The Hush: ‘If you can go from working in a toilet factory to being Bill Withers, we can all do absolutely anything’

Sydney rock group The Hush have just released their heady blues-rock anthem ‘Nothin’ For Free’ with a new track ‘Bartender’ likely to come out later this year.

They comprise Rom Aguilar (lead vocals and guitar), Josh Zesach (guitar), Juan Baratto (drums) and JeremyahGuzman (fill in on bass). Fusing swaggering southern-rock riffs with gritty hard-rock attitude, their hook-driven songwriting is built on blues-soaked guitars, seductive melodies, and a raw, road-tested sound. Aguilar and Zesach met around four years ago working at a music store in Sydney, which has since closed: ‘I was looking to change from my current job and thought: “How am I going to meet other musicians?”,’ Aguilar said. ‘Josh was already there. We met Juan because he filled in on drums with us a while ago from another band. “Scruff” or Jeremyah was in a band, Electrik, that we became friends with that we’ve done heaps of shows with and we just asked him because he was one of the best bass players we knew!’ Their band name – not to be confused with the Aussie glam rock band Hush from the 70’s – comes from a Deep Purple song of the same name.

‘Nothin’ For Free’ capitalises on their incredible energy live, creating a blistering, blues-soaked hard rock anthem featuring riffs that are as heavy as they are hooky. Ultimately, it explores themes of toxic, entitled, ego-driven personalities and the relentless “grind” of everyday life, all underpinned by brilliant vocals from Aguilar: ‘Every songwriting process is a little different but for that one, we were leaning more into our earlier eras of rock,’ he said. ‘That’s what we were listening to. Josh came up with the riff and most of the lyrics and when he showed it to me, I heard a melody differently, so I turned one of the verses into the song’s pre-chorus and added a few extra lines and rhymes and ‘Nothin’ for Free’ was born! He wanted to write a song as a sort of “fuck you” to this egotistical guy that we knew on the local scene and that we heard weird stories about (laughs).’ At the heart of the song is the ego in question: ‘It’s a song about having all these expectations and the saying that nothing is for free,’ Aguilar explained. ‘We were listening to The Rolling Stones and thought: “Let’s make a really nice, solid, classic rock song!” Josh said it was based on the idea of a song called ‘Jealous Again’ by The Black Crowes.’

‘We all overlap in rock and hard rock but in terms of what we listen to outside of that, we’re all very diverse’

While classic rock elements weave throughout most of their tracks, bits of blues, funk, punk and even soul find their way in, too. ‘I would say it happens quite organically,’ Aguilar said. ‘We all overlap in rock and hard rock but in terms of what we listen to outside of that, we’re all very diverse. We’ll all put forward our ideas, sometimes we like them, sometimes we don’t. One person will show something but someone else might not be feeling it. Or it works and everyone puts their own little flavour on it with their own instrument – it makes a nice big mixing pot!’

Zesach jokingly refers to them as a ‘Temu Aerosmith’: ‘I always say we’re a poor man’s Led Zeppelin, because we met at a music store,’ Aguilar quipped. One thing for certain is that they have all had very different journeys to get to where they are today. Baratto is originally from Colombia, moving to France before he found his way to Australia. Zesach is Danish/Italian born in Sydney and Aguilar has Latino/Austrian roots but was also born in Sydney. Guzman is from the U.S. but moved to Australia a few years ago.

It is largely thanks to Aguilar’s mum that he got into music in the first place: ‘I didn’t start singing until I was 20, so six years ago now, but I always enjoyed music,’ he said. ‘My mom always loved music and she showed us heaps of different genres. She’s really into reggae. I started getting into rock music and more into my music in my late-teens and then I started picking up guitar. After that, I got a couple of singing lessons and just started practicing and realised I really loved it and just couldn’t stop it! Maybe six months or a year in, I would start to write songs with really basic chord progressions, just changing the lyrics and trying to figure out how to write songs. I was doing it very unintentionally, more as an outlet to try and figure it out because it was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it. He loved working in the music store: ‘It’s a lot of fun unboxing guitars and being the first to touch all the expensive ones.’ Did he have a cheeky play? “Of course, it’s quality control!’

‘You’ve got to write heaps of bad songs to write a good one, that’s what I always say, gotta get all the bad juice out!’

Singing and playing an instrument work like ‘two peas in a pod’ for him: ‘I feel you need one or the other as your core so that you can create ideas and make them flow really easily,’ he said. ‘Over the years, I’ve written probably hundreds of horrible songs (laughs). You’ve got to write heaps of bad songs to write a good one, that’s what I always say, gotta get all the bad juice out! It became part of my routine of learning guitar. Learning how to sing was also learning to write music at the same time, it fell in really naturally.’

Playing live is, for him, what it’s all about: ‘I love to say that we’re definitely a lot better live than when we’re recording and I’d love to keep it that way for all eternity because we have the best time and we’re fully in it. That’s where we really come to life and where we really shine.’

Other tracks like ‘Psycho Erotic’, which they released last year, hook the listener from the very heavy, fuzzed up intro riffs which are verging on metal with Aguilar’s “Oh yeah’s” reeling you in. The artwork depicting hushing lips tied up in leather set the tone brilliantly. ‘I had a riff idea and also Josh had a riff idea. Often how we write a lot of the songs is me and Josh have two different riffs that we end up mashing into the same song. I was listening to a bit of heavier rock at the time and Josh is heaps into grunge, so he’s already got that stuff in his back pocket (laughs). I came to him with the intro riff and he mixed it up and added the verse, pre-chorus and other sections. When it comes to lyrics, whatever the song invokes, I let it naturally pull something out of me, if that makes sense? ‘Psycho Erotic’ is a story about drug addiction and the relationship where someone goes crazy and falls in love for this thing that’s really bad for them, a spiral of being psychotic and in love with the drug is the best way I can describe it.’

