Atwood Magazine reconnects with Hippo Campus’ Nathan Stocker for a candid conversation about the making of their fourth studio album ‘Flood,’ braving sincerity, and dealing with grief.

Stream: ‘Flood’ – Hippo Campus

We’ve been making ourselves at home in this confession booth, slowly but surely.

There are moments when the flood comes.

Windows break open, the air is knocked from your lungs, torrents of water sweep your feet off the ground. Everything becomes waterlogged. For the members of Midwest indie rock band, Hippo Campus, this happened at the release party for their third album, LP3 (2022, Grand Jury Music). The night was full, the celebration was going – then a voice came through the phone: Their longtime friend was unexpectedly dead.

Flood - Hippo Campus — Flood – Hippo Campus

“Why couldn’t I save a dear friend from going out in a hurricane of lightning?” Jake Luppen sings in “Everything At Once” from their fourth and newest album, Flood, released September 20^th, 2024, by Psychic Hotline. It was the band’s first and closest encounter with death, the stakes of music and friendship had never felt so high.

Determined to create their most profound album to date, Hippo Campus committed to a period of sobriety and started going to therapy as a group, writing over 100 songs in less than a year. They worked and bled and wrote. By the summer of 2023, Jake Luppen (lead vocals and guitar) had to face another reality. In the green room of a sold-out amphitheater show, he admitted to the band he wasn’t happy with what they’d written. They agreed the songs lacked soul, so they scrapped it all and started again.

Hippo Campus © Brit O'Brien — Hippo Campus © Brit O’Brien

Flood is the result of these cold plunges: Everything washed away in the torrents of reality until there is nothing left but their ontological selves.

Taking their trademark confessionalism to the highest level, Hippo Campus stripped off their sardonic smiles and personas of indifference, braving sincerity:

Breaking down again, I’m struggling
But I’m not too proud to admit it

– “Prayer Man,” Hippo Campus

Produced by Caleb Wright (Charly Bliss, Samia) and Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Waxahatchee), the album’s sound and subject matter is remarkably stripped back and grounded. With influences from alt rock, psychedelia, and folk, the album’s overarching genre feels accessibly pop-rock. Maybe this is a return to their first mission – “to make our friends dance, and have a good time,” as Nathan Stocker (lead guitar, vocals) told us two years ago – trading their teenage angst and freneticism for mature existentialism and optimism. Even in their anxious “Paranoid,” they admit, “I wanna give this life all that I have in me.”

While chatting with Nathan Stocker, it becomes clear that this direction towards earnestness in Flood does not sacrifice complexity or subversion. Despite “Corduroy”s serenade sound, it is actually a story about dissociation and addiction: “Corduroy was born out of the feeling that the person wearing your clothes is a complete stranger, a part of yourself you don’t recognize anymore, the manifestation of your addiction as a demon taking over the agency of your body.”

Though the average song BPM is slower – with the lament of “Prayer Man,” its heel-dragging bass line; the introspection of “Corduroy” and “Closer,” with their fingerpicked guitar; and “I’ve Got Time”s chord progression reminiscent of Cold Play’s “Yellow” – the album retains Hippo Campus’ characteristic sonic invention, cathartic builds, hooky melodies, and immersive arrangements (highlights: the feverish adoration of “Madman” and “Forget It”). Their melodic and rhythmic unpredictability shines forth in “Slipping Away” when unaccompanied acoustic piano and vocals are interrupted by quick drums and strummed guitar, breaking into a propulsive upbeat melody. I laughed at the song’s happy irony, Luppen speedily singing the chorus’ advice to slow down and “trust in the way, listen to the quiet.”

The album is full of lyrical aphorisms like that. Though they may feel trite in isolation, they are well-earned after over a decade of music-making. Hippo Campus has learned their lessons the hard way, from burnout to bereavement to substance abuse. As Stocker tells Atwood Magazine, the band’s ambition resulted in the “repression of any and everything deemed irrelevant to the work itself…creating emotional instability and tunnel vision” which wasn’t sustainable for them as bandmates or friends. It’s refreshing to hear them sing of letting go, trading anxious ambition for gratitude:

If this is as good as it gets
I’ll be more than fine.

– “I Got Time,” Hippo Campus

Or, as Stocker calls it: “serenity prayer type shit.”

Ultimately the band’s mission remains the same: To self-examine and give the gift of articulation to their listeners.

