VidEoHippos is kevin "cmd-r" and jim "grgl" , but we are part of a larger group of people who help us out with ideas and content. don't work in isolation. thanks to all who have joined up so far, consciously or not: robocop, moss man, everyone and everything in wham city, wildfire wildfire, our erstwhile screamer/lab rat paul szewczyk, patron and law-makerbreaker matt vanek (sorry i sawed the ampeg but it looks awesome),jason/monitor recsvideo and other artz contributorz: kenji atsuka, meredith moore, brian narwhalz, todd triplett, posttypography, justin barnes, d'Metrius rice, matt sutton, jason balicki, gabe martinez, jordan thomsen, billy;vocal inspirators: cizuka seki, lizz king, sam herring, trav and john, ian and reilly, bird names, actual living birds, jordan, george w. bush, skeletor; family: Rich O'Meara, Patsy and Maire, all the Tripletts, O'Mearas and Byrnes. .
anyone with something valuable to add can be in this "band."
6.9.08
we made it back from europe alive, thanks to everyone who helped us along the way, especially Dom who was our pilot. Also, thanks to everybody who came to our show in baltimore last night despite the hurricane. We won't be playing again until after the Round Robbin' Tour Right now we are working on a new album, and will be experimenting with the line-up and instrumentation of our live shows: But don't fret, the medium is still the message, the performer is not the focus, the content is not important, we're just building this home out of wire and sheets covered in light. . . . check out some demos of our new songs on the audio page. Also, check out amazing new albums by friends of ours: FUTURE ISLANDS: WAVE LIKE HOME on UPSET THE RHYTHM(vinyl soon on wham city records) BIRD NAMES: OPEN RELATIONSHIP on UNSOUND(also coming soon on wham city vinyl) ADVENTURE and LESSER G ALVAREZ on CARPARK RECORDS
4.4.08 We just finished recording a new track, "Bonehenge." Currently, its only available on INSOUND.COM
It's part of a promotion called Give More Get More. When you buy our album from them, a little bit of the money goes to our touring fund, and you get this bonus track. Thanks Insound! Speaking of touring, we are headed out soon- In May we hit the NE US and eastern Canada, along with our pals dd/mm/yyyy from toronto, and then on to England and Ireland in June. details here
11.2.08 we are not hibernating. jim has been working like a hog at the price club, recording awesome new tracks, some for VH and some for his rad new solo project romantic states, while kevin trekked the country on a separate drumming mission Now we are both in the same time zone and ready to tear through the year. we are fresh caught (never frozen) on the east coast or SXSW in the next two months. . also on the shores of Future Islands, two of which live in the Sea of Bonehenge. . .
26.11.07 NewsFlush. . . Future Islands is poised to move to baltimore, so get some new shoes. Also, Despite our previous unkind words, we somehow made it onto the Best Buy website? Just in time for Santa. how convenient. the world is a vampire. we're basically done for 2007, thanks everyone who watched and listened. Look for new and improved videohippos on grocer's shelves in two-thousand-hate.
07.10.07 tour is over, for now. hell yes, back in baltimore. almost two whole weeks of real life. feeling clean and loved. avoiding gas stations. rest. band practice. rest. we have alot ahead: shows with ddmmyyyy, thoughtful tour with sewn leather, recording, new one-sided 12", European tour? huh?
26.9.07 canada is rad, except were it has been tainted by US fast food, box stores, and anglocentrism. . . compare mcD's with tim horton's, or best buy with future shop? These are only the superficial differences. Consider bilinguality, bike lanes, bruce mcCulloch? listen to ddmmyyyy and you might start to get an idea. wakeupwakeupwakeupwakeup! I was awake all night in Toronto. Nuit Blanche.
29.7.07 On a little break before hitting the road again, taking a breath to realize how much exposure we've gotten ourselves into. Its a little distacting, similar to the realization that your fly is down while climbing a ladder in a crowded room. We're just gonna stay on the ladder for now and not worry about getting the Spins. we did get a review that was pretty spot on for once- on pitchfork- having context makes a big difference! without it you're making a fucking mess. . .
on that note lets listen to some double dagger. see you out there!