‘He does a really good job of memorising those solos and making them unique and different’

Zesach’s guitar solo around three minutes in is a blistering, soaring highlight, packed with 70’s goodness and a sprinkling of grunge: ‘It pretty much came to him while we were workshopping it in rehearsals. We road test our songs now before we record them. We play them a bunch of times at gigs to really fine tune, see what works, see what doesn’t. He does a really good job of memorising those solos and making them unique and different.’

Indeed, Zesach’s sharp, detail-driven style rooted in rock and grunge has been influenced by players like Slash and Jerry Cantrell, bringing both precision and punch to the band’s sound. A self-confessed perfectionist, he balances technical control with a love for the chaos of live rock and is always chasing the perfect take but never at the expense of a good time. Aguilar might not have started singing until he was 20 but he makes up for it with instinct, presence, and a voice steeped in soul and blues. Drawing inspiration from performers like James Brown and David Lee Roth, he brings a high-energy, crowd-commanding style as well as an “outside-the-box” edge to the band’s songwriting, backed by a cheeky personality that still knows when to lock in. Baratto has decades of drumming under his belt as well as formal studies in music and jazz, combining technical skill with explosive feel. His versatility and Latin-influenced style add depth, groove, and colour to their sound, while his fresh perspective continues to shape the band’s evolving songwriting. Guzman, for his part, is a multi-instrumentalist who started on drums before moving through guitar and landing on bass, bringing a versatile style that pulls from funk, punk, and everything in between. Known for his laid-back nature and high stage energy, he adds both groove and presence to the band.

Growing up, one of the first musicians Aguilar was introduced to by his mum was Bob Marley: ‘He didn’t really influence my singing style (laughs) but I go back now with a different appreciation of it, and I really, really enjoy it, even more than I used to. When I was a teenager, I listened to a lot of hip hop and rap, then when I was around 19, I started listening to soul, rock and blues. Most of my influences for my singing were probably around then. Collectively, I’d definitely say Aerosmith. I’ve got Josh into Extreme, so Josh is a huge Extreme fan now! Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, The Black Crowes, everyone really enjoys. Slash’s Snakepit, Guns N’ Roses.’

‘I don’t know if I’m biased because I came up with the main riff but it’s a fun drinking song!’

Next up, will be The Hush’s single ‘Bartender’, which Aguilar describes as ‘a bluesy, Aerosmith-y style, classic hard rock song’: ‘It’s a lot of fun,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘It starts off with bass and drums, it’s a little different to what we usually do but it has this groove in it. I came up with the main riff. It has a groovy shuffle into blues rock, it’s one of my favourites. I don’t know if I’m biased because I came up with the main riff (laughs) but it’s a fun drinking song! The main chorus goes: “Bartender, there’s something wrong with my head. Bartender, I can’t get out of bed” and then it flips to “Bartender, they’re dropping more bombs instead. Bartender, they’re giving up on peace instead.” I guess the story could be about a guy at a bar ordering more drinks because everything around him is chaotic. With the state of the world, he feels like everything’s so normalized now. He’s thinking: “There must be something wrong with me.” Although it’s a really upbeat rock song, that’s the deeper meaning inside of it.’

‘To Love Somebody’ (2023) with its warm, shimmery guitar tone thanks to Aguilar’s Japanese Lawsuit-era Greco and Zesach’s Gibson, combined with Aguilar’s equally warm, soulful vocals, showcases that they can take on old school just as well: ‘I feel like all of our stuff before ‘Nothin’ For Free’ we could redo,’ he said. ‘I feel we could do them a lot better, so thank you for being so kind. That’s just a song about the difficulties of finding love and caring for someone. It’s a soppy love song (laughs) and that’s the stuff that I really love to write because I love my soul, my Al Green, my Otis Redding and they all wrote the best love songs.’ I say in times like these, we could use more songs like that and he agrees: ‘We definitely do and not enough bands do them. So I’m really hoping – I’m trying to push the guys! Once we get the tour done, I really want to try and push for more acoustic stuff live.’

If Aguilar could put together a dream line up for one night, he says that ‘in the heart of the band’, he’d have to say Van Halen ‘David Lee Roth era’ and Aerosmith and would sneak in The Black Crowes just for himself: ‘I’d probably add in Slash’s Snakepit and then I guess us (laughs). That would be a pretty epic, full on night!’

One musician he would love to have had a night out with is Bill Withers: ‘He comes across as so noble and humble and down to earth and I wouldn’t really have a question,’ he said. ‘I’d say: “Tell me about your life and how you lived it.” I really love learning about not just the artists but about their life because I feel like a lot of their life and what happens to them dictates the music that comes out of them. He would have so many good stories, so much wisdom and good life advice. I remember he started music at the age, I think, of 31. He never sung or played guitar before. He was working in a toilet factory making toilets for airplanes and thought: “I don’t want to do this anymore.” He went out and worked really hard. Next thing you know, he’s Bill Withers! If you can go from working in a toilet factory to being Bill Withers, we can all do absolutely anything, I think of that every day. Him and Charles Bradley, if you know Charles Bradley? He did a really amazing cover of ‘Changes’ by Black Sabbath. He was a James Brown impersonator for most of his life and he got his big break at the age of 62. He got his first record deal at that age. That shows that between the ages of 30 and 60, you’ve still got a chance!’