No/Hugs

Rock: An Interview With No/Hugs
Interviews Music Features by Brian Carroll - March 25, 2018
Boston based No/Hugs is a blues infused rock n’ roll outfit that was established in 2015 by prodigious lead singer Narcissus A-Ngel. Over the past few years they have performed tens of dozens of shows and effortlessly won over fans, both locally and nationally. With 2 US tours and multiple headliner/guest shows in the U.S and Canada under their belt, its been said their performance is not one to be forgotten and the raw energy they pour onto the stage is undeniable and pure.

The band had some recent great news to share with the addition to this year’s Warped Tour and a new single to be recorded in studio.

We caught up with them to talk about those high octane performances, what it means to be selected for such a notable musical celebration like Warped Tour and whats coming down the line for them. Read on folks.



RLR: The band has been praised for your high energy live sets and after watching just a few live videos it is plain to see that this praise is fully justified. What does it mean for you all personally to go out to a gig, get on that stage and just leave it all there be it for 20 people or 2,000 people? What pushes you to get up there and share your music and passion with folks?

For us, being on stage is like a drugless high. It’s a paradox, a contradiction between being selfless and selfish, and indeed something very personal and public at the same time. Whether it is for 20 or 2,000 people it’s an amazing feeling to know that the performance will influence, change a perspective and help others.

“Being in front of a crowd demands to wear your heart on your sleeve.Take a deep breath, and just go for it.” Narcissus

When everything reaches its peak – you see the crowd moving, staring, feeling, crying – you become those feelings and manifest them into craziness and having a good time.

“When you perform you can give so much to the crowd, while at the same time you are also giving your soul everything that it needs.”

-Kat

RLR: Similarly, is there anything in particular you all do to get ready for a show leading up to taking a step onto the stage?

Of course. Other than the quintessential; vocal warm ups, neck massages, body stretches, etc. we all have our little rituals here and there:

We actually both tend to need to have some alone time before we come together as a unit, and do our thing on stage. It helps us to have a clearer mind and to feel less uneasy.

Narcissus needs to be left alone for 15-20 minutes directly before we hit the stage. She wanders off and finds a quiet corner and sits there, facing the wall. We all just know not to disturb her. Having absolute concentration before her performance is a necessity, because the minute she steps on stage for sound check, she is already in character and ready to go.

Kat likes to go off in a back room or even outside in the van. The less people/noise, the better. She runs through the set in her head while tapping away for 10-20 min on her drum practice pad, with and without the click track. She knows that it’s a must to warm up her muscles, just as it is for vocalists to warm their voices. After all, she is responsible for keeping the band tight and together, along with most of the cues. She visualizes the execution of the set beforehand, and plays every single detail in her head. She believes that remaining fully hydrated makes a night-and-day difference with the conversation between her brain and muscles.

“I’ve played shows dehydrated and under the influence of alcohol before, it never ends well. I sort of crash halfway through the set. My mind wants to keep going, but my body feels like sleeping.” -Kat

RLR: This probably should have been my first question, but as you all are a newer band to me, what is your back story. How did you all meet and what is the genesis of you all as a group today?

No/Hugs was formed by Narcissus soon after graduating from Berklee College of Music, and made its first run in 2015.

“How we met is really simple. We were co-billing a show and Kat thought it was a good idea to come up to me and tell me to go eat. She eavesdropped in on a conversation where I was explaining that I hadn’t eaten in 2 days because of recurring gigs and work. So she rudely interrupted by scolding me and I told her to go f…. well… it wasn’t polite…It was meant to be.” -Narcissus

In the beginning, the band consisted of a handful of various members, each sort of molding around Narcissus’ voice and stage presence. It wasn’t until 2017, when drummer Kat Dukeshire joined the band, that it began taking what we would call a clear-cut shape. What we mean by this is having a full group of players who put in the work/passion both on the stage, and off. Our goal is to have each member shine equally, to be just as energetic and over the top on stage!.. not just feel comfortable playing in the background. Like anything else in this world, it just took time, and trial & error so to speak. It takes a very specific type of personality, and a driven dedication to establish yourself in a band and say “This is going to be my dream too, and I’m willing to wake up every morning with this band being the first thing in my mind.”

The genesis of No/Hugs as an all-female rock band was a step in the right direction, and something bound to happen sooner or later. Within the oppression and double standards of the music scene – we dare to “not care” and take the extra effort to only play with women who strive to show that they can be just as much of beasts on the stage!

“Don’t get me wrong, just because you’re a woman, and you play guitar doesn’t mean that we will automatically hire you. The talent, commitment, and attitude must go with it.”

