SICK PUPPIES HUGGED BY YOUTUBE

Sick Puppies career in the U.S. may have been launched with hugs by YouTube

Sick Puppies got their big break when singer guitarist Shimon Moore took a video he was working on and stuck it up on YouTube. The band’s “All The Same” was the backing track to the viral video “Free Hugs,” which started a worldwide movement utilizing the video sharing site.

Shimon Moore talked about how the video idea came about.

“One of the jobs that I did to save up some cash was to hold up a sandwich board, two for one shoes… One of these days, when I was working this job the man who was the local free hugs guy rolled up, and I saw him on the first day that he came out. So him and I became instant friends. After we became friends I video taped him with a camera much like the one you’re videotaping us on. I took these tapes, a couple of hours worth of footage, and captured a whole bunch of stuff. We never did anything with the footage. It was just something fun for us to do, and when we were making ‘Dressed Up As Life,’ about halfway through the recording process he called me and told me that his grandmother had died. I put together this video clip that night of him giving out free hugs — just like a montage sequence — with ‘All the Same’ underneath it because it just seemed like the most appropriate songs. So I sent it to him, and it was just this gift fo

The video actually took home an award at the first annual YouTube Awards, and he talked about the honor.

“Well, it was different because it was like a directorial award, and I never really considered myself a director. It was kind of weird because it happened while we were on tour. We’ve been really busy the last six months since we finished the record. Literally the afternoon that we finished the record was the same night that we got on a plane to go to Australia to start the six month tour that we’re now on and that we’re still continuing with Flyleaf and Breaking Benjamin after that and Finger Eleven after that. I just think that as far as we’re concerned it’s just another piece to the puzzle. An award is a beautiful thing to get, but it’s not by any means the reason why you put together anything that you create. It’s just sort of a pat on the back saying, you know, keep going.”

The band is currently out supporting their album Dressed Up As Life in the U.S. on tour with Flyleaf through June 16. The band will take a week or so off and then head out on more U.S. dates a few weeks later spanning the summer.