The Hippos were an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
rock band formed in 1995 in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, and disbanded in 2002. The band released three full-length albums. Their early work is best classified as part of the third wave of
ska music, or as
ska-punk
Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. (sometimes spelled skacore) is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hard ...
, though in the later years of their career the band transitioned to a more synthesizer-driven
power pop
Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, an ...
and rock sound.
Band history
Formation
The Hippos formed in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
in 1995 with a lineup of
Ariel Rechtshaid on
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
and
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...
, James Bairian on
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
, Louis Castle on
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
, Danny Rukasin on
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...
s, Roman Flyscher on
saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...
, James' older brother Brandon Bairian on auxiliary percussion, and Kyle Briggs on
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...
. They self-released two
cassette demos entitled ''Spreading the Cheese'' and ''Attack of the Killer Cheese'' and began playing shows around southern
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, establishing themselves among a prolific
ska scene including bands such as
Reel Big Fish,
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. For most of their career, the band has consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. Since the mid-1990s, ...
,
Buck-O-Nine
Buck-O-Nine is an American ska punk band which was formed in San Diego in 1991. The band has toured internationally and released several albums and EPs, as well as appearing on compilations and film soundtracks. During the mid-to-late 1990s, t ...
,
Dance Hall Crashers,
Save Ferris, and
The Aquabats.
'' Forget the World''
By 1996, the band added Rich Zahniser, formerly of The Goodwin Club, on trombone and had attracted the attention of
Fueled by Ramen Records
Fueled by Ramen LLC is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by 300 Elektra Entertainment. The label, founded in Gainesville, Florida in 1996, is now based in New York City.
History
John Janick conceived of the l ...
and Stiff Dog Records and entered the studio with producer
Loren Israel
Loren Israel is a Los Angeles-based music producer and record executive who specializes in developing independent artists. A manager and former A&R executive at Capitol Records, Israel is best known for working with bands such as Jimmy Eat World, ...
to record their first album, ''
Forget the World''. Jointly released February 1997 through Fueled by Ramen and Stiff Dog Records, the album was essentially a traditional
ska punk
Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. (sometimes spelled skacore) is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hard ...
effort focusing on upbeat tempos and heavy brass instrumentation. It afforded the band their first national tours at a time when ska and
punk rock were gaining national attention. The band toured on and off in support of ''Forget the World'' for over a year. In 1998, the band's relationship with Stiff Dog Records ended and the record was re-pressed, this time by
Vagrant Records
Vagrant Records is an American record label based in California. It was founded in 1995 by Rich Egan and Jon Cohen. The label focuses on rock, but features artists in a variety of other genres including folk, soul, electronic, and pop. It is h ...
. Around this time saxophone player Roman Fleysher and auxiliary percussion player Brandon Bairian both left the band, with Roman going on to join
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (informally referred to as The Bosstones and often stylized as The Mighty Mighty BossToneS) were an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. From the band's inception, lead vocalist Dick ...
.
'' Heads Are Gonna Roll''
By 1999 the band had signed to major label
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner ...
and released their second album, ''
Heads Are Gonna Roll''. Musically the album found the band transitioning to a more power pop sound, using fewer ska rhythms and instead incorporating
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
s. It was their most successful album and their only major-label release. The song "Wasting My Life" received airplay on some radio stations and had a music video directed by The Malloys
The_Malloys. The band toured the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
in support of the album, including stints on the
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touri ...
during 1999 and 2000.
Final Days and Beyond
In 2000, during tours in support of ''Heads Are Gonna Roll'', drummer Kyle Briggs left the group. Over the next few years the band rehearsed and recorded new songs with
Nate Morton and other drummers, expanding their use of
keyboards, synthesizers, and programming. However, the members drifted into other projects and it became apparent that the band would not continue on together. They quietly disbanded, but released a posthumous self-titled album in 2003 through
Olympic Records. The product of several months of recording demos in 2000, the album completed their transition from traditional ska punk to synth-driven power pop.
Following the band's breakup the members moved on to other musical projects. Louis Castle and James Bairian formed the now defunct band Dirty Little Secret, and co-founded and operate a commercial music house called
Headquarters Music. They have done film scoring, starting with the DTV title Connor's War in 2006, which was directed by Castle's father
Nick Castle. As The Gifted, the duo handle music production and composition, and scored
Southbound, a 2015 Horror anthology film. They have also scored or contributed music to
XX,
Body at Brighton Rock, and
Ready or Not.
Ariel Rechtshaid played in Dirty Little Secret for a brief period before joining the group
Foreign Born
Foreign-born (also non-native) people are those born outside of their country of residence. Foreign born are often non-citizens, but many are naturalized citizens of the country in which they live, and others are citizens by descent, typically ...
