Theo Hutchcraft | |
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Hutchcraft performing with Hurts in June 2010.
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Background information | |
Born | 30 August 1986 |
Origin | Richmond, North Yorkshire, England |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | |
Instruments | Vocals |
Years active | 2004–present |
Labels | RCA |
Theo David Hutchcraft (born 30 August 1986) is an English singer and songwriter best known as the lead singer of the synthpop duo Hurts.
Hutchcraft met Adam Anderson outside a nightclub in late 2005 whilst their friends were fighting. Too drunk to join in, they started talking about music and realised they had similar tastes; they decided to start a band. Over the next few months they exchanged music and lyrics via e-mail, before forming Bureau in March 2006. They performed their first gig as a quintet in May at The Music Box in Manchester, and were shortly afterwards signed to independent record label High Voltage Sounds. They released their first double A-side single "After Midnight" / "Dollhouse" in November, which was made Single of the Week on Xfm.
In 2007, Bureau disbanded and soon after Hutchcraft and Anderson formed the band Daggers. They signed to Label Fandango and in October released another double A-side single "Money" / "Magazine", which despite failing to chart, was nominated for the Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize. Throughout 2008, Daggers continued to build a following, and began working with successful producers Biff Stannard and Richard X, but after a disastrous A&R showcase in London in September, Theo and Adam returned to Manchester to reflect on the band's future. They recorded a mournful ballad called "Unspoken" together, and they immediately realised that this was the sound that they wanted to develop as a duo.
After informing the rest of the band that it was finished, they went on a short break to Verona, Italy, where they claim they discovered the genre Disco Lento. Daggers announced on their Myspace page in January 2009 that they had split up.
Now called Hurts, Hutchcraft and Anderson recorded an amateur music video for a song called "Wonderful Life" with a female dancer who had responded to an advert in a shop window. After they uploaded the video to their YouTube channel in April 2009, it quickly went viral. They were signed to RCA imprint Major Label in July. The video has since had over 21 million views on YouTube, putting it in the top 200 most watched videos on the website.