In the small, hot spaces between stacks of vinyl records and CDs, about 60 people gathered Wednesday evening in Landlocked Music and listened to local band Hoops perform music from its new record.
Their latest album “Routines” has a smooth pop sound and combines the music styles the band has created in the past from synthesizer-based to guitar-only, guitarist and keyboardist Drew Ausherman said.
“It feels nice to put something out that we’re proud of,” Ausherman said. “Just know that I like it.”
Hoops will fly to the United Kingdom on Sunday to kick off a six-week tour, Ausherman said. They will spend two weeks abroad and another four traveling around the United States.
Band members mixed the record and released it under the Fat Possum Records label, Ausherman said.
Although Hoops began making music in 2011, this is the first full record under the name.
After the show started, singer Kevin Krauter said fans should buy the vinyl edition of “Routines” because he had been told it was sky blue.
For Krauter, the release process hasn’t always been full of successes. There were times where the label didn’t like the way a song was mixed or the plans among band members would change when they tried to get together and work on a piece.
“It was sort of a high-stakes thing,” he said.
Krauter would have entered his senior year at Ball State but decided to focus on his music instead of his communications degree, his mother Risa said.
This summer, he told his parents he would not be returning to school, Krauter’s mother said.
She doesn’t blame her son for dropping out, although thinking about it makes her sad. Krauter finally convinced her he wasn’t wasting everything she’d done for him when he reminded her of all the music lessons and guitars she’d paid for.
In the end, she said she is happy that her son is able to do what he loves, and she really likes Hoops’ music.
“I’m so proud,” she said again and again.
Risa came to watch her son perform before he heads to the U.K. She brought Krauter’s little brother, who said he got to miss track practice to watch the concert.
The Krauters are also housing Mexican foreign exchange students this semester, and the two students and their teacher were also at the record store.
In addition to Kevin, at least two other Krauter children out of the seven have shown an interest in music, their mother said. One daughter is pursuing a career on Broadway in New York, and another plays her original music around Indianapolis.
“My favorite times were when all the kids would be on the back porch with their guitars, harmonizing,” Risa said.
Now, as he prepares for his tour, Krauter said he is not looking forward to being away from almost everyone he knows, but still thinks it will be fun to bring “Routines” to new fans.
“We tried our best, so go easy on us, I guess,” he said.
