Hunger Hush
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Hunger Hush

Calgary, Alberta, Canada | Established. Jan 01, 2010 | SELF

Calgary, Alberta, Canada | SELF
Established on Jan, 2010
Band Rock Pop

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"Review - Regards"

I was hanging out with a five year old the other day, a young fellow captivated by LEGO bricks, a hobby and interest I never had as a child. I preferred to play with figures and make believe other worlds, but this young chap was content to sit splay-legged on the floor stacking plastic and watching the world go by.
It dawned on me sitting with him that one doesn’t “play” LEGO; it doesn’t have a defined beginning or end. You can start with just a few composite pieces, without any particular goal or objective in mind, and just by adding one piece, and then another, you determine what the next layer to your creation is going to be.
From the sounds of it, Calgary-based band Hunger Hush have worked in the same way. They told Beatroute that they didn’t consciously intend to set out and make their full length debut Regards, but ”…we kind of just kept adding stuff on, and it has all come together,” says Alastair Pollock, the band’s keyboard and trumpet player and vocalist.
What’s come together is an impressive 32 minute collection of songs rooted in their hometown’s styrong inde rock ethos. This band is no up-start project; Guitarist Steve Wirzba, Pollack, Andrew Smale (on bass and guitars) and Ben Tan (on drums) have been at Hunger Hush since 2010, and their history together is evident in the easy way these four musicians play together. There’s a playful spontaneity to the gritty and poppy “Nectarine” that you don’t usually associate with a band’s debut album, but Hunger Hush have taken their time, honed their craft, and come up with a collection of first rate recordings (aided skillfully in the production department by Lorrie Matheson).
Regards is available from Hunger Hush’s Bandcamp page now. - Quick Before It Melts


"Review - Regards"

Oh, the literacy! Regards begins on a somewhat cynical note, weaving vague stories about vague story weavers hiding in their beds, alone. It’s hard not to smile (wryly) and Regards proves to be as engaging musically as it is lyrically. Wirzba and Co. have studied their brainy alt-rock and worked the genre down, incorporating pieces of Eastern Canadian folk and Western Canadian country. Most importantly, Hunger Hush tells a lot of stories: personal stories that might be true, cosmic stories that must be true somewhere, stories of love and loneliness and failure, and (perhaps most surprisingly) stories about liking Calgary. Standout track, “Cautious Dinosaurs,” appeals to the romantically nervous with its refraining, “No one fails to score like I do,” but the music tells the listener something different with its spot-on drums and bass, timeless rotary organ and the guitar’s perfect “sweet spot” overdrive. These things betray a steadier, more confident group than the lyrics might have you believe. Hunger Hush’s songs feel relatable but because the listener relates to the stories, not necessarily the storytellers, the band is free to say whatever they see fit. Everything comes together nicely into an intensely self-aware rock ‘n’ roll record, refreshing in every way and well worth your time. - BeatRoute


"Hunger Hush - Wearing Their Hearts On Their Sleeves"

Hunger Hush is a band that has taken the Calgary style of indie rock and twisted it. The music that is created by the four members, Steve Wirzba (guitars, vocals), Alastair Pollock (keys, trumpet, vocals), Andrew Smale (bass, guitars) and Ben Tan (drums), has elevated the standards of what the Calgary scene considers indie pop/rock.

“Soak up everything you can, even if you think it doesn’t apply to you, or that you’re not going to like it.” Wirzba shares a piece of advice that is universal to all artists. These young men live by those words, giving what free time they have to the art scene in Calgary. All of the members of this band have full-time jobs, or are busy with university, or both, so it was a surprise to learn that with all of that aside, Pollock and Wirzba still manage to find time to contribute to a not-for-profit art advocacy group. Wirzba explains how he spends his free time “just being in the music scene, but also taking that to a broader extent, enriching urban life and community in Calgary.”

Hunger Hush has toured through Western Canada and, in their usual fashion, only have pleasant things to say about their experiences. “The most positive thing, I think, is the general sense of camaraderie and the chance to see someone who is your good friend in a different light,” Wirzba explains.

