There are few things better than an unseasonably warm Sunday in February, and we got to enjoy one of those last week on Feb. 7. To make it even better, HOOPS came by WIUX to record our first living room session of the semester. Watch the video of the band performing "Going Strong" and check out our interview with the band.
Mixed and engineered by the WIUX engineering committee
Jessica Yarvin: What kind of music do you play and how did you all start playing together?
HOOPS: We play guitar pop and we started playing together in high school, the fall of 2011
JY: Is there any backstory behind the name Hoops?
H: it’s not basketball related. I used to work in a flower nursery and I watered flowers in the section called hoops, it's a greenhouse type thing and there were tarps so the flowers wouldn’t freeze. If you were privy to horticulture, you would understand.
JY: You’ve been recording and releasing tapes recently, do you have a background in sound engineering, or is it all self-taught?
H: It's mostly self-taught, we work independently, and we all kind of figured it out on our own. Drew does most of the producing we do now.
JY: Tell me about your songwriting process
H: As far as writing goes, someone writes a song and brings it to the group and up to the recording process we all pitch in and work on it together. The message is that we just want to write catchy songs, guitar pop because its fun. The songs are more about the way that they feel than what they mean.
JY: What’s been your favorite show you’ve played so far?
H: probably one we’ve played in Grand Rapids, we’ve played at Major Murphy’s tape release show, it was pretty damn good
JY: What are your favorite parts of the Bloomington music scene?
H: I (Drew) live with a roommate that also plays and records, and he makes me really motivated to play music. Playing live in really fun, but recording is my favorite part, it’s nice to be in a creative environment. I feel like kids here are really stoked.
JY: Where’s the best place in Bloomington to get soup?
H: Darn good soup, shout out to Derek at darn good soup. Lentil soup is pretty good. I like when lentils maintain their shape. Pizza X is pretty great but they don’t have soup. But shout out to Jenna at Pizza X.
JY: If you could share the stage with any three musicians, dead or alive, who would they be?
A: Donald Fagen from Steely Dan, David Bryne, Sade
