Hippo Campus: "Nathan’s grandpa said that in order to make great music, you have to be a good person first"

There comes a point in every band’s existence when the youthful exuberance and playfulness of their early days gives way to something more refined and considered. The very best bands though retain both, and as buzzy Minnesota five-piece Hippo Campus ready their second album ‘Bambi’, they’re showing that you can have fun while still focusing on the big issues.

‘Bambi’ is a significant step forward for the band and arrives into a world drastically different five years since they formed in 2013. Their debut album ‘Landmark’ was full of bouncy enthusiasm and boyish charm, but this time they felt compelled to do something a bit different and go that little bit deeper.

The fuel provided for their symbolic torching took some different forms. Primarily it involved a change in working methods. “Our process changed quite a bit for this record,” explains Jake. “In the past, we’d always written songs as a full band in the room. We made three records - the two EP’s and ‘Landmark’ utilising one facet of the band where we were able to all jam together. For this album, we decided to try a different process which was we each wrote songs and brought them in. We were able to spend more time crafting chord progressions and melodies.”