Having played together for about three years now, you can hear the evolution Hunger Hush is making in their music. From their EP, Hunger Hush, to their upcoming album, Regards, you get a strong sense of how these artists changed their method to produce a polished album. Pollock comments on the changes, “With this new album, we took a more hands-on approach. This time around we were more confident in pursuing our artistic vision.” The collection of tracks on Regards came together organically: “We didn’t set out to write an album, we kind of just kept adding stuff on, and it has all come together,” he says.

The laidback approach to the development of Regards speaks directly to the style of these four gentlemen. Wirzba explains that what’s important to these guys is to enjoy what they’re doing and to make sure that they treat everyone with respect. “I don’t have any aspirations that our band is going to become this super famous international thing, but I would like people to look at our band as a bunch of guys who brought something sort of new to the scene and that we are really great people to work with”.

“Music is a way to channel emotions,” Tan shares, saying that not only does playing music allow that freedom, but how listening and the physical motion of playing an instrument can as well. It wasn’t surprising to hear this because, after listening to their music, you get a strong sense of emotion. These four guys have had amazing experiences with music and Pollock explains how he just wants to make people feel the way he did when he was affected by a particular song.

It’s a must see for music fans: to see how this band is taking Calgary’s long standing tradition of indie pop/rock and making it their own. Their roots are obviously in Calgary, but their influences come from far and wide, giving them a fresh new sound that the scene was looking for. - BeatRoute


"Cutie Pies: Hunger Hush"

Steve, Alastair, Ben & Andrew are some of the most down to earth and personable people I have ever met. Together, they make music and call themselves Hunger Hush and do an awesome job of emulating the supportive nature of Calgary’s tight knit music scene.

Alastair and Steve met up with me over coffee to discuss their second stint as Xposure contestants and their upcoming show at the Palomino’s Rock & Roll Rodeo happening next Saturday, July 13th.

Calgary is Awesome: I’ve noticed you’re quite into baking pies for people, what’s up with that?

Steve Wirzba: Alastair really likes to bake pie and we’ve been giving them out to people.

Alastair Pollock: We first made Shotgun Jimmie a raspberry rhubarb one for his show at the Area back in 2011. He seemed a little weirded out, but it’s just an anti-ego gesture and we wanted to make an impression. We’ve also posted a “Hunger Hush Pie Making Tutorial” on our website.


CIA: You guys have been picked as one of X929’s Xposure’s Top 10 the past two years. I have to say that I’m very impressed by your guys’ level of sportsmanship when it came to your “competitors”.

AP: Once you get picked for the top 10, there’s not much else you can do. So we wanted to generate content about the contest itself without sounding like a broken record.

SW: Competition can bring the best and worst out of people. Doing well shouldn’t be at the expense of someone else.

CIA: Tell me a bit about how you guys all came to be?

SW: I had my own thing going on at the time and I needed backup for my songs. We all knew of each other beforehand, so we decided to go ahead and form a band.

CIA: Why ‘Hunger Hush’?

AP: The four of us all have different backgrounds, but one common string is that we are all hungry for something as artists. The ‘Hush’ part was to elaborate on how we’re a bit subtler about how we do things.

CIA: What has been your proudest accomplishment to date?

SW: Probably Canadian Music Week, we played two shows. We didn’t have any connections; we just applied and got in. It was really a great test to play out of our comfort zone with out local supporters. Reception for both shows was really good too.

CIA: What have you guys got coming down the pipe over the next little while?

AP: We’re currently writing and recording for a new album that’s due out later this year. We’re halfway to finishing up a six song EP, which we hope to get out by the end of summer.

SW: We also have a show coming up at the Palomino on July 13th for their 8th Annual Rock & Roll Rodeo. A charity event with all of the proceeds going to the Alberta Children’s Hospital. There will be like 25-30 bands playing, all day and all night, great event.

CIA: What is it that you guys just love about this city?