, but more recently has focused exclusively on music production and songwriting work, working with artists such as
Haim,
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson ...
,
Taking Back Sunday
Taking Back Sunday is an American rock band from Long Island, New York. The band was formed by guitarist Eddie Reyes and bassist Jesse Lacey in 1999. The band's members currently are Adam Lazzara (lead vocals), John Nolan (lead guitar, keybo ...
,
We Are Scientists,
Plain White Tees,
Cass McCombs
Cass McCombs (born November 13, 1977 in California) is an American musician and songwriter. Since 2002 he has released ten albums, an EP and a B-sides compilation under his own name. McCombs’ music blends elements of many styles including Amer ...
,
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...
, and many more. In addition to being nominated for
Producer of the Year Grammy at the
2014 Grammy Awards
The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid compe ...
, two albums featuring his production work have won
Grammy awards
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
:
Modern Vampires of the City by
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson ...
won
Best Alternative Music Album at the
2014 Grammy Awards
The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid compe ...
and
25 by
Adele
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...
won
Album of the Year at the
2017 Grammy Awards
The 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 12, 2017. The CBS network broadcast the show live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, ...
.
Rich Zahniser formed the now defunct band Southbase, performed as a touring member with several bands, and is active in music production and composition as one half of
The Trust.
Danny Rukasin became a band manager for developing artists
Hellogoodbye
Hellogoodbye (sometimes styled as hellogoodbye) is an American pop rock band that was formed in Huntington Beach, California in 2001 by singer Forrest Kline. They were signed to Drive-Thru Records and released their first full-length album ''Zom ...
,
Man Overboard
"Man overboard!" is an exclamation given aboard a vessel to indicate that a member of the crew or a passenger has fallen off of the ship into the water and is in need of immediate rescue. Whoever sees the person's fall is to shout, "Man overboa ...
,
For The Foxes, and more for
Working Group Artist Management.
Saxophone player Roman Fleysher went on to join
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (informally referred to as The Bosstones and often stylized as The Mighty Mighty BossToneS) were an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. From the band's inception, lead vocalist Dick ...
in 1998 and still occasionally plays with them.
Kyle Briggs went on to form the band Tripod, in which he played from 2000 to 2003. In 2006 he relocated to
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
where he released a solo album under the name Long Distance Runner and joined the bands Junkface and Pine. He has also acted as editor, sound mixer, producer, and composer as well.
Nate Morton, who drummed on some tracks on the Hippos (2003) and toured with the band in the US after the departure of Briggs, is now the drummer of the house band of
The Voice
The Voice may refer to:
Fictional entities
* The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics
* The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe
* The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...
, among many other accomplishments.
Garrett Ray, another of three drummers on The Hippos (2003), was the original drummer of Dirty Little Secret and Foreign Born, and is currently a frequent collaborator with Rechtshaid on the records he produces.
Blair Sinta, the final of the three drummers on The Hippos (2003) and the touring drummer for their final Australian tour, has toured with
Josh Grobin,
Alanis Morissette,
Annie Lennox, and
Stevie Nicks among many others, and now runs a home drum tracking business.
Members
Final lineup
*
Ariel Rechtshaid –
lead vocals,
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...
,
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
(1995–2002)
* James Bairian –
bass, backing vocals
(1995–2002)
* Blair Sinta – drums
(2000–2002); drums on ''
The Hippos
The Hippos were an American rock band formed in 1995 in Los Angeles, California, and disbanded in 2002. The band released three full-length albums. Their early work is best classified as part of the third wave of ska music, or as ska-punk, th ...
''
* Louis Castle –
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
, keyboards, backing vocals
(1995–2002)
* Danny Rukasin –
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...
(1995–2002)
* Rich Zahniser – trombone, keyboards, backing vocals
(1996–2002)
Previous members
* Roman Flyscher –
saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...
(1995-1997)
* Brandon Bairian – percussion
(1995-1997)
* Kyle Briggs –
drums (1995–2000)
*
Nate Morton – drums
(2000); drums on ''
The Hippos
The Hippos were an American rock band formed in 1995 in Los Angeles, California, and disbanded in 2002. The band released three full-length albums. Their early work is best classified as part of the third wave of ska music, or as ska-punk, th ...
''
* Garrett Ray – drums
(2000); drums on ''
The Hippos
The Hippos were an American rock band formed in 1995 in Los Angeles, California, and disbanded in 2002. The band released three full-length albums. Their early work is best classified as part of the third wave of ska music, or as ska-punk, th ...
''
Timeline
Discography
Albums
Singles
Non-album tracks
Demos
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hippos
Musical groups established in 1995
American ska musical groups
Musical groups from Los Angeles