A band bio revelation that a group formed in high school can suggest a jaw-dropping span of time. For the members of Minnesota quartet Hippo Campus, the perspective of their high-school formation is shaped by the fact that it came during the fifth year of Barack Obama’s presidency. And while the Indie Pop/Rock foursome’s history has essentially taken place in just the past five years, the group has built an impressive fan base (every upcoming show on the band’s current tour is sold out, including its Cincinnati date) and accomplished a great deal in that short timeframe.
In the beginning, vocalist/guitarist Jake Luppen and bassist Zach Sutton were in a St. Paul band called Blatant Youth, while guitarist Nathan Stocker and drummer Whistler Allen played in Northern, two groups that often found themselves on the same bill. Eventually the four musicians broke away to form Hippo Campus. The new bandmates began recording while enrolled at the University of Minnesota, releasing their debut EP, Bashful Creatures, in 2014, which attracted the interest of Grand Jury Records.
With a label and management lined up, Hippo Campus had a breakout year in 2015. Grand Jury reissued Bashful Creatures and released the South EP, helping to earn the group high profile touring and festival opportunities, radio airplay and TV exposure.
With the increased national profile, the group dropped its first full-length, Landmark, in early 2017. It was lauded by an exponentially expanding fan community and critics from outlets like NPR, BBC and Noisey, who appreciated the maturity and expansion of the band’s big, synth-laden AltRock sound and the lyrics’ smart critique of things like social media’s effects. Last fall, Hippo Campus released a third EP, warm glow, which could well serve as a preview for the next full-length, an album that has the potential to rocket the foursome to even loftier heights.