-Kat






RLR: So, at RLR we sometimes find ourself in a bit of a bubble in the “folk-roots” realm of things and most of what we cover tends to fall into some iteration of such. But we also run under the ideal that “good music is good music” and if we dig something we want to shed some light on it. Part of why this whole thing exists is community and talking about music that deserves a little extra light shone its way. The band identifies as “alternative rock”, which is a pocket of New England music I am not intimately aware of. How have you all found that community in and around Boston (and beyond) to be over the course of the life of the band? Is it strong and growing, stable, etc? Do you have any hopes for it in the future?

This is a great question and we are happy to get to answer this, as we are a band that serves Janis Joplin and Led Zeppelin in the same set with our original music. Despite being best-defined as “Alt Rock,” we have the Blues as a very strong base to what we do. We even welcome some Americana instruments into our sets from time to time. There would be no Rock without Blues, and no Alternative, and so forth. Out of all of the songs that we have written, no two sound alike. We feel like when the genre doesn’t limit you, your best bet is to call it Alternative.

As far as the scene; It’s a nice scene to be a part of, because the sound varies so much, that anyone can attend without being labeled as a “genre lover.” You can enjoy No/Hugs whether you like Iron Maiden or Janis Joplin, you’re 16 years old or 59, you live in Boston, or Alabama. You get the point. That’s the beauty of our genre, and we have been very fortunate to discover that as we tour the U.S. We bring people together. In that moment, people just lose themselves and they forget their age and social class. In that moment they are listening and feeling with No/Hugs, and that’s all there is to it.

Our only hope for the future can be nothing else but for the scene to keep growing and for people to support it.

RLR: Speaking of support, the band was just selected to perform at Warped Tour this year. That’s a pretty big deal with a big following. How did that come about and seriously, how pumped are you all for the opportunity?

Yes! This is true, we will be playing the Mansfield, MA stop on July 27th. After 23 years, Warped Tour will be running their final one this year, it was now or never! It’s been an array of different emotions… In all honesty, the way it happened and how it happened took us by surprise.

Narcissus, actually had a pretty serious accident back in January and had to get surgery. We originally had postponed all of our plans for the summer, as her healing pace was very up in the air. Of course, we were not going to perform without her. Luckily, she’s been recovering extremely well. Even though we knew that we were pushing it on time, we decided to go for it and reach out to Kevin Lyman (Warped Tour founder.) Kat has been attending Warped every year since she was 12 years old.

To our astonishment, we got a reply from Kevin just 15 minutes after sending the email out. “…It will be fun to add you to the show…Glad to have No Hugs on…”

There we were, a broken leg, and 3 years of hard work later, being acknowledged musically by a colossus in the alternative scene – Kevin Lyman himself. It meant more to us that he had clicked on our music video links and enjoyed them!

“I mean… Over the years, Kevin gave this same validation to thousands of bands; from Green Day, to My Chemical Romance, to Katy Perry. We are truly humbled and more than PUMPED to represent Massachusetts and our music!”

-Narcissus

We’ll be on the Full Sail University Stage, on July 27th. Hope to see you all there.

RLR: What else do you want to plug? Anything in particular to mention?

We’re super happy to announce that we’ll be recording our first single this coming June, at No Boundary Studio in Rhode Island. We plan to release it right around the Vans Warped Tour date. The single will be followed by an album release next Spring. We have a clean slate and plenty of new ideas that we are excited to share with the world!

We really want to encourage people to support the various non-profits that follow the Warped Tour. This is something that as a band we feel strongly about. We are going to be supporting Feed Our Children Now!

The amount of food donated during the holiday season is endearing. However, what a lot of people don’t realize is that food donations are in especially high demand during the summertime. This being, that kids are on summer vacation, and can no longer rely on lunch provided by the schools. Music brings people together and we want to help encourage people to get involved in organizations like this!

Our Facebook/Instagram will be updated daily from now until Warped Tour. Search for @nohugsband or #nohugsband on social media to follow us on our crazy journey!

We would love to see some new faces at our shows and spread our message into more and more hearts. - Red Line Roots

Trained at Berklee College of Music and inspired by Queen and Muse, No/Hugs is an American band seeking to the keep the theatre alive in rock. With their selection of songs titled In Between setting the mood, we caught up with the band to find out more.

Who are No/Hugs?

No/Hugs is a group of five wonderful individuals and Berklee alumni. There’s Narcissus A-Ngel on vocals, J.P. Goldman on bass and backing vocals, Fernando Echeverry on drums and backing vocals, San Surendra on lead guitar and Ghannaru Trangono on keyboards/piano.