AP: I feel like it’s such an exciting time here. There’s been a tangible difference within the past ten years. This city has so much potential and it feels good to be part of a cultural shift that’s happening. Steve and I actually volunteer for the Calgary Creative City Collaboration. It’s generally for the cultural betterment of the city. We organize events that combine art and music, the purpose behind it is to get Calgarians stoked on the city.

Be sure to catch the boys at their next show on July 13th and ‘like’ their Facebook page for up to date info on what they’re up to. - Calgary Is Awesome


"Review - Hot & Cold Air"

Hunger Hush are destined for radio. The three slick tracks from the Calgarian group's newest EP Hot & Cold Air go down as easily as candy. Each song is punchy, catchy and unapologetically pop-rock, but who says that is a bad thing? Not every band is destined to sit at home and ponder the turbulent nature of human morality. Although sometimes a bit of vapid cheerfulness can be refreshing, don't expect these tracks to find their way into coffee shops anytime soon.

Though they often tiptoe along the fine line between traditional and cliche, the songs are not meant to alter the face of music as we know it. Hunger Hush instead offers easily digestible anthems for the reckless abandon of teenage summers. Recorded with local icon Lorrie Matheson, all the tracks are perfectly polished and the band itself seems highly energetic and youthfully exuberant. Put this all together and Hunger Hush seem determined to make it to the top.

Thematically, the tracks are not plumbing the depths of the human condition. Rather, the songs are fighting in a separate weight class -- featherweight, if you will. Breezy and fun, this trio of tracks will surely impress many and will hopefully spur Hunger Hush into branching out into a bit more complex subject matter. One can only handle so much sugar. - The Gauntlet


"Hunger Hush (feature)"

I'm sitting in a Kensington coffee shop when I find out that four grown men have just baked me a pie.

Strawberry-rhubarb, in fact, and lovingly Saran-wrapped with my name carefully hand-printed on a white piece of paper sitting on top of it. And I think to myself, What kind of band is this?

Hunger Hush, like countless other bands that this paper chooses to investigate, is many things: Calgarian. Indie. Made up of four dudes. Willing to pay way too much for a cup of coffee.

But one thing that differentiates Andrew Smale, Ben Tan, Steve Wirzba and Alastair Pollock from other Calgary musicians is that they don't think there's very much that's different about them at all.

"I don't feel like we're doing anything that's really substantially different or crazy or 'out there' . . . it's guitar, keys, bass, drums," says Pollock, in a matter-of-fact way.

Hunger Hush started as a solo coffeehouse project by Steve Wirzba, which later morphed into a three-piece (now playfully referred to by all members as Steve Wirzba and the "Shut Up, Steve"s) until they met Malaysian native Tan in a university class.

"I always liked the idea of a backup band who had a hateful relationship with the [frontman] of the band. It actually wasn't like that [though]," laughs Pollock.

One and a half years later and settling comfortably into the months after the spring release of their self-titled EP, produced by renowned Calgary singer-songwriter Lorrie Matheson, four of the most earnest faces I've ever encountered in my life look at me expectantly.

These faces represent three University of Calgary arts students (one former and two current, including one international student) and an oil-and-gas I.T. professional. Hunger Hush's paradoxical lineup is somewhat deceivingly out-of-the-ordinary for a band so blatantly honest about their lack of artistic frills, at least when it comes to their recorded release.

"[Our EP] is not a concept album or a cohesive thing. It's just five or six songs that we were most happy with, and we wanted to get something that had been well-recorded out there that could promote at shows and stuff like that.

"[Recording with Matheson] was pricey and we didn't have a lot of money. So we pretty much recorded everything we could in four days," explains Wirzba.

The frontman and guitarist doesn't put up a "please-don't-touch-the-artist" front that most music journalists are familiar with chipping through. His honesty is almost unsettling.

The idea of an EP that is almost purely self-promotional isn't a foreign concept to artists at the Calgary level, but most local independent musicians, at least those deluded by visions of extra-Prairie grandeur, would rather take pickaxes to their axes than admit it.

This strawberry-rhubarb is foreign to my tongue, but its candor sweetens the taste.

