It Hugs Back

With barely a handful of gigs under their young belts, It Hugs Back have received praise from all corners, including NME ("Kent could soon produce it's very own Bright Eyes") as well as eccstatic support from Xfm for their demos.

http://www.ithugsback.co.uk

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Matthew and Paul from It Hugs Back (singer and bass player respectively).
spoke to Music Zine on their support tour to The Joy Formidable
(Words - Phil Greer)

MZ: You guys have such a unique sound, did you always set out to play like this or was it accidental?

Matthew: Well we weren't conscious about the music we wanted to make but I had written a load of songs which we then played together.
Paul: Once we heard how the songs played we knew how we wanted to be.

MZ: Who would you say were your biggest influences?

M: Well for me, Sonic Youth especially their Soft Chimney stuff.
P: I'm heavily influenced by Stereolab.

MZ: Do you all sit down and write music together or is it just one of you?

M: Well I write lyrics and music and then we all come together and see how it sounds.

MZ: How long is it you guys have been together? I know you've been friends since you were kids.

P: Well we've been functioning together as a band for 3 years.
M: Before this we were all in separate bands. We had never really done anything together.

MZ: Your first album "Inside Your Guitar" is out on the 6th of April, how do you feel about it after 3 years together?

M: We're really proud of it, really pleased. We'd done 4 different singles before we put together the album.
P: We wanted to see what the album as a whole would be like. It was a challenge as we'd done all these different singles, but it worked and it's really good to see it work as one.

MZ: You seem to be touring non-stop. How is it being together all the time?

P: We know each other so well we can just be together. We know when someone needs their space and if we ever argue we can just move on afterwards.
M: It's funny but to economize we even share a hotel room when we're touring.

MZ: Have you ever shared a groupie?

M: Haha no not yet!
P: We don't know each other that well!

MZ: When did you sign to 4AD?

M: We signed last summer to Too Pure who were part of the same group and then they merged.

MZ: What's the relationship like between you and 4AD?

M: It's really good, we wanted to make sure we signed with someone who didn't enforce rules on us. Like who to work with, how to sound and stuff.
P: We always recorded our own stuff and they wanted us to keep with that.
M: They bought us new equipment, like better microphones and things.