is an indie-rock/pop duo consisting of Petar Trifonov and Anton Georgiev. They formed the band on a cold December night in 2019 when they found out they listened to the same kind of music and their minds spoke the same language.

 

Soon after their first meeting, they were ready with a demo, and a month later their debut single “Molten Dreams“ was already a fact. It came out on March 12, the day before the first lockdown in Bulgaria. After the release of “Molten Dreams“ hug or handshake were dubbed as a bold, extremely professional and modern project, defined by its high level and great taste.

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Due to the Covid epidemic, they were not able to appear on stage for more than a year, but this gave them the opportunity to work together with their music producer Simeon Lozanov – Monyx and finalize their second extremely successful video single “Blaze of Sorry“, while also recording their debut album “ONCE UPON A PINK SEDAN“. The album contains 8 compositions and came out to all digital platforms on 17.05.202.

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As soon as it was released, “ONCE UPON A PINK SEDAN“ impressed the music critics in Bulgaria, who described it as "a beautiful, emotional and uncompromising journey from a musical and technical standpoint." The praise didn‘t stop there - "The sound is rich, warm and detailed, and the mix impresses with its depth and space. For me, this album is a reference and should be a point of comparison for any artist who makes modern pop music, especially here in Bulgaria. " ONCE UPON A PINK SEDAN " is an impressive debut that excites me greatly as a listener and an artist. Each song radiates a love of music and a painfully charming lack of pretension and ego. "- writes the non-commercial and independent media" Under the Bridge ".

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In May 2021 hug or handshake received 3 nominations for the annual music awards "Golden Ducks", and in June they made their live debut on the big stage of Sofia Live Festival. In the following year the band played a series of local shows and festivals.

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hug or handshake's latest single 'Slowboy' was released in March 2023.

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Currently, the band is actively gigging with a full lineup completed by Viktor Ivanov on bass and Nick Nikolaev on drums. Meanwhile, they are also working on new songs for their second album.