Speaking of which, I ask while hoping that my face doesn't betray the thoughts I'm mulling over -- why the name Hunger Hush?

"We all like different kinds of music, but we decided that we liked music that sounds like 'hunger', people who sound like they want what they do really badly," Pollock shares.

So, what is the idea of a song or musician being "hungry" really supposed to be like?

"It has to do with being passionate about what you're doing and not being particularly concerned about what other people think about what you're doing.

"In terms of imagery, I think of boxers and fighters, people who are only motivated by that one thing they're focused on," says Pollock.

I'm now interested because I'm still secretly aching for the flowery confessionals of artistic pretense that usually make it easy for me to write a nice little piece of music journalism that makes everybody feel warm inside.

I probe for this with the drummer. Always, always with the drummer. So, what are you hungry for, Ben?

"I'm hungry to be rich and famous."

Well, cut me another slice.

I finally find what I think I should be looking for with Steve, as he describes Hunger Hush's single "Gold Rush."

"It's kind of like a visceral, sort of lustful thing. The whole thing is a metaphor for sex through this exotic imagery of gold mining."

I try to extract more, but my hunger's hushed.

"Well, I just write about cities and girls mostly. I have reasons to. I'm in urban studies, so I can write about cities."

There's beauty in simplicity. There's beauty in honesty. There's beauty in the endearingly uncool, coming from four guys who craft trumpet parts out of years spent in the Stampede Showband and filming music videos in their parents' basements.

And when you think about it, Hunger Hush, you see, is something else. Why?

Because no other band in the world would make a stranger a strawberry-rhubarb pie. - The Gauntlet


"Wearing Their Hearts On Their Sleeves"

Hunger Hush is a band that has taken the Calgary style of indie rock and twisted it. The music that is created by the four members, Steve Wirzba (guitars, vocals), Alastair Pollock (keys, trumpet, vocals), Andrew Smale (bass, guitars) and Ben Tan (drums), has elevated the standards of what the Calgary scene considers indie pop/rock.

“Soak up everything you can, even if you think it doesn’t apply to you, or that you’re not going to like it.” Wirzba shares a piece of advice that is universal to all artists. These young men live by those words, giving what free time they have to the art scene in Calgary. All of the members of this band have full-time jobs, or are busy with university, or both, so it was a surprise to learn that with all of that aside, Pollock and Wirzba still manage to find time to contribute to a not-for-profit art advocacy group. Wirzba explains how he spends his free time “just being in the music scene, but also taking that to a broader extent, enriching urban life and community in Calgary.”

Hunger Hush has toured through Western Canada and, in their usual fashion, only have pleasant things to say about their experiences. “The most positive thing, I think, is the general sense of camaraderie and the chance to see someone who is your good friend in a different light,” Wirzba explains.

Having played together for about three years now, you can hear the evolution Hunger Hush is making in their music. From their EP, Hunger Hush, to their upcoming album, Regards, you get a strong sense of how these artists changed their method to produce a polished album. Pollock comments on the changes, “With this new album, we took a more hands-on approach. This time around we were more confident in pursuing our artistic vision.” The collection of tracks on Regards came together organically: “We didn’t set out to write an album, we kind of just kept adding stuff on, and it has all come together,” he says.

The laidback approach to the development of Regards speaks directly to the style of these four gentlemen. Wirzba explains that what’s important to these guys is to enjoy what they’re doing and to make sure that they treat everyone with respect. “I don’t have any aspirations that our band is going to become this super famous international thing, but I would like people to look at our band as a bunch of guys who brought something sort of new to the scene and that we are really great people to work with”.

“Music is a way to channel emotions,” Tan shares, saying that not only does playing music allow that freedom, but how listening and the physical motion of playing an instrument can as well. It wasn’t surprising to hear this because, after listening to their music, you get a strong sense of emotion. These four guys have had amazing experiences with music and Pollock explains how he just wants to make people feel the way he did when he was affected by a particular song.

