Hugo Largo was an American musical group formed in 1984, known for their unique lineup: two

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

s, a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

and singer/performance artist

Mimi Goese Mimi Goese (last name rhymes with ''hazy'') is an American professional musician. Career Goese was the vocalist for dream pop band Hugo Largo. Solo Under the mononym "Mimi", she released a solo album, ''Soak'', on the Luaka Bop label, with cont ...

. Their sound has been characterized as

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such ...

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

and

avant-rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, wit ...

History

Hugo Largo formed in 1984, initially as a trio featuring vocalist Goese and bassists

Tim Sommer Timothy Andrew Sommer (born March 5, 1962, in New York City) is an American music journalist, musician, record producer and former Atlantic Records A&R representative. Sommer was the bass player for the slowcore/ dreampop band Hugo Largo. ...

(a WNYU DJ, journalist for ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' and ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'', and former member of Even Worse and

Swans Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...

) and Greg Letson (who Sommer had met while they played together in the

Glenn Branca Glenn Branca (October 6, 1948 – May 13, 2018) was an American avant-garde music, avant-garde composer, guitarist, and luthier. Known for his use of volume, scordatura, alternative guitar tunings, minimal music, repetition, drone (music), dronin ...

Ensemble). In January 1985, Letson left, and was replaced by Adam Peacock. Shortly thereafter, they were joined on violin by

Hahn Rowe Hahn Rowe is an American violinist, guitarist, composer, and engineer/producer, involved in a wide range of projects. He also performs using the stage name Somatic. Career Originally a violinist and guitarist with New York City dream-poppers H ...

, who had been engineering their live sound. In February 1987, they released the

Michael Stipe John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Stipe was born in Metro Atlanta in January 1960. Due to his father's militar ...

-produced EP ''

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

'' on

Relativity Records Relativity Records was an American record label founded by Barry Kobrin at the site of his vinyl record shop, Important Record Distributors (IRD) in metropolitan New York City. The IRD distribution name was later known as RED Distribution and ag ...

(Stipe also sang backing vocals on two tracks). The EP was reissued in 1988 as a full album with additional material on

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

's label, Opal Records. Their second album, '' Mettle'', was released in 1989, first on Opal, then on

All Saints Records All Saints Records is a British independent record label specialising in post-rock, downtempo and ambient music. History All Saints Records was established on 1 November 1991 by Dominic Norman-Taylor (formerly of Opal Records). Originally ...

(and on Land Records in the United Kingdom). This lineup of the band performed their final shows in July 1989. In late 1990, Goese, Peacock and Rowe decided to reform the band without founding member Sommer (who had become an

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

veejay), and recruited bassist Bill Stair (ex-

Art Objects A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

) via an ad in ''

''. This new lineup of Hugo Largo spent several months rehearsing and composing new material before making their debut at a sold-out gig at the

Knitting Factory The Knitting Factory is a nightclub in New York City that features eclectic music and entertainment and is co-owned and co-operated by Knitting Factory Entertainment. After opening in 1987, various other locations were opened in the United Stat ...

in New York City on April 12, 1991, with Stipe and

Mike Mills Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of R.E.M., hi ...

of R.E.M. – in New York for a taping of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' – in attendance. The reformed lineup played several more shows in New York, but a third album was never recorded (although some demos and live recordings were made). Hugo Largo played their last gig at the Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage on September 5, 1991. In September 2024, Missing Piece Records released "Huge, Large and Electric: Hugo Largo 1984-1991," a compilation consisting of Drum and Mettle plus live and previously unreleased material.

Later projects

Under the name Mimi, Goese released a solo album, ''Soak'', in 1998, and has collaborated with artists like

Moby Richard Melville Hall (September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, disc jockey, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "amo ...

and

Ben Neill Ben Neill (born November 14, 1957) is an American composer, trumpeter, producer, author, and educator. He is the inventor of the "Mutantrumpet", a hybrid electro-acoustic instrument. Early life, family and education Neill was born in Winston-Sa ...

. Sommer later played with the New Orleans–based Hi-Fi Sky, who released ''Music for Synchronized Swimming in Space'' in 2005.

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (1988, Opal Records) *'' Mettle'' (1989, Opal Records/

) *''Huge, Large and Electric: Hugo Largo 1984-1991'' (2024, Missing Piece Records)https://missingpiecerecords.bandcamp.com/album/huge-large-and-electric-hugo-largo-1984-1991

Singles and EPs

*''Drum'' 12" EP (1987,

) *"Turtle Song" 12" single (1989, Land Records)

References

External links

Unofficial website
American ambient music groups American pop music groups Musical groups established in 1984 All Saints Records artists {{US-band-stub