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Hugo primarily spent his early years exploring the diverse musical styles of Africa and the Caribbean creating the rhythmic engine room to power the driving force of the Industry Records Collective.His unique performance style is a blend of Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, Caribbean and West African disciplines, which Hugo weaves together crafting an eclectic fusion of black music.Hugo has also been influenced by many other genres of music having begun his career performing with indie band ‘The Chemists’ and funk band ‘Carvello’.In 1990 he joined the Birmingham School of Samba, soon establishing himself as one of their key players by demonstrating his ability on a variety of Brazilian instruments including caixa, repenique, pandeiro and berimbau. Rooted by the Rio Samba tradition, the group’s style was based on the ‘virado’ rhythm.In 1993, Hugo along with three key members of the BSS reinvented themselves as the Birmingham Afro Bloc which went on to perform samba reggae and ‘maracatu’. This move enabled Hugo to home his skills as an arranger and workshop leader becoming one of the main authorities on Brazilian rhythm and styles within central England up to the present day.By 1996, Hugo had an arsenal of instruments at his disposal performing on congas and djembe with African/Caribbean drum and vocal group Babatunde Live!. He then moved on to join ‘Orquesta Huracan’ as the bongosero in 1998 performing Nuyorican salsa throughout the U.K. and abroad.A few years later, Orquesta Huracan metamorphosised to become ‘Del Camino’ which had developed a more eclectic Latin sound. In order to accommodate these changes, Hugo returned to playing drum kit delivering conventional latin rhythms with an unconventional latin sound. This unique style attracted internationally acclaimed artists seeking Hugo’s individual style such as Coolio, Timmy Vegas and Nizlopi.As one of the founding members of 1 Eye, Hugo has created an entirely original set up and sound, using stand – up timbales, bass drum, bell rack, cymbals and snare. Technically, this change would prove to be difficult for most drummers. However, holding a wealth of experience as both a percussionist and drummer, Industry Records has opened new and exciting doors for Hugo to experiment with manipulating musical genres and pushing the boundaries of improvisation.