It’s a must see for music fans: to see how this band is taking Calgary’s long standing tradition of indie pop/rock and making it their own. Their roots are obviously in Calgary, but their influences come from far and wide, giving them a fresh new sound that the scene was looking for. - BeatRoute


"Cutie Pies: Hunger Hush"

Steve, Alastair, Ben & Andrew are some of the most down to earth and personable people I have ever met. Together, they make music and call themselves Hunger Hush and do an awesome job of emulating the supportive nature of Calgary’s tight knit music scene.

Alastair and Steve met up with me over coffee to discuss their second stint as Xposure contestants and their upcoming show at the Palomino’s Rock & Roll Rodeo happening next Saturday, July 13th.



Calgary is Awesome: I’ve noticed you’re quite into baking pies for people, what’s up with that?

Steve Wirzba: Alastair really likes to bake pie and we’ve been giving them out to people.

Alastair Pollock: We first made Shotgun Jimmie a raspberry rhubarb one for his show at the Area back in 2011. He seemed a little weirded out, but it’s just an anti-ego gesture and we wanted to make an impression. We’ve also posted a “Hunger Hush Pie Making Tutorial” on our website.


CIA: You guys have been picked as one of X929’s Xposure’s Top 10 the past two years. I have to say that I’m very impressed by your guys’ level of sportsmanship when it came to your “competitors”.

AP: Once you get picked for the top 10, there’s not much else you can do. So we wanted to generate content about the contest itself without sounding like a broken record.

SW: Competition can bring the best and worst out of people. Doing well shouldn’t be at the expense of someone else.

CIA: Tell me a bit about how you guys all came to be?

SW: I had my own thing going on at the time and I needed backup for my songs. We all knew of each other beforehand, so we decided to go ahead and form a band.

CIA: Why ‘Hunger Hush’?

AP: The four of us all have different backgrounds, but one common string is that we are all hungry for something as artists. The ‘Hush’ part was to elaborate on how we’re a bit subtler about how we do things.

CIA: What has been your proudest accomplishment to date?

SW: Probably Canadian Music Week, we played two shows. We didn’t have any connections; we just applied and got in. It was really a great test to play out of our comfort zone with out local supporters. Reception for both shows was really good too.

CIA: What have you guys got coming down the pipe over the next little while?

AP: We’re currently writing and recording for a new album that’s due out later this year. We’re halfway to finishing up a six song EP, which we hope to get out by the end of summer.

SW: We also have a show coming up at the Palomino on July 13th for their 8th Annual Rock & Roll Rodeo. A charity event with all of the proceeds going to the Alberta Children’s Hospital. There will be like 25-30 bands playing, all day and all night, great event.

CIA: What is it that you guys just love about this city?

AP: I feel like it’s such an exciting time here. There’s been a tangible difference within the past ten years. This city has so much potential and it feels good to be part of a cultural shift that’s happening. Steve and I actually volunteer for the Calgary Creative City Collaboration. It’s generally for the cultural betterment of the city. We organize events that combine art and music, the purpose behind it is to get Calgarians stoked on the city.

Be sure to catch the boys at their next show on July 13th and ‘like’ their Facebook page for up to date info on what they’re up to. - Calgary Is Awesome


"CMW Night 3: The Great Hall, Horseshoe Tavern & More"

Hunger Hush – 7pm @ The Central

Getting an early start to the night was Calgary’s Hunger Hush. A younger band comprised of Steve Wirzba (vocals, guitar), Alastair Pollock (keys, trumpet, vocals), Andrew Smale (bass) and Ben Tan (drums), their sweet-sounding indie rock and bubbly pop hooks provided a cheerful dancey soundtrack to all those still at the venue to dine at this hour.

While it was the reference to Shotgun Jimmie in super catchy “Hot & Cold Air” that made me initially want to check out this band, it was the feverish slides on the keys and heralding trumpet on “Bible Loves the Bullet” that elevated this track instead to the most memorable of their set. Keeping their sound from being too sugary-sweet, there was a little bit of a cowpoke feel to “The Prize,” showing where they come from. Similarly, their set closer described the Calgary music scene, and staying true to your roots even while watching those around you leave for somewhere else.

