There are at least 7 artists performing as Hugo: 1) There's an aura of late night heat and mystery in the music of Hugo. For him, Old Tyme Religion isn't just another album title - it's an apt summation of a certain conviction that continuously embeds itself in his story, and in his songs. His real life experiences have taken him from the Mekong River jungle to the booth of a favorite Thai restaurant in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood he has made home. His spiritual and musical sojourns have led to Old Tyme Religion, a lyrically provocative, tunefully hook-filled unconventional pop debut. ...show more

There are at least 7 artists performing as Hugo: 1) There's an aura of late night heat and mystery in the music of Hugo. For him, Old Tyme Religion isn't just another album title - it's an apt summation of a certain conviction that continuously embeds itself in his story, and in his songs. His real life experiences have taken him from the Mekong River jungle to the booth of a favorite Thai restaurant in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood he has made home. His spiritual and musical sojourns have led to Old Tyme Religion, a lyrically provocative, tunefully hook-filled unconventional pop debut.

"I'm trying to make rock & roll in the age of hip-hop," he affirms. "A complete thought in 3 minutes and 30 seconds, that's the challenge. A song is a planet with gravity and atmosphere and things living in it. An album is a solar system." Born in England and raised in Thailand, Hugo -- a seriously dedicated songwriter, musician and performer -- has already plowed through several aesthetic incarnations on the road to Old Tyme Religion.

As a young teen in Thailand, he achieved nationwide success by cutting four studio albums with Siplor, "a hick band with a mission," whose charge against 'the man' resulted in a couple of their records being banned on the radio. Reflecting on this experience, he realized how formative and insular his Thai musical experiences had been. "The records I was making in Thailand, in isolation from American culture, were made as if we were still in the 70s. Nothing after 1977, Elvis wasn't dead, punk never happened. ...show less