The Hugs


The Hugs are an American 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. A self-described "pop" band, their music is primarily influenced by the 1960s British Invasion movement and post-punk The Hugs have self-released five studio albums and two EP's.

Early years, signing and splitting with Columbia Records

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, 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."

Regional and national critical acclaim

In 2007 Carl Barat, singer-songwriter of The Libertines, stated in London-based music magazine NME "I love The Hugs from Portland, Oregon. They're kind of like The Libertines but are taking it all from their own direction. They're a band who really know how to put a tune together and I'm totally dead excited about them."
In 2007 NME Magazine wrote "With their swooshing swathes of rainbow rock, The Hugs are further proof that someone’s certainly putting something in the water in Portland, Oregon. Like The Lemonheads but with more primal yelping, the moment when their retro-referencing tunes seem to be veering too much in a pleasant, palatable garage-punk direction, their teeny weeny singer Danny Delegato – the lovechild of Noel Fielding and one of The Monkees – lets go a grave-spinning, throat-slashing screech before indulging in some energetic and muscle-tearing mic-robatics. It’s still early days for the festive shebang, so sadly only a few punters catch the sight of Delegato half-heartedly trashing his guitar at the end of the set. You can almost pinpoint the exact second where he realises he’s going to have to dive into the band’s emergency tour fund to buy a new one. It’s not a pretty sight."
In 2009 acclaimed movie director Gus Van Sant stated in an online New York Post magazine article, "there's a band called The Hugs that I like a lot, they play folk rock, they're a Portland band, I really like their songs.
In 2009 Interview Magazine wrote: "The Hugs are a four-piece rock ’n’ roll band from Portland, Oregon, who recorded their debut album in England. This makes sense because their music sounds British—not “Greensleeves” British, but rather the brand of British that became popular when groups like The Kinks and The Yardbirds invaded America in the mid-’60s with their ramshackle lyrics and bluesy riffs. The Hugs’s music, though, is also very Oregonian, owing an equal debt to home-state forerunners like “Louie Louie” auteurs The Kingsmen and the late-’70s pre-grunge grunge outfit The Wipers. Our woman in Portland, Paige Powell, met up with The Hugs after a practice session, crowding into a beat-up tour van with singer-guitarist Danny Delegato, as well as a bunch of their fans."
In 2007 Portland State University vanguard wrote "The Hugs road to their current breakout status traces back several years to when Delegato and his friend Kelly Mckenzie began writing fuzzy pop songs for performance in the dive-iest of Portland clubs. Playing lousy shows to small audiences, Delegato began to hone his songcraft, and eventually parted from Mckenzie to pursue the formation of what would become The Hugs. Despite their somewhat noxious reputation for having eschewed the norms of the Portland music community, Delegato and crew were devout followers of the tight-knit indie-rock culture."
Portland Mercury writer Mark Lore stated "Danny Delegato has been keeping his psychedelic cruise ship the Hugs afloat since 2007. In 2012, a new version of the Hugs is readying a new LP called Dirty Gems, which carries on the tradition of making psych-pop with a smack of bubblegum. The first single, “Reykjavik,” is a sunny nod to the Icelandic capital. It also shows the Hugs leaving their ramshackle past behind them and veering toward more polished terrain. "
Portland Mercury stated "So, is this local band—who ironically struggle to get even the smallest gig here in town—worth all of this blossoming hype? Well, sort of. The Hugs need work. You can put that NME cover on hold for now, as their rise to stardom will, at best, be a slow and gradual ascent. But under the floppy bangs and slouched teenage shoulders lies a group of kids on the cusp of something great. Much like the early forbearers of the jangly Brit-rock sound, The Hugs have a loose charm, a perfectly content sense of confidence that permeates throughout their sound, no matter how sloppy it might be at the time. Their music has the rough kinetic energy of Slanted and Enchanted-era Pavement, and the haphazard punk of The Libertines."
In 2007 Willamette Week stated " Once they've been given the green light, the band hustles into the venue like a group of thirsty claim-jumpers, untangling cords and hollering impenetrable teen-speak. Each stylistically disparate member looks vaguely like daytime television's idea of a rock-'n'-roll persona: the well-groomed twee kid, the smoking psychedelic kid, the Converse-clad "alternative" kid. Frontman Danny Delegato is the Guns N' Roses-era caricature, his oversized sleeveless shirt and cowboy hat dwarfing his boyish frame. When asked to check his mic, he lets out a howl that dovetails into a squeal. The Hugs' onstage theatrics prove the band has chops to match its natural talent, but the members still show their age when it comes to songwriting. I leave the club without remembering any specific song—and hoping The Hugs development doesn't suffer as the band rushes forth to become the next big thing."

Licensing and commercial broadcast success

Albums and EPs