Hush Victoria ‘Hush Victoria’
From the ashes of successful Twin Cities punk rock acts comes Hush Victoria, a high energy power trio is ready to storm the world with their bone-raw vocals, noise-coiled flickering drones and a commotion of a drum. With a 3-track debut EP Hush Victoria, they have proved to be uniquely different. “Under the rug” hooks you up with hard-hitting rhythm and addictive melodies harmonized with rebellious vocals. The punk ethos is deep rooted, in their bones, but the sonics are always inventive.
“Acetylene” is quite a surprise. From the noise-inflicting drones, the second single shakes off all the expectations you have garnered about them. They try on a bleak guitar riff with crispy drum and bone-raw vocals, creating quite sonic sight. “Forever A.M.” is emotive but not depressive, drenched with mental energy. It’s more intimate and full of contrast, exhilarating but edgy, like Nirvana meets early PJ Harvey. Atmospheric and strongly appealing.
Hush Victoria teases their powerful live performance in the interview below. Learn about their band history and influences. And if you liked what you hear, don’t hesitate to catch them live!
Punk Head: I like the emotions in “Hush Victoria.” What is the creative process like?
City Matt: Typically, Brandon will come up with a part--sometimes just a verse, sometimes a whole song. He'll demo it for us and, if there's energy behind developing it further, we'll work out drums and bass lines in the rehearsal space. It's a really collaborative effort and has been working really well. Brandon is a really talented songwriter and that propels the whole band forward. Brandon writes the lyrics as well, and that's a place where his skills cannot be understated.
PH: Was there any challenge that you encountered while making this EP?
CM: For us, it was helpful to set a deadline. We decided that this music would be released in December, and that ‘flag in the ground’ was very effective. All three of us are pretty focused people, certainly as far as music is concerned, and the deadline got us focused on the studio. For us, the recording process is really efficient--we recorded the EP in my studio, so we weren't constrained by time, etc. I tracked and mixed the songs, but I did realize that I was too close to the music to master the EP, so we had a great engineer here in town named Tony Williamette take over those duties.
PH: Can you tell us more about you as an artist?
CM: All three of us have been playing in various bands for years, so we'd seen the ups and downs of that experience. This project felt different right from the start. All three of us had just come out of bands that we really loved, so no one was eager to jump in to something that didn't feel 100% right. But from the first rehearsal it was clear we were doing the right thing. It was amazing how quickly we gelled as a band and, as trite as it might sound, playing music with each other is the thing we look forward to the most each week.
PH: Who are your biggest influences?
CM: We all come from punk rock backgrounds. We all love Rancid for sure. Brandon and I are big Gaslight Anthem/Brian Fallon fans as well. You can certainly hear indie rock influences in the songs, and even a bit of 70's AOR or 80's metal can sneak in there, but that's pretty subtle. This EP has a good variety of tempos and arrangements in the three songs, but some of the new material we're working on will develop that theme even further.
PH: What is the one thing that you’d like your fans to know about you?
CM: If you like the material on this EP, you should really see us live. We make a hell of a powerful impression for a three-piece band!
