Hum.V

Hip-hop/pop musician Greg "Hum.V" Humrichouser, a Butler University graduate, is an unabashed believer in tireless self-promotion. (Credit: Frank Espich / Metromix)

When Greg "Hum.V" Humrichouser was looking for a break, he also paused to listen for feedback.

His song "Look in Your Eyes" impressed executives at WNOU-FM (100.9), but program director Tim Rainey said more lyrics about the musician's girlfriend and fewer about the musician's father would increase the odds for airplay on the radio station.

Humrichouser, 28, made the switch in lyrical emphasis, and the song -- which features fellow Indianapolis-based vocalist Lynda Sayyah -- has become a Top 5-requested single among WNOU listeners.

"It's not easy to write a good pop song with meaningful lyrics that people are going to buy," says Humrichouser, who emerged in the local music community as a rapper in the party-minded trio Cleptoz.

Still rhyming in a hip-hop context, solo artist Hum.V gravitates to catchy melodies and female-sung choruses on current album "..... One Verse @ a Time."

Known as a tireless promoter of his work, Humrichouser rejects any suggestion that he's compromised his artistic vision.

"No matter what anybody says, when Kid Rock wrote that 'All Summer Long' song, he had radio in mind," he says. "It's still him. He didn't sell out to radio by making a dance song."

A native of Ohio and graduate of Butler University, Humrichouser is zeroing in on his next goal of signing a major-label recording contract.

"All I need from the major is distribution and backing," he says. "You have to have that credibility to be in the mainstream."

Rainey, who hosts afternoon programming at WNOU as "Rayne," says more than one company is talking to Humrichouser about a possible deal.

"It's so hard to just get someone of importance to listen to a demo," Rainey says. "He's really caught the ear of a lot of people, and the hardest part of the battle is almost over."

With a history of turning nonbelievers into believers, Humrichouser says he defines success as achieving what once seemed impossible.

"I remember when I first came to Indianapolis and drove by the Vogue," he says. "I thought, 'What I'd give to play that place and have my name on the marquee.' Now, it doesn't seem like anything because we play there all the time."

-- David Lindquist, Metromix