Despite their upbeat band name, Hippo Campus dive into topics such as depression and isolation, mixed with self-deluded fantasy. The name refers to the part of the brain in the temporal lobe, which plays an important part in the roles of learning and memory. Hippo Campus the band channel deep feelings, and by the use of poetic writing infused with light production and electronic elements, they create worlds where intense emotions are able to be released.
Comprising frontman Jake Luppen, co-frontman and guitarist Nathan Stocker, bassist Zach Sutton, and drummer Whistler Allen, the band met at St Paul’s High School back in 2013, and, following the discovery of their shared love of Two Door Cinema Club, and Vampire Weekend, they started the band. They started off really well, appearing on Conan the following year, performing from their debut EP, ‘Bashful Creatures’. They honed their craft, and released their debut full-length album, ‘Landmark’, in 2017, which charted in the Billboard Top 200. Hippo Campus are presently headlining a world tour, and working on their second studio album, ‘Bambi’, set for release later this year.
The title track is an introspective song, which has already seen 2.1 million streams on Spotify and been added to some of its major playlists including New Music Friday, Pop Rising, Mood Booster, and Ultimate Indie. The song has also seen airplay on alternative radio, including Sirius XMs Alt Nation, and Spectrum, as well as garnering support from FADED, Billboard, Paste, and MTV, among many others. The music video is also making waves, with over 800K YouTube views already.
The clip for ‘Bambi’ sees a blue landscape painted in an upside-down world, with various visions, verging on hallucinatory. Reality is twisted and blurred, while a purgatory-like state fills the background. ‘Bambi’ represents the minds of the band, with the fun and light visuals contrasted by the heavy lyrics. The video has been directed by Kyle Sauer, and portrays Jake feelings of isolationin his world, but not wanting to seek help, for fear of bringing down others with him. The video ends with curtains closing, but there’s still unresolved conflicts, as Jake falls deeper and deeper into the black and blue.
Check out Hippo Campus on their official website, Instagram, and Facebook.
