 Born in Sydney, Hughes became interested in heavy metal in the early 80s.In an interview with MusicRadar Hughes said he became obsessed with Iron Maiden in 1982 and "the pounding drumming of Mr Clive Burr" and was also heavily influenced by Black Sabbath and Dio drummer Vinnie Appice, particularly his work on Dio's first 2 albums, which he would repeatedly play while attempting to play along.In 1985 he founded a band that was originally named Onslaught, but the band was forced to change their name due to a UK-based band by the same name.