As Stocker tells us, “We’ve been making ourselves at home in this confession booth… [Our role] is like a one-sided mirror. We twist and stretch in front of the glass, studying our movements, how we look, trying to consolidate the entireties of ourselves into a song/album.” This mirror is full of water and full of light.

Below, Nathan Stocker speaks with Atwood Magazine about the making of Flood, braving sincerity, and dealing with grief.

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:: stream/purchase Flood here ::

:: connect with Hippo Campus here ::

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A CONVERSATION WITH HIPPO CAMPUS

Atwood Magazine: Thanks so much for taking the time, and for making Flood! It felt very different from your two previous LPs, sonically and tonally. It has your characteristic confessionalism, but there’s a groundedness and sentimentality coming through too. Would you say so?

Nathan Stocker: Yes, we’ve been making ourselves at home in this confession booth, slowly but surely. Developing a comprehensible and direct lyrical approach was a necessity. We wanted to feel understood, both by others and ourselves.

I love the new sounds in this album – the sunny, pop-y feeling of ‘Slipping Away’ and ‘Madman,’ early 2000s rock sound of ‘Brand New’ and ‘I Got Time’ – who were your musical influences and inspirations for the album?

Nathan Stocker: With every album we make there’s a wide spectrum of artists that lay the foundational influence, musical and otherwise. For production references we kept coming back to Rubin and his work with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Achieving a raw sonic quality to match the nudity of the lyrical content felt natural and exciting.

You give the gift of articulation – “I'm struggling but I'm not too proud to admit it” (‘Prayer Man’) – asking for help, expressing hard feelings. Is mental health something that you feel a responsibility to speak into?

Nathan Stocker: The responsibility is ours but in service to ourselves first and foremost. It seems to us that our role in the exchange with anyone listening to our music is like a one-sided mirror. We twist and stretch in front of the glass, studying our movements, how we look, trying to consolidate the entireties of ourselves into a song/album. Gaining that flexibility in order to truly see and understand who we are in that moment takes work and honest conversations with each other as a band. All the while, the audience is on the other side watching.

How do you access such emotional clarity when you’re writing the lyrics? Is it collaborative or solitary?

Nathan Stocker: Honesty. Leading with your gut and following the muse’s lead. Don’t try to edit too early in the process or you’ll run out of steam before you get it all out. That’s what we call creative constipation. It’s generally on a case-by-case basis, but as songwriters we’ve found that the individual’s honesty is most effectively conveyed when written in a solitary place. And even that is dependent on what the song is asking for. Some tunes need a lot of collective eyes on them, but others are great on first draft.

So much of indie rock/alternative music is coated in layers of irony, which appears in your previous work – but it feels like you have been braving sincerity more lately. Do you feel this is true?

Nathan Stocker: Totally. Braving sincerity has a nice ring to it.

Don’t try to edit too early in the process or you’ll run out of steam before you get it all out. That’s what we call creative constipation.

A lot of your songs deal with the pressures of artistic success, trying to continually top yourself, what is your relationship to “success” and “pressure” right now?

Nathan Stocker: Great question, tough to answer. Ever-changing. Serenity Prayer type shit. We recognize that whatever pressure we feel in this line of work is typically self-prescribed and the same goes for success.

‘Everything At Once’ feels like a critique of the protestant work ethic, white knuckling it and overworking – or at least embracing a slower pace in life. Could you expand a little on that?

Nathan Stocker: A common and often devastating hurdle when we’re on that grind is the repression of any and everything deemed irrelevant to the work itself. This often throws us off balance, creating emotional instability and tunnel vision. Just like the physical act of running, embracing a slower pace diminishes stress and further prevents potential injury. Sustainability, longevity…we’re in this for the long haul and we’ve all been assessing how to do that in a way that makes sense for us.

How do you find balance while you’re writing, producing, touring? I’m sure it’s a lot.

Nathan Stocker: Exercise, meditation, and leaning into the fun. Respecting everyone’s privacy is a big one. Juggling self-awareness with the awareness of others can be really difficult, but allowing grace with ourselves when we fall short is crucial.

I was so moved by the lines “You gotta lay down sometimes, be patient sometimes, feel everything at once” (‘Everything At Once’) and “Trust in the way, listen to the quiet” (‘Slipping Away’) – how did you come to these realizations?

