Introducing HOOOPS and His Slinky First Video "Against the Wall"

Photo by Ana Hop

Maybe you don't know Gregory Rogove's name, but you're probably familiar with the crowd he rolls with. He was in Megapuss with Devendra Banhart and The Strokes' Fabrizio Moretti, and Priestbird (

you'll never look at going to the beach in the same way again

); he's worked with everyone from

Rodrigo Amarante

to Unknown Mortal Orchestra. He also released a bunch of solo piano compositions called

Piana

. This could go on but this isn't his LinkedIn page. Let's just say Rogove is a drummer, yes, but also a multi-instrumentalist and creation drives him, day in, day out. A bohemian free spirit who is now shaking the EtchOsketch fresh and making music as HOOOPS (all caps, why have two o's when you can have three?).

Below is the premiere of his very first video and track under this guise, lifted from a forthcoming EP co-produced by Paul Butler. It starts off so slinky, like a girl creeping through the desert glimpsed only by the light of a flickering campfire. But then at the 1:30-ish mark, those beats start in, scattershot almost, but no, they're tightly controlled, which weirdly makes me want to listen to DJ Shadow's Entroducing. Pushing that surprising instinct aside—because this song is much more grounded, earthy, and organic than anything on Entroducing—"Against the Wall" may also inspire the listener to shed your skin, or at the very least, your clothes, and interpretive dance around your apartment, up the stairs and down them (if you have them). If you do so, do it like Mexican actress and artist Diana Garcia does in the video: naked with her Lady Godiva hair whipping around to the grooves.

"It was time for me to start something new," explains Rogove of his new musical guise. "Something distinct from my other projects yet wholly informed by what I've done in the past. The premise for the 'Against The Wall' video was to look at the unwavering attempts at overcoming obstacles.”

Take it all in below.

HOOOPS Tour Dates

July 28th @ Moustache – Tijuana, Mexico

July 29th @ The Satellite – Los Angeles, CA

Preorder HOOOPS' debut EP here.

Naked interpretive dance is not encouraged by VICE HR, but it should be. Kim Taylor Bennett is on Twitter.