Hoops was an American
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...
band from
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...
.
History
Hoops began as a solo project for musician Drew Auscherman.
In December 2011, this first version of Hoops debuted with the song ''Commercial'', followed by a dual-song release called ''Avian Way'' later in the month.
Auscherman recruited the rest of the band members in 2011 while they were all juniors in high school, however, they had all been friends since sixth grade.
After Auscherman's solo Hoops releases of ''Rosie's Garden'' (2012) and the full-length ''Little Pleasures'' (2014), the full-band Hoops released their first tape titled ''Tape #1'' in 2015, which contains versions of ''Little Pleasures'' songs "Be There" and "Grass," the former of which was re-recorded for the release.
Hoops later released two more tapes, #2 and #3 in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
Following a live session with Audiotree Live in July 2016, Hoops released their first self-titled EP on Fat Possum Records.
Hoops then released their first full-length album with Fat Possum, titled ''Routines'', in May 2017, which reached #21 on the Billboard
Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...
chart.
In November 2017, Hoops released the compilation of their full-band tapes, titled ''Tapes #1-3'' on vinyl.
On July 18, 2018, the band announced on their Facebook page that they were on an indefinite hiatus.
On November 12, 2019, Hoops released a single, "They Say", after over a year on hiatus.
Hoops announces a full-length album, "Halo", releasing on October 2, 2020. They released their first single "Fall Back" on Jun 24, 2020.
On July 30, 2020, Hoops announced on Instagram that they would be breaking up after alleged account(s) of sexual abuse had been revealed, in which acts were allegedly conducted by former member James Harris. Auscherman also cited his own issues of emotional abuse towards partners and friends, which had been instrumental to the band's previous hiatus, as to why it would be unacceptable for Hoops to continue as a band with the sort of platform it had. Concurrently, Fat Possum Records announced that they would no longer be releasing the album ''Halo'' in light of the allegations, with all pre-orders to be refunded as soon as possible.
Musical influences
Vocalist Drew Auscherman cites
Hall & Oates
Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two ...
as well as
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
and the band
Felt
Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood ...
as influences.
Bassist
Kevin Krauter says that the band's biggest influences are lo-fi bands such as
Real Estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
and
The Radio Dept.
The Radio Dept. is a Swedish dream pop band from Lund.
History
In 1995, schoolmates Elin Almered and Johan Duncanson started a band which they named after a gas-station-turned-radio-repair-shop called "Radioavdelningen" (Swedish language, Swedish ...
Discography
Studio Releases
*Halo (
2020, Fat Possum)
*Routines (2017, Fat Possum)
*Hoops EP (2016, Fat Possum)
Compilations
*Tapes #1-3 (2017, Fat Possum)
*Tape #1 (2015, Circuit Public Broadcasting)
*Tape #2 (2015, Circuit Public Broadcasting)
*Tape #3 (2016, self-released)
Auscherman-Solo Hoops Releases
* Commercial (2011, self-released)
* Avian Way (2011, self-released)
* Rosie's Garden (2012, self-released)
*Hoops (2012, self-released)
* Little Pleasures (2014, self-released)
References
{{reflist
2015 establishments in Indiana
Fat Possum Records artists
Alternative rock groups from Indiana
American indie pop groups
Musical groups established in 2015
Musical quartets