Nathan Stocker: For us it often feels like we learned things the hard way but that’s probably a symptom of our narrow self-analytical scope. We’re fortunate to have incredible friends and mentors in and outside the music industry to help guide us through life’s many navigations. To change how things are now with the hope for a better future requires a willingness to change. Distilling the grieving process is dizzying when looking at the whole thing, but far more manageable when tearing it off in small bites. We’ve found it effective to start with answering simple questions, establish a dialogue, and allow ourselves the emotional legroom to chart a course forward.

Why did you choose ‘Flood’ to be the title song of the LP? What is the flood?

Nathan Stocker: When I stopped drinking, I quickly picked up an addiction to writing songs, cushioning it with a desire to justify my entirely self-perceived social standing as a songwriter. A year and half and hundreds of song ideas later, the rains settled, and I realized the problem wasn’t any vice (so retrospectively obvious) but the hidden anger nestled beneath those vices.

Getting dry wasn’t a resolution, simply the first step in realizing…the flood only happened because the dam broke. At every turn, we were up to our necks in the process, in doubt and second guessing, up to our necks in everything we brought to the table. Aiming for regulated clarity on a daily basis, accepting our limited time, and achieving a balanced lifestyle; those are the newfound goals.

The flood only happened because the dam broke. At every turn, we were up to our necks in the process, in doubt and second guessing, up to our necks in everything we brought to the table…

I’m curious about the religious motifs throughout your albums. This record has ‘Prayer Man’ and Jesus mentioned in ‘Everything At Once’ – could you talk a bit about your choices here?

Nathan Stocker: It’s less about religion and more about faith. In a songwriting context we usually reference the figureheads we were personally raised on here in midwestern America. Receptacles for our cosmic pleas for help. It feels good to pray, to practice awareness, to recognize one’s own size and the limitations to that size. To meditate on what you need and ask for that help. Plus it makes for visual songs. We’ve always been drawn to biblical imagery as a useful creative tool.

It’s less about religion and more about faith… It feels good to pray, to practice awareness, to recognize one’s own size and the limitations to that size.

“Corduroy” is a beautiful ballad, very tangible imagery in it. What is the story behind the song?

Nathan Stocker: Corduroy was born out of the feeling that the person wearing your clothes is a complete stranger, a part of yourself you don’t recognize anymore, the manifestation of your addiction as a demon taking over the agency of your body. Oftentimes that feeling was something I would lean into, prefer or favor, to combat the discomfort of my reality. I didn’t want to recognize myself. The song is partly from the perspective of the demon commandeering my life, making themselves at home, and subsequently destroying me.

Did Jake write any of these songs for his fiancée, Raffaella? Congratulations to them both!

Nathan Stocker: ‘Forget It.’

‘Tooth Fairy,’ ‘Madman’ and ‘Forget It’ feel like Hippo Campus classics with their creative melodies, hooky rhythms, and playful imagery – but you are always reinventing your sound. Do you feel like there is a Hippo Campus ‘essence,’ or do you try not to think like that?

Nathan Stocker: We don’t think about it when we’re making stuff, but it’s interesting, the concept of what makes a HC song a HC song. Maybe the name Hippo Campus is just a filter through which we sift our emotional and creative output? I think the essence of this band has become less and less privatized over the years. Like an IPO, now there’s a shared ownership of the thing in addition to the group of teenagers making music in our parents’ basements. Obviously, the source of the music has stayed the same, but through all the changes we’ve made behind the scenes over the years; ambitions changing and everything following the inception of the band, the “essence” of the band isn’t solely in our hands.

While we’re here, can we briefly talk about the Wasteland EP? What made you branch into the country-pop-rock sound realm?

Nathan Stocker: It’s not a country record. Not even close. Wasteland was an aesthetic experiment brought on by the fact that everyone and their grandmother was donning a cowboy hat and we were pressured to sell tickets. The songs on Wasteland were written with the idea of a full-length record in mind but were repurposed. Overall, it was a frustrating process. But we’ve always been influenced by country music and instrumentation.

Indie Rock Outlaws Hippo Campus Return with ‘Wasteland’

:: EP REVIEW ::

Maybe the name Hippo Campus is just a filter through which we sift our emotional and creative output? … The “essence” of the band isn’t solely in our hands.

In Flood, it feels like you’re looking over your whole lives, considering what you have learnt from it all – what do you feel you have learnt over the nearly 10 years since your debut EP?

Nathan Stocker: Everyone’s winging this shit, don’t think for a second you have it all figured out.

What are you looking forward to at this point in your lives?

Nathan Stocker: We’re just grateful to still be here! It’s already been such a wild ride, and we’re excited to watch this record grow as we hit the road. Thank you so much!

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