whole “secret” thing but we have maintained our integrity and the fans have stuck with us the whole way!! That’s the best achievement I think!

Define success for us and what does it mean to the band?

Most people define “success” as dollars in their pocket. If something makes money, it’s successful, if it doesn’t then it’s not. We’re certainly not getting rich over here with the Oh, Hush! project… in fact, that’s never even really been a priority for the band. But all that said, I think we’ve been successful all the same. I think the real success is showing people that a band CAN exist and CAN be “successful” without playing the game. Without having to do what every other band does in the industry. Without following all of the rules that music has created the past 30 years. In the image-is-everything world we live in, here we are, a band without an image, a band without band members, a band with some great songs, a very interactive approach on the internet, a very unique approach to marketing and a priority of putting the MUSIC and the FANS first, and people are connecting with it. I think people see us as a breath of fresh air, and proof that you don’t have to play the game to succeed. And people can grab onto that and want to be a part of what’s going on with Oh, Hush!

All that to say, I think if the music sucked, no one would care about anything else we’re doing. So I think the music really is the foundation of what’s going on over here and I think every one of our fans would tell you that the music comes first, and the music is pretty great!

Something people don’t know about Oh, Hush! is…?

That we’re secretly 6 aliens from the planet Naboo who came here a few years ago to do a scientific experiment on the music industry here on earth!! But shhhhhhhhhhh don’t tell anyone!!!?!

Are there any mottoes or sayings the band lives by?

“We’re making this up as we go!!” Nothing we’ve done has really been planned out. Planning is overrated. We just go with what feels right when it feels right, and so far so good!!

What one word best describes the experience of being in Oh, Hush! and doing what the band does?

FUN!!!

Of the new artists that have emerged over the last few years, who are your favourites?

I love a ton of pop music!! Katy Perry’s record is amazing! I love the past 2 Shiny Toy Guns CDs!! Muse is an amazing band!! The Academy Is record is fantastico!! I’m also into a lot of K-Pop and J-Pop right now…. I don’t even know the band names of half of it, all I know is I’m loving it (like McDonald’s!).

Describe for us a typical Oh, Hush! fan and what makes them special?

There really is no “typical” Oh, Hush! fan! And I think that’s what makes Oh, Hush! fans so darn special!! They’re all unique people with a unique perspective on life!! They are open-minded about what we’re doing and enjoy engaging with the band on a deeper level than they can on most levels!! A ton of our fans are also SUPER talented!! I never knew how many talented people there were out there until we started this project!! Artists, designers, singers, etc!! I think Oh, Hush! fans generally are very caring and thoughtful people! They are all about supporting causes to help people out!! And no doubt, all Oh, Hush! fans have amazingly excellent taste in music!!

Parting words to fans in Malaysia and South East Asia?

We’re so thrilled to be able to interact with our friends and fans that live halfway across the world from us!! The internet really is an amazing thing!! It’s so awesome to share this little thing we call “Oh, Hush!” with y’all!! Thanks for the support!! We love you!!

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MTGH would like to thank Oh, Hush! for their time and the interview and wish the band the best in their future endeavours. If you would like to find out more about the band and their music, visit the links below.

LINKS
MySpace: www.myspace.com/ohhushmusic

“The Yellow Album“, the band’s debut album is out now.