5.31.07
Major apologies for pre-tour cynicism. Less than a week into tour we've been reminded that bars aren't always depressing places. Local 506, New French Bar, Bottletree, and Drunken Unicorn are all smartly operated, personal, and efficient. Keep it simple, don't spread yourself thin over space- power gets diluted and wasted. Dan D illustrated that so well in birmingham when he asked the crowd (that was a mite wee to pack the sizable room) to all squeeze onto the stage. When we can all smell each other and rub elbows, we work together with the right ratio of people to space to sweat, held together with pulses of sound and light. Thats Wham City I guess. Start your own tribe wherever you are, you don't have to live with that awkward alienation of department stores, giant clubs, luxury loft apartments, hospitals, schools, arenas, Starbucks, McDonalds, jail. Keep those warehouses, rowhouses, stoops, hollowed-out buses, modest commercial venues, farmhouses, squats, libraries, forests, and caves ready, working, and occupied.
5.24.07
Mild apologies to anyone who was expecting to see us at the depot last sunday -our camera (which contains all the video and beats) malfunctioned- but you should have come to the ill eagle show earlier in the day. In other bar news we will be spending the next two months behind bars in 25 states, come visit us! Well, not all the shows are at bars- sometimes we get to interact with sober people. If you are one of these people please wade through the pools of alcohol being sold and consumed so we can hang out and prevent a total descent into insanity. we have a video projector and sleeping bags, you have the media and a roof. harry potter book six.
3.04.07
unbeast the leash hits (finally) commercial outlets on june 19, but we'll be having the release party in B-more in may, then going on a beastmaster tour with Dan Deacon all summer. In the meantime we are touring with Wham City bros to SXSW, the west, and midwest in March/April.
12.25.06
USA christmas is a monster. The only present we have is our recently-finished album, unbeast the leash. drums and guitar recorded by hugh mcelroy, the rest engineered and mixed by us. mastered by algernon quashie. artwork by narwhalz. should be out in april? on monitor.
9.01.06
summer popped. we started off in April saying farewell to the MICA kids and the old Wham city at the second round-robin show with ponytail, shodakeh, raw bear, death set, blood baby, ecstatic sunshine, butt stomach, and dan deacon. Footage on mice pace Then in may we hit the road to play Toronto's Over the Top Fest, opening for japanther at sneaky dee's. thanks to eric warner. . On the way home from canada we played on WFMU radio courtesy of our main breau OCDJ. later that month more main breaus, Killer Whales, traveled from chicago and played with us at Current Gallery in bmore. (My mom and my sister are big fans now) The next day we followed them to greenville NC and played an awesome show at the Spazz with dance masters Future Islands. June saw us at DC staple Kansas House with Sentai, Creeping Nobodies, and Ghost to Falco. Also in DC we danced with Dan Deacon, Person, and Bird Names- more chicago soulmates.
July 7th we played probably our best show in Bmore yet, at Floristree. . The end of July was consumed by one Justin Barnes, AKA Werewolf Unit. As part of his thesis at SCAD, he recreated the round-robin show on a soundstage with us, Dan Deacon, Butt Stomach, Blood Baby, Santa Dads, Lizz King, OCDJ, Prog Dogs, and the Boo-Boos. DVD forthcoming. We ate all of Justin's bank account, swam in the ocean and covered his apartment in sand, but somehow we are still friends. Truly a solid breau. Thanks to him and his whole crew. A good chunk of August was taken up traveling to Chicago with Death Set, Dan Deacon, and Double Dagger for the Mauled By Tigers Fest, which was a blast except for the temporary breakdown of my video projector. Thanks Jason, MBT crew, and the Shape Shoppe. . . Our latest bmore adventure was at Sonar with Ponytail, and Publicist (seb of trans am). Now we are working on recording (with live drums) with our friend Hugh McElroy in our old hood, Columbia Heights, where we started, three years ago. Circle of Life.
3.7.06
we've got new songs/recordings in the works. we should have a cd/dvd double sleeve thingy out by summer, and a one-sided 12" coming out on rococo records after that. in three weeks we're getting in a mini-tank with ecstatic sunshine and blazing through the south. in may we head north. check show dates and forget passive viewing. . .
Dec 28 05 start the tour. a big circle, or downward spiral? we are psyched to get off the east coast.
Aug 20 05, our friend Jason Balicki invited us to do a performance/installation in his new garage art space, Barn Barnacle. We bombarded and apparently the Washington Post agreed, they even took a picture. see here