Having flown in for the festival they expressed their excitement for the opportunity to expose a new city to their music. They have a 3-song EP that you can check out on Bandcamp. - Buying Shots for Bands


"Hunger Hush EP More Hot Than Cold Air"

Calgary local’s Hunger Hush have been representing Calgary in all the right ways over the last few years, they were selected as a top ten finalist for the X92.9 Xposure contest, and were announced as an official selection for Canadian Music Fest 2013.

If you want to give them a listen, you can check out their EP. Originally released in 2011, they headed back to the studio and fine tuned their original release. With the help of Calgary musician and producer Lorrie Matheson, their three-song EP Hot & Cold Air was released in 2012.

I sat down to give them a listen and was into it right away. It started strong with the title track, Hot & Cold Air, and I noticed my mood lifted and I felt happy. Their solid guitars and smooth vocals are catchy, with lines like “let’s go to one more show / and watch the crowd all shimmy shimmy”. I couldn’t help but smile. They have an intoxicating pop/folk vibe, giving me visions of me and all my pals dancing to them at an outdoor festival in bare feet.

The next track, The Prize, was a good follow-up and is my favourite song on the EP. You get the same quality on guitar, piano, and vocals, but it slows things down a bit. Still catchy, it’s more heartfelt and has a bit of a romantic feel. It’s an easy listening song but it’s not cheesy. It’s one that I could see myself playing over and over on chill days and on long road trips.

The third song, Bible Loves the Bullet, not only has a rad title but starts out with horns and brings up the pace. This song is sexier than the others, and it’s got strong lyrics – I really liked the chorus: “I want you to love me / like the bible loves the bullet / when it’s pushing through”. Umm, seriously, that’s pretty sexy! I could give other examples, but when you give it a listen, you will know what I mean. Like the rest of the songs, this would be great for a party vibe but also would be amazing live.

Overall, the EP has a good flow, and I am certainly excited to not only hear a full album but to see a show. You can catch them next at The Gateway on April 6th. I know I will be there for sure! - Earbender YYC


"Interview / Feature"

I'm sitting in a Kensington coffee shop when I find out that four grown men have just baked me a pie.

Strawberry-rhubarb, in fact, and lovingly Saran-wrapped with my name carefully hand-printed on a white piece of paper sitting on top of it. And I think to myself, What kind of band is this?

Hunger Hush, like countless other bands that this paper chooses to investigate, is many things: Calgarian. Indie. Made up of four dudes. Willing to pay way too much for a cup of coffee.

But one thing that differentiates Andrew Smale, Ben Tan, Steve Wirzba and Alastair Pollock from other Calgary musicians is that they don't think there's very much that's different about them at all.

"I don't feel like we're doing anything that's really substantially different or crazy or 'out there' . . . it's guitar, keys, bass, drums," says Pollock, in a matter-of-fact way.

Hunger Hush started as a solo coffeehouse project by Steve Wirzba, which later morphed into a three-piece (now playfully referred to by all members as Steve Wirzba and the "Shut Up, Steve"s) until they met Malaysian native Tan in a university class.

"I always liked the idea of a backup band who had a hateful relationship with the [frontman] of the band. It actually wasn't like that [though]," laughs Pollock.

One and a half years later and settling comfortably into the months after the spring release of their self-titled EP, produced by renowned Calgary singer-songwriter Lorrie Matheson, four of the most earnest faces I've ever encountered in my life look at me expectantly.

These faces represent three University of Calgary arts students (one former and two current, including one international student) and an oil-and-gas I.T. professional. Hunger Hush's paradoxical lineup is somewhat deceivingly out-of-the-ordinary for a band so blatantly honest about their lack of artistic frills, at least when it comes to their recorded release."[Our EP] is not a concept album or a cohesive thing. It's just five or six songs that we were most happy with, and we wanted to get something that had been well-recorded out there that could promote at shows and stuff like that.

"[Recording with Matheson] was pricey and we didn't have a lot of money. So we pretty much recorded everything we could in four days," explains Wirzba.

