The Hush Sound Gets Emo Stamp of Approval

The Hush Sound were in for a big surprise when their inbox was graced by a message from pop-punk posterboy Pete Wentz. These days they may be headlining tours and landing "featured artists" slots on OurStage, but a mere five months into the band's existence, Ryan Ross of Panic! at the Disco stumbled upon the Hush Sound's purevolume page and helped the band get their big break. Ross forwarded the tip over to the Fall Out Boy bassist, who was so impressed with what he heard that he signed the band to his Fueled By Ramen imprint, Decaydance Records.

What makes the move particularly notable is the discord between the Hush Sound's quirky jazz-pop aesthetic and their more emo-centric labelmates. Since signing to Decaydance, the Chicago-based band has toured with pop-punk staples Panic! at the Disco, Hellogoodbye and Jack's Mannequin, among others. Hush's lead guitarist Bob Morris tells Spinner, "I guess our band has a bit of a different vibe than most of the other bands there, but I think we all celebrate our differences."

While the band may have already attained an emo endorsement, they are continuing to look backwards through America's musical history to explore new sounds. "Americans can be ashamed of our country for a variety of political reasons, but we live in a phenomenal place musically," vocalist/pianist Greta Salpeter says. "America has such a rich cultural history, and I love listening to the classics."

Morris sums up the band's philosophy with one simple phrase: "Good music is good music."