Meet Hippo Campus.
Four dudes from Minnesota discovering the joys and woes of touring life. With their second EP “South” making its debut on October 2nd — they’re taking the country by storm.
Frontman Jake Luppen, guitarist Nathan Stocker, drummer Whistler Allen Stocker and bassist Zach Sutton are currently out on their second tour since releasing their debut EP “Bashful Creatures” in February, accompanying indie rock stars JR JR on a month-long stretch around the states. “10 days? Has it really only been 10 days?” – they say when I ask how long they’ve been living in their van. 14 more dates and they are done.
But they don’t get a break yet. On November 5th they’re heading back to the road on a quick jaunt around the East Coast. It’s their first headlining sprint, actually, taking fellow Minnesota natives Bad Bad Hats along with them.
Then, they get to chill out for the first time in almost a year.
“We have two months off to write and hang out in Zach’s basement” Nathan looks stoked. “It’s my favorite place in the world.”
There the four dudes will begin working on a full length album and play lots and lots of video games.
“What do you guys play?” I ask. “You know Super Smash Bros?”
Of course I do. Turns out Jake and I both play as Kirby. I’ll have to take ’em on sometime.
They rocked Great American on the 9th. The crowd was jumping around and yelling along for hits like “Suicide Saturday” and “Little Grace”. Being the only opener, they had a generous 45 minute set that left them drenched in sweat and the crowd satisfied. “Thanks so much!” Nathan yells, “this is so much cooler than the last time we were in SF.”
That last time being a show with So-Cal rockers The Mowglis. Being underage, they were kept prisoner in the green room during the show.
“It sucked. The day before we were relaxing in full body massage chairs in the Conan green rooms.” Whistler puts his hands behind his head and continues wearily “…and the next night we get kicked out of the venue after our set.”
Oh, but how rad is it that they played Conan? These guys have done a lot in under a year.
Back to LA they head after their short time here in the Bay, shooting a music video in this crazy heat during their days off. From what I gathered, they’re always busy.
As the night wrapped up I caught up with them outside the venue. The late night SF fog had begun rolling in and I worked to convince them to pick up some SF burritos. Since, you know … they don’t have what we have in the Twin Cities.
But they settled for pizza a block down on Larkin. Next time they come through we’ve got to force these dudes to grab a super carnitas burrito from Taqueria Cancun.
Getting to know Hippo Campus was great. They’re young, genuine and on the rise. If I were you I’d go get South and their debut album Bashful Creatures right now. Also, follow them on all the social media sites you check daily. They’re a witty group.
They’ll be back soon – but first they are heading to Europe supporting Little Comets in February. If you’re out on holiday, make sure you catch them.
For now, find everything you need to check out Hippo Campus on their website.