The frontman and guitarist doesn't put up a "please-don't-touch-the-artist" front that most music journalists are familiar with chipping through. His honesty is almost unsettling.

The idea of an EP that is almost purely self-promotional isn't a foreign concept to artists at the Calgary level, but most local independent musicians, at least those deluded by visions of extra-Prairie grandeur, would rather take pickaxes to their axes than admit it.

This strawberry-rhubarb is foreign to my tongue, but its candor sweetens the taste.

Speaking of which, I ask while hoping that my face doesn't betray the thoughts I'm mulling over -- why the name Hunger Hush?

"We all like different kinds of music, but we decided that we liked music that sounds like 'hunger', people who sound like they want what they do really badly," Pollock shares.

So, what is the idea of a song or musician being "hungry" really supposed to be like?

"It has to do with being passionate about what you're doing and not being particularly concerned about what other people think about what you're doing.

"In terms of imagery, I think of boxers and fighters, people who are only motivated by that one thing they're focused on," says Pollock.

I'm now interested because I'm still secretly aching for the flowery confessionals of artistic pretense that usually make it easy for me to write a nice little piece of music journalism that makes everybody feel warm inside.

I probe for this with the drummer. Always, always with the drummer. So, what are you hungry for, Ben?

"I'm hungry to be rich and famous."

Well, cut me another slice.

I finally find what I think I should be looking for with Steve, as he describes Hunger Hush's single "Gold Rush.""It's kind of like a visceral, sort of lustful thing. The whole thing is a metaphor for sex through this exotic imagery of gold mining."

I try to extract more, but my hunger's hushed.

"Well, I just write about cities and girls mostly. I have reasons to. I'm in urban studies, so I can write about cities."

There's beauty in simplicity. There's beauty in honesty. There's beauty in the endearingly uncool, coming from four guys who craft trumpet parts out of years spent in the Stampede Showband and filming music videos in their parents' basements.

And when you think about it, Hunger Hush, you see, is something else. Why?

Because no other band in the world would make a stranger a strawberry-rhubarb pie. - The Gauntlet (University of Calgary)


"Review - Hot & Cold Air"

Hunger Hush are destined for radio. The three slick tracks from the Calgarian group's newest EP Hot & Cold Air go down as easily as candy. Each song is punchy, catchy and unapologetically pop-rock, but who says that is a bad thing? Not every band is destined to sit at home and ponder the turbulent nature of human morality. Although sometimes a bit of vapid cheerfulness can be refreshing, don't expect these tracks to find their way into coffee shops anytime soon.

Though they often tiptoe along the fine line between traditional and cliche, the songs are not meant to alter the face of music as we know it. Hunger Hush instead offers easily digestible anthems for the reckless abandon of teenage summers. Recorded with local icon Lorrie Matheson, all the tracks are perfectly polished and the band itself seems highly energetic and youthfully exuberant. Put this all together and Hunger Hush seem determined to make it to the top.

Thematically, the tracks are not plumbing the depths of the human condition. Rather, the songs are fighting in a separate weight class -- featherweight, if you will. Breezy and fun, this trio of tracks will surely impress many and will hopefully spur Hunger Hush into branching out into a bit more complex subject matter. One can only handle so much sugar. - The Gauntlet (University of Calgary)


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

Photos

Bio

The release of Regards marks a watershed moment for Hunger Hush. The Calgary indie-rockers have been writing and performing for the last three years, honing their wide ambitions into a wiry, tight sound. The resulting album - the bands first full-length - is a burst of youthful energy in a nine song arc. Tales of friendship, love, anxiety and change go down easy, but surprises greet the listener at each turn. String sections and odd tempos spring from Hammond riffs and crunchy guitars, though Regards is anything but overblown. Its all in service of the story, and all anchored by indelible hooks and catchy enthusiasm.

Touring their previous Lorrie Matheson-produced EPs, Hunger Hush has played across the Prairies and BC, and performed at CMW 2013. They've opened for The Cave Singers, July Talk and Daniel Wesley, and will take the stage in support of Regards throughout the coming year.

Band Members