Named for the “hoop houses” within the greenhouses that founding guitarist-vocalist Drew Auscherman worked in during high school, Hoops is a Bloomington, IN-based quartet that plays ambient-laced rock. Auscherman began as a solo artist recording synthesizer and guitar loops to cassette in 2011. After a nearly three-year hiatus he started things up again, with more of a pop-oriented approach. “In 2014 I wanted to take my songs and perform in clubs,” says Auscherman. “I asked some of my friends to be my backing band in order to do that. The guys in Hoops are friends I went to school with.”
“I was pretty set on just releasing my own music for a while.”
Much of the music reflects the classic pop writing of Fleetwood Mac, the jazzy sensibilities of Steely Dan and the catchy melodies of ‘80s stars Prefab Sprout. Hoops’ early output was released on cassette and recorded at Auscherman’s home. “I posted that music on my YouTube account,” says Auscherman. “My (soon-to-be) manager Ben Wittkugel sent one of our tapes to ‘My Old Kentucky Blog’ and they really liked it. Another blog ‘Gorilla vs. Bear’ read their review and posted something as well. And then Fader magazine I think found our music through SoundCloud.”
This series of events got the ball rolling and gave the impetus for Wittkugel to contact Fat Possum Records. They signed Hoops to an EP deal, with the option to record a full-length album.
“I was pretty set on just releasing my own music for a while,” admits Auscherman. “I run a little cassette label called CPB. I was gonna keep doing that until it gained some traction. But then Fat Possum made us an offer.”
Hoops’ self-titled five-song EP is now available.