What was your first performance together like?

Our first performance was The Boston Battle of The Bands in 2015. It was the first time that we had seen the potential in our music and had such a great and energetic crowd. We won the contest based on crowd reaction voting, and it was a pretty surreal moment for a band on their first gig. - Eve.Com

Next up was recent, Boston Battle Of The Bands – Winners, No Hugs! Pffft there were lots of hugs, they were awesome people, I don’t get… clearly there are some follow up questions I’m going to have to ask this quartet. There was something else though…. what was it, i was thinking about, oh yeah ,OH MY GOD!!!!! These guys were amazing! The rumor was that some or all of these cats, were like Berkeley grads or something. Substantiated vehemently by their obvious talents! Singer, Narcissus A-Ngel, has some pretty clear operatic leanings in her powerfully, pitch perfect delivery. Stick man, Fernando Echeverry both contributed to backing vocals and held down his end of a fantastic rhythm section that was capped off by bass player , Achal Murthy who also sang and did other groovy things! Sprinkle on top, if you will, my friends, the … *deep breathing in…* Jazz-Rock-Blues-Classical-Reggae-Metal styling…*gasp….wheeze* …of one Mr. Amaury Altmayer. Add that up and you will have; No Hugs but you will want some, so go visit their Facebook Page and hug them with a Like! - Scene In Review

Το όνομά της άρχισε να ηχεί δυνατά στο χώρο της μουσικής, με τα τραγούδια που γράφει να σαρώνουν τα online blogs και podcasts σε Αμερική και Αγγλία.

Ο λόγος για την Narcissus A-Ngel από τη Λάρνακα, που έγραψε και ερμηνεύει τα τραγούδια του πρώτου άλμπουμ του alternative ροκ συγκροτήματος «No/Hugs», με την ονομασία «In Between».

Η νέα χρονιά βρίσκει τη Narcissus A-Ngel σε περιοδεία μαζί με το συγκρότημα, του οποίου η ζήτηση αυξάνεται μέρα με τη μέρα, σε ολόκληρη την Αμερική.

Μπορείτε να ακούσετε το άλμπουμ του συγκροτήματος στο Spotify, tiny.cc/NHspotify καθώς και στην ιστοσελίδα τους www.nohugsband.com.

Ακολουθείστε την Narcissus A-Ngel και το συγκρότημα της No/Hugs στο Facebook και στο Twitter. - Phileleftheros News Paper

Η δική μας Γεωργία Χ'Κωνσταντίνου που κατακτά την Αμερική... - Σιγμα

«Έχω αφάνταστη αγάπη και θαυμασμό για τον Σταμάτη Κραουνάκη, την Λίνα Νικολακοπουλου, τον Νίκο Καρβέλα, την Αλίκη μου, τον Δημήτρη Χορν, την Μελίνα Μερκούρη. Η καλή μουσική σπάει όλες τις ταμπέλες και τα στερεότυπα».


Λείπει από το νησί εδώ και περίπου 6 χρόνια, πριν καλά – καλά ενηλικιωθεί. Στα 17 χρόνια, μια πενταετής υποτροφία από το Berklee College of Music της Βοστώνης, οδηγεί τα βήματα της Γεωργίας Χ’’ Κωνσταντίνου ή καλύτερα της Narcissus A-Ngel, στην Αμερική.

Εκεί δημιουργεί τη δική της ροκ μπάντα τους «No Hugs», βρίσκει το στιλ της, γράφει μουσική και στίχους, μανατζάρει, σχεδιάζει, τραγουδά και πετυχαίνει την αναγνώριση.

«Μέσα στον ενάμιση χρόνο που υπάρχουν οι No Hugs, έχουμε ήδη κάνει περιοδείες σε 20 πολιτείες, συμμετοχές σε διάφορα μεγάλα φεστιβάλ ροκ μουσικής, εμφανίσεις σε πάνω από 50 συναυλίες σε όλη την Αμερική, παίξαμε στο Hard Rock Toronto, ως επίσημοι προσκεκλημένοι, δώσαμε συνεντεύξεις σε ραδιοφωνικούς σταθμούς, ενώ ήδη το πρώτο μας άλμπουμ παίζεται σε Αγγλία, Γαλλία, Αμερική και Καναδά». - SigmaLive.Com

ROCK ON WITH NO/HUGS
Trained at Berklee College of Music and inspired by Queen and Muse, No/Hugs is an American band seeking to the keep the theatre alive in rock. With their selection of songs titled In Between setting the mood, we caught up with the band to find out more.

