Hyperpotamus

Hyperpotamus is a London-based multi-vocal solo artist from Madrid, Spain. He makes music using only his voice, a few microphones and a loop pedal. After 10 years of playing in bands as a drummer and pianist H grew weary of the whole scene, ditched the eternal cycle of dragging drums from one unsavoury dive to another, and went solo, big time. Rehearsing his new act in the underground tunnels of Madrid’s metro stations, H confounded unsuspecting passers-by. Before long he was opening at more conventional venues for local bands and the Hyperpota-buzz kicked off in Madrid and soon after, the whole country. Only 6 months after his first fling at busking H was playing in front of thousands of people all over Spain. In April 2009 he self-released his astounding debut album ‘Largo Bailon’ and has barely had time to draw a breath since. Hyperpotamus has played on the banks of the Danube, under a staircase in Amsterdam, at a squat in Berlin, a macro-discotheque in Lisbon, a railway station in London, a cruise ship in the middle of the Mediterranean, a flower shop in Paris, a Soviet People’s Palace in Bratislava, a saloon in Texas, Ceacescu’s Palace in Bucharest, a civic centre in Tijuana, under an organ pipe in Belfast, surrounded by skyscrapers in Los Angeles, at a retirement home in Bilbao, in a cave in Andalusia and in New York’s oldest bar......as well as more conventional festivals, SXSW, NXNE, CMJ Music Marathon, The Big Chill, Primavera, Benicassim, Canadian Music Fest, BAM, Wilsonic, Bratislava Jazz Days..... At the time of ‘Largo Bailon’ no distribution deal was in place, so H provided a special service, delivering the album personally to people’s houses on his bike. “People would email me asking for the album and I'd go to their house, have a tea with them and sell them my CD.” In addition H has penned the soundtrack to a documentary on schizophrenia, the award winning ‘Paquita y Todo Lo Demás’, has covered Sonic Youth’s ‘Bull In The Heather, in front of Sonic Youth, is officially the Iberian Boss Loop Station Champion of 2010 and has opened for such diverse acts as Animal Collective, Scorpions, Two Gallants and Buck 65. Hyperpotamus makes use of his ‘one-man-band’ status to spread the word in the most extraordinary and remote places on earth. Unmindful of trends or pose, he continues to make headway through the sheer might of his music, relying on nothing more than heart, sweat and joie de vivre. A spectacle not be missed, Hyperpotamus will spare you the tedium of revisiting the usual stage antics. Hyperpotamus’ new album ‘Delta’ is released by El Molino on January 9th 2012. In much the same way as a river - having made its long, eventful trip for miles, finally flowing or even crashing, into the sea - leaves in its wake a mass of mud, minerals and debris, which gives way to rich and fertile land, Hyperpotamus’ second album ‘Delta’ is the culmination of a fascinating, exciting and voluptuous two year journey, since his debut ‘Largo Bailon’ in 2009. Once the Hyperpotamus project began to make a noise outside of his comfort zone of Madrid and Spain, a whole new animal of songs and melodic ideas began to gestate and finally come to fruition: “‘Delta’ is full of ups and downs, referencing how it's been for me trying to make a living as a solo musician, with little label support, not complying to established norms or compromising what I consider serious, heartfelt and honest music. It marks a point where I stopped and took stock. There's a lot about travel, moving forward in space (and time), instability (in a good way) and restlesness, something I've lived with ever since I was born.” The album was recorded over a mere 2 months with a more relaxed attitude than the previous work, which H likens to ‘second child syndrome’ where the parent is more relaxed having gone through the process once already. Crucial as well, he had the opportunity to record outside of a closed studio environment in his publisher’s home, a converted Victorian school space with a very tall ceiling and a wonderful natural reverb. The perfect playground. In exchange, H took care of the house, fed the cat and babysat. “With the use of just two mics and thought-out positioning of me singing with the space, I could sketch, layer and paint, by ear, on the spot, my vocal performance. Just as recording was done before multi-track (pre-50s) was available. The musical director would move the members of the big band, orchestra or whatever musical combo was being recorded around this one omni-directional microphone, ie. mixing was done with the positioning of the session musicians prior to the actual recording. I did exactly that. Every vocal layer you hear on the album is sonically positioned according to the whereabouts in the room (or the distance from the microphone) I was singing from. My goal was to record and mix on the spot, by ear, even before I sung. And I think that natural (or, yes, that word, organic) approach shows.” Having recorded these crucial, structural foundations the main vocals and most of the percussive sounds were then added at Fortress Studios, with Nick Trepka, who mixed the whole album on the wonderful, vintage and insanely expensive Neve desk they have there. “The excitement I felt at having such luck, and hearing the echo of my voice run through the room was phenomenal and encouraged me immensely, to the point where it injected my singing with more epic overtones. Something akin to opera, theatrical.” boom shakalaka