Hippo Crush chat with Happy about their new, mesmerising alt-rock anthem, Man With No Shoes, lifted from their next LP.
Hippo Crush is a beloved alt-rock outfit hailing from Gracetown, WA. Since we last caught up with them over the launch of their sophomore record, Grass Fed, the crew has been busy playing live shows and chipping away at their third album which is slated for release in 2023.
Giving us an enticing glimpse into what we can expect, Hippo Crush have released Man With No Shoes, the first single from their forthcoming LP. This poignant, anthemic track shines a light on prevalent topics including the rising homelessness crisis and the importance of not judging books by their covers. As stated by the band, “you never know someone’s story by standing there and judging them.”
In celebration of the new release, Happy caught up with Hippo Crush who recently welcomed a new bandmate, ‘Pete the Postie’ on bass. The group filled us in on the making of their new single, their songwriting and production process, their upcoming third record, and playing zero-gravity gigs in space…
HAPPY: Thanks so much for chatting with us! What are you looking forward to this week?
HIPPO CRUSH: The end of work each day, some nice weather, few waves and a couple of beers…oh, and we got a new song coming out this week!
HAPPY: Congrats on your latest single, Man With No Shoes. It’s such a powerful track. Can you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind it, and what message you want to express to your listeners?
HIPPO CRUSH: The theme has to do with homelessness. You can’t always judge a book by its cover, and you never know someone’s story by standing there and judging them. There are a few other meanings in there, crew will figure it out if they have a listen.
HAPPY: What’s your songwriting and recording process like as a group?
HIPPO CRUSH: Quite painful most of the time. Some songs happen quickly and just work, while other songs are a pain in the arse and can take some time to get right.
HAPPY: Tell us about your suburb. What do you like/not like about where you live?
HIPPO CRUSH: We live on a farm out the back of Gracetown near Margaret River. The place is getting really busy which is good for crowd numbers at gigs but not good when ya going for a surf!
HAPPY: Tell us about your creative community.
HIPPO CRUSH: There are heaps of bands and arty farty people down here. There’s all kinds of events going on this way for artists these days, which makes things interesting and gives you plenty of opportunities to look at and listen to different forms of art.
HAPPY: What’s something someone has said about your music that you hold close to you?
HIPPO CRUSH: A couple of our songs, Release Me and Can You Hear Me Now? which were written about suicide and dementia have helped some friends close to us when they experienced a loss. Having them say that it helped them through that period is a nice compliment and I guess it’s a nice thing that the music touched someone.
HAPPY: What do you have planned in the way of live shows these coming months?
HIPPO CRUSH: We have a few shows lined up over the summer but are still booking. We have a new bass player in the band, ‘Pete the Postie’, so we will be good to go at the start of next year!
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HAPPY: If you could be anywhere in the world right now playing a show, where would you want to be?
HIPPO CRUSH: Probably the international space station. We’d like to be the first band to perform a zero-gravity gig. We’ve been writing to NASA for years but they never get back to us for some reason…
HAPPY: What’s in store for 2023? Are there any other new projects or upcoming releases on the horizon that we can look forward to?
HIPPO CRUSH: We’re going to keep playing and finishing off our 3rd album which we’ve been working hard on for a while. Man With No Shoes is our first song release from our 3rd album, and we plan to hopefully bring out a new song every few months. Watch this space, and follow us on YouTube and social media platforms for updates!
HAPPY: Thanks for the chat!
HIPPO CRUSH: Thank you, anytime!
Listen to Man With No Shoes via YouTube below.
Interviewed by Amy Davidson.
Photos supplied.