Who are No/Hugs?

No/Hugs is a group of five wonderful individuals and Berklee alumni. There’s Narcissus A-Ngel on vocals, J.P. Goldman on bass and backing vocals, Fernando Echeverry on drums and backing vocals, San Surendra on lead guitar and Ghannaru Trangono on keyboards/piano.

What was your first performance together like?

Our first performance was The Boston Battle of The Bands in 2015. It was the first time that we had seen the potential in our music and had such a great and energetic crowd. We won the contest based on crowd reaction voting, and it was a pretty surreal moment for a band on their first gig.





Your latest EP, In Between, has powerful shades of rock opera that is reminiscent of Queen and Muse. What had led you to this genre?

We all gravitated towards the theatrical and virtuosic musical aspects of Queen and Muse. Narcissus, our singer, is highly influenced by Freddie Mercury’s stage presence, and since she’s the primary songwriter of the band, a lot of those aspects rotate within our style. In Between is an array of five songs that our fans loved when played live. Even though there are elements that can be considered rock opera, the style of the EP and No/Hugs is a mixture of alternative, blues and rock.

Is there one particular track that speaks to you most as a band? A signature song, so to speak?

We feel like On Fire represents the essence of No/Hugs. When that song reached its final stages, we felt that it was a sound we wanted to pursue and explore.

If your instruments could talk, what would they say?

The drum kit would say, “Don’t leave me in the tour van.” The guitar would say, “I want to file a restraining order.” The bass would say, “Stop hitting me. That’s abuse.” They keyboard would say, “That tickles ” Narcissus already says what she has to say.

As a band, do you feel more at home on stage or in the recording studio?

Stage.





If you had to create a fantasy line-up for your dream concert, who’d make the list?

Toto, Muse, Acid Black Cherry, Rush and Tenacious D.

Where’s No Hugs heading next?

We’re heading towards two national tours, lots of U.S gigs and we also have some international touring plans. - Eve.com

...In December, No Hugs released their EP, “In Between” produced by Narcissus A-Ngel and Amaury Altmayer. And right off the cuff I can say that the songs on this extended play do everything in their power to exult the talents of this collective. There are hard edges, crunching guitar riffs, mellower and soaring ballads and Narcissus A-Ngel’s voice at the forefront. This is Rock n’ Roll!

Narcissus A-Ngel has some major singing tucked away in her lungs; she in my viewpoint ranks up there with some legendary female singers like Pat Benatar, Ann Wilson, Joan Jett, Linda Perry, and Grace Slick, to mention a few.I usually either love or hate rock voices and in this case – I love! Her voice sounds as though she has lived one hundred and fifty years, and not all of them were lived in an easy way either. She just gets it right, and you feel what she feels, as she is singing.

When Narcissus hits certain parts of her songs, you’ll get the chills on many an occasion. She is one of those super-lucky, stumble-upon finds for me. And I’m impressed right from when No Hugs kick off proceedings with the upbeat and funky alt rock track “Stigma”, which is filled with thumping bass lines and some amazing organ interludes as it races to its ecstatic conclusion.

Narcissus A-Ngel
Narcissus A-Ngel
The quality of Narcissus A-Ngel’s voice is again rather evident in “Let Me Be”. The edgy bourbon-tinged tone of her voice is extra special, and the more you listen the better it gets. She can pull off a song of ruthlessness and then, just as convincingly, sing of a longing desire to be deeply loved. Once you hear Narcissus A-Ngel here, you will never mistake her for anyone else…ever!

And on the gut-busting “Loneliness” she not only confirms the above statements, but takes her vocal performance one notch higher with some beautiful nuances and devastatingly dramatic tones. The track also features some fiery guitar work from Amaury Altmayer, making it one of my favorite cuts on the EP – until I got to “On Fire”.

Now I have two super favorite tracks on “In Between”. It’s clear that Narcissus A-Ngel can sing any genre, style, and tempo of song, maybe even the phonebook in a cappella style too. But like Ann Wilson, my all-time favorite female rock singer, I think Narcissus was really born to sing heartfelt ballads that turn into rock anthems. Their voices have a tendency to easily build, expand and explode alongside any musical instrument, and within any creative musical arrangement. Exactly as Narcissus does on “On Fire”.

