Hippo Campus: The Best of What’s Next
Mumbling sleepily and drawing out extra syllables in words that don’t need them, the four dudes in Hippo Campus sound hungover in Portland, Ore. They affirm that they’re not, but even if they were, none of the members of Hippo Campus are old enough to drink legally. Guitarist and vocalist Jake Luppen, guitarist Nathan Stocker, bassist Zach Sutton and drummer Whistler Allen formed the pop-rock group in 2013 and all graduated from high school within the past couple years at the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists.
Not only did that Twin Cities community unite the four young members of Hippo Campus, but it also seems like the whole of Minnesota is nurturing them in a way that’s rare among many urban scenes. In fact, it was Duluth-based Trampled by Turtles that first told Paste about this up-and-coming group. Drinking Cigar City brews after their set at Tampa’s Gasparilla Music Festival, members of the nu-grass band gushed over their young peers with obvious hometown pride.
After acknowledging the bias of sharing a management team with Trampled by Turtles and other Minnesotan acts like Low and Lizzo, Hippo Campus maintains that its local scene really is as tight-knit as it sounds. Says Luppen, “There’s just a lot of support from Minnesota musicians … A lot of people think it’s really hard in the Midwest to make it as a band and that there aren’t a lot of opportunities. But I feel like Minnesota’s changing the game when it comes to that.”
Luppen references the band’s recent network television debut on Conan as an example. “There were a lot of tweets from local acts we’ve looked up to congratulating us and supporting us like from Jeremy Messersmith, Trampled, and Low. And Atmosphere actually tweeted about us, which is pretty amazing.” He continues, “It’s a great scene and super supportive. Everybody’s got each other’s backs and you don’t find that in a lot of places.”
The band’s performance on Conan followed an exhausting, but explosive few days at South by Southwest. Both set the precedent for Hippo Campus’ debut EP Bashful Creatures, set to be re-released by New York’s indie label Grand Jury on May 5. The local influence still pervades, though, as Low’s Alan Sparhawk produced Bashful Creatures in Sept. 2014.
“Every time I work with [Sparhawk] I want to go back and listen to more of his music and understand more,” Allen exudes.