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In September of 2008, Newark band Hippocampus won our 4th annual Spark Summer Music Series, and with it a mass of cash and prizes, part of which was 10 hours of recording time at Milkboy Studios in Ardmore. The quintet is now ready to present "Take Me Back," a result of their recording efforts in EP format, to be released Nov. 28 at the Deer Park Tavern. We spoke with bassist Jason "Lumpy" Smith about the album.
So, how did the recording session go at Milkboy? "We really can't say enough about how professional and cool they were to work with at Milkboy. They have a great live room where we could all play simultaneously and see each other, even though we were being tracked individually. We recorded in one 10-hour day while they mixed, mastered and edited. You get a real live feel for the songs and that's a credit to them."
"Take Me Back" has got to be our favorite song, especially considering the line, There's a place/We used to play/It's called the Deer Park/In Newark, USA "Yeah, and it's definitely a shout to the old Deer Park, how it used to be back in the day when we were starting out. Of course, we love the new place and couldn't think of a better spot to have our EP release party. But you know, the old Deer Park, before the renovations took place, had a certain feel to it, with the grungy backroom, the train rumbling by and shaking the building. It's something we look back on fondly."
Pretty sure we heard some violin or fiddle in there as well, right? "Yeah, that's an electric violin, courtesy of Brian Fitzgerald, who sat in with us on that track. We do some DMB covers, so our music fits that violin/fiddle style."
When and where can we pick up the EP? "It won't be available until the Deer Park show, but after that it'll go for about $8 and can be purchased at myspace.com/hippocampus2."
If you want to be considered for the band bio feature, you must play original music, perform live in places other than your basement and have some recorded tracks readily available. Send your info to Holly Norton at hnorton@sparkweekly.com or Rob Kalesse at rkalesse@sparkweekly.com.
