Hippo Campus Announces Second Album BAMBI and a World Tour
By: Kaitlin Milligan Aug. 23, 2018
When Hippo Campus formed in 2013, their intentions were pure and simple. "We were in high school and the main idea was, 'Let's start a band and make our friends dance,'" Zach Sutton from the band recalls. "There was no real context to what we were doing-it was just total creative joy."
But over the past five years, that context has shifted dramatically. The world around them warped into something bleak and unsteady, and reckoning with mental health issues became more and more crucial. On their sophomore album Bambi, the St. Paul, Minnesota-bred band navigate that upheaval with deliberate self-reflection. The result is a selection of songs that drift into much darker terrain, but unfold with a frenetic yet fragile beauty that makes even the most painful moments feel glorious.
When asked about the title track, Jake offered the following:
"'Bambi' was the last song added to the record and potentially the most elusive. We wrote the original idea in our practice space with a drum machine, op-1, guitar and rhodes. We sat with session for several months before we had the major melodic breakthroughs. The lyrics deal with the challenges of being a friend to those around you when your mental health is getting in the way."
Not only driven by exacting introspection, Bambi was also shaped by cultural shifts, including the #MeToo Movement. "That really made us take a look at how toxic masculinity has influenced the way we see ourselves and the world overall," says Jake Luppen. "In the past we might have been apprehensive about being super-vulnerable, but now we're more aware of how important it is to come forward about dealing with depression or anxiety. Because if more men are able to do that, they might be less likely to express those feelings as anger or violence."
Partly recorded at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio in Chicago, Bambi finds Hippo Campus working again with producer BJ Burton (Bon Iver, Low, Francis and the Lights), who handled production on their 2017 full-length debut Landmark. And in sculpting Bambi's distinctly inventive arrangements, Hippo Campus significantly expanded their use of drum machines and synth.
Throughout Bambi, Hippo Campus match their relentless self-examination with a joyfully adventurous sonic approach, ultimately transforming the emotional experience of the problems they're exploring. One of the band's greatest hopes for Bambi is that the album might help others in dealing with their own pain. "I've always considered the responsibility of art to be representing your specific experience," says Sutton. "We're saying, 'This is what I'm doing now, this what I'm living like.' It's about sharing what you're going through, so maybe someone else will feel less lonely."
And as Nathan Stocker points out, Bambi may find a particular connection with those feeling shaken up by the chaos of current times. "The only thing I'm sure about with this album is how unsure it is," he says. "I want people to feel as confused as we are about everything, because confusion can be an interesting thing. When you don't totally understand what's going on, you never stop thinking and questioning and trying to figure things out for yourself. I think a lot of good can come from that."
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES
10/05 - Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater ^
10/06 - Chicago, IL @ Riviera
10/08 - Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot
10/09 - St. Louis, MO @ Pageant ^
10/10 - Covington, KY @ Madison Theater ^
10/12 - Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works ^
10/13 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade ^
10/15 - Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel ^
10/16 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall ^
10/18 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
10/19 - New York, NY @ Terminal 5 ^
10/21 - Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom ^
10/22 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE ^
10/24 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club ^
10/27 - Boston, MA @ House of Blues ^
10/28 - New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall ^
10/30 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle ^
10/31 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle ^
11/02 - Birmingham, AL @ Iron City Music Hall ^
11/03 - New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues ^
11/05 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Jones Assembly ^
11/06 - San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger ^
11/07 - Dallas, TX @ Canton Hall ^
11/09 - Austin, TX @ Stubb's ^
11/10 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall ^
11/23 - Minneapolis, MN @ Palace Theatre
11/24 - Minneapolis, MN @ Palace Theatre
01/25 - Kansas City, MO @ The Truman
01/26 - Denver, CO @ Ogden
01/28 - Santa Fe, NM @ Sunshine Theater
01/29 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
02/01 - LA, CA @ Novo
02/02 - San Francisco, CA @ Fox Theatre
02/04 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
02/06 - Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theater
02/07 - Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theater
02/08 - Vancouver, BC @ Imperial
^ w/ Districts
UK & EUROPEAN DATES
02/14 - Manchester, UK @ 02 Ritz
02/15 - Glasgow, UK @ The Garage
02/16 - Newcastle, UK @ The Riverside
02/18 - Birmingham, UK @ Institute
02/19 - Dublin, IE @ Dublin Academy Green Room
02/21 - London, UK @ O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
02/23 - Bristol, UK @ SWX
02/24 - Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
02/26 - Brussels, BE @ Botanique / Rotonde
02/27 - Cologne, DE @ Luxor
02/28 - Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie
03/1 - Amsterdam, AN @ Tolhuis (Paradiso Noord)
03/3 - Berlin, DE @ Lido
03/4 - Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
03/5 - Copenhagen, DK @ Hotel Cecil
Photo Credit: Pooneh Ghana
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