The Hoopla Hoop » Music

La Strada

Cienna Wills — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:19:19 +0000

La Strada has come a very long way. There was a time where their main gig was on the subway platform, performing to patrons waiting for the G train. The band carries a sound of their own that transcends genres and classifications, creating an anomaly of different sounds and transform it to something only they could create. Each tune is a new surprise waiting to be discovered, and each can easily become a new favorite.

Hot Hot Heat: Canadian Residence in the ‘Burg

Cienna Wills — Mon, 24 May 2010 19:00:36 +0000

For the past three Wednesday nights, Canadian dance-punk band Hot Hot Heat has gathered Brooklyn scenesters to Williamsburg’s Public Assembly to preview of their highly anticipated new album “Future Breeds” on Dangerbird Records. The new album also welcomes the band’s newest addition, bassist Louis Hearn and the residency and album re-aquaint and remind us why we loved them back in 2002!

May 2010: The Identity Issue

Jeff Lagasca — Wed, 19 May 2010 18:00:29 +0000

Our May Issue is our first, and represents a lot of aspirations for what we hope to achieve as a web publication. While we may support that need for immediacy through our regular columns, our monthly issues and features aim to craft more detailed, emotionally tinged experiences for you, our reader.

FEATURE: Mama Bear

Melissa Andrada — Wed, 19 May 2010 18:00:16 +0000

What do sweat shops, fried chicken, and folk pop have in common? Mama Bear – An emerging do-it-yourself Brooklyn band that loves food Just as much as they love music. A band that says, “We’d rather be cheesy than cool.” The Hoop sits down with the DIY band for a fun interview!

Hoopla Hooper: Cienna Wills

Cienna Wills — Mon, 03 May 2010 20:17:14 +0000

I’ve often asked myself why I write and and I’ve never really come up with an answer. It’s like when a girl asks her boyfriend why he loves her. She usually gets the expected answer “I just do." You can’t really argue with that. Writing has always been a part of my life. It helped me deal with the sometimes hectic experiences of high school peer pressure. Even though all my friends thought I was a “stoner,” I had never drunk a beer or smoked a joint until I became an adult. After school activities included going straight home, listening to the radio and writing before bed, whether it’d be a journal entry, a poem, or short story. As this pattern continued, it became apparent that music was the biggest influence in my writing. Around this time I started reading rock magazines “Rolling Stone” and now defunct “Circus.”

Hoopla Hooper: Alma Verdejo

Alma Verdejo — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:08:39 +0000

I’ve been listening to music since the day I was born. My father used to sing songs to me, ranging from the Mexican equivalent to Mr. Rogers, El Cri Cri, to actually writing rhymes and songs for me. My favorite was, and still is, a song called “The Watermelon” or “La Sandia” that he wrote for me when I was four. I used to squeal and scream for the song, begging him to sing it whenever he had the chance and it stuck. His deep-rooted passion for Mexican songwriters like Jose Alfredo Jimenez, one of the heralders of Mexican mariachi music, was what I grew up with, along with Los Tigres del Norte. As a Mexican-American girl torn between being a Mexican and an American, it was an interesting musical scene for me from a very young age. Born and raised in Texas, I listened to various types of music. While I was listening to Michael Jackson, I was also being influenced by my mother’s love for Latin pop and Top 40, which included Rocio Durcal and Juan Gabriel (the Mexican Elton John). I was well immersed in Mexican and Latin American songwriters.