There can be no doubt that No Hugs are a class act, with imaginative songwriting, superb instrumentalists, a rock steady rhythm section in bassist Achal Murthy and drummer Fernando Echeverry, plus the star quality of Narcissus A-Ngel. - Jamsphere Magazine

"No/ Hugs is by far one of Boston’s best upcoming alternative rock bands with a serious talent in delivering an all-out performance. The band’s sounds are a blend of Queen, Muse and The Mars Volta with power house singer Narcissus A-Ngel steering the audience with her incomparable voice and performance skills. - WEMF RADIO

No Hugs started things off by tearing the house down! intoxicating and engaging, they tore the roof down and had the crowd rising to their feet with their energy and passion oozing out from the stage and onto the floor. The crowd went crazy, and had some stellar melodic interludes with phenomenal lead singer whose voice resonated long after the performance was over and a band that executed excellence. Sending chills up the spine and packing a punch, their first track left the crowd hungry for more and their follow-up song did not disappoint. Their performance proved to be nothing less than a momentous achievement for all...and it is easy to see why they made it to the finalists...I am sure we will see great things to come from No Hugs in the future! and despite their name, they were well loved by all. - Cynthia Stone, Live Music Showcase

Boston alt rockers No Hugs are gearing up for a big local show happening tonight that will give you something to keep you occupied as the weekend arrives! The show will be happening at the Hard Rock Cafe just steps away from Faneuil Hall, and joining them on this bill will be Dirty Lyxx, NHK, Dost, and Colbis The Creature who have been featured numerous times before here on the site. If you're not familiar with No Hugs, they play a unique blend of alt rock that features elements of blues thrown in for good measure that balances out the sound to appeal to listeners of all sorts of genres, and puts them in a unique position to do some musical damage when they take the stage at night. It's not about one act in particular, so definitely make it your mission to stay for a majority of the evening to check out all of the local acts that all have something special and unique to offer to their audience that will definitely be worth your while.

Tickets for tonight's show are $10 presale, so message the individual bands that you're coming out to support to buy tickets. The Facebook Event listing has all the info here, and for more on No Hugs please 'Like' them on Facebook over here and check out their official homepage at this junction here for more in depth info regarding them. - Music Box Pete

TOP OF THE DAY
Μια 20χρονη Κύπρια εισβάλλει στην Αμερικανική δισκογραφία - Stylista.com

Who is No/Hugs? Although relatively new, they made noise on this year’s final Vans Warped Tour. Our Cypress Bates caught up with them to find out more!! - 247 INK MAGAZINE

No/Hugs controversial and shocking new music video dropped on September 06th 2019 and has taken their followers by a storm of surprise.

In/Tension is signed by L.A based titan producer Alvin Wee (worked on Hollywood blockbusters such as Kingsmen, Snoop Dog etc.) and carries the bands characteristic blend of pop alternative, pop/punk as well as a dash of fresh EDM/Dubstep twist.

The song kicks your ears in every single way that you need it to and combines elements of a refreshing new genre-to-the-make.


It’s the band’s music video that has the town talking. Their highly sarcastic twist on pop culture’s sexualization and objectification is refreshing , and there’s a not-so-subtle amount of provocative symbolism throughout the video.

Fresh off their soldout European tour, No/Hugs is now preparing for their upcoming year – where they will be opening for Lupe Fiasco and other major headlining acts.

No/Hugs serves the alternative realm with hook heavy pop and an intense pop/punk live show.


Ok! Magazine featured Narcissus A-Ngel (singer) on its June 2019 cover, claiming her to be the heir of legendary Janis Joplin. Her powerhouse, bourbon tinged vocals have been praised by national and international publications to be a must-hear.

No/Hugs was invited by Greek Rock Legend Vasilis Papakonstantinou (worked with Scorpions) to open his shows in Europe at the sold-out festival of EDON in Nicosia,Cyprus. Recently the band completed their Summer 2019 European tour with great success, a headlining sold-out show and sold-out appearances at festivals.


2019 saw No/Hugs on the rise, with an endorsement from AUDIX MICROPHONES USA and a signature microphone (AUDIX VX5) for the lead singer as well as a featured artist at their EXPO stage at NAMM2019. Their south/west coast tour run started with a slot at SXSW2019 as well as a sold-out appearance at the world renowned Whisky A-Go-Go.

In 2018 the band was discovered by Kevin Lyman (Warped Tour’s CEO). No/Hugs was handpicked by him to open the last Vans Warped Tour in Mansfield, MA at the Xfinity Center amongst bands like the Maine, Tonight Alive, State Champs, Motionless in White.


Website : www.nohugsband.com

Facebook : www.facebook.com/nohugsband

Instagram : www.instagram.com/nohugsband

Twitter: www.twitter.com/nohugsband

#nohugsband - Bionic Buzz