While Hippie Sabotage might not be that unknown of a group, this EDM duo is one of my current favorite artists within their genre. The duo consists of brothers Kevin and Jeff Saurer, who started making beats back in the early 2000's.
They rose to fame following their remix of Tove Lo's song "Stay High". Their current sound is heavily influenced by hip-hop beats, utilizing snare hits and heavy rolling bass and incorporating a chill vibe that pulls one in. If an artist's voice is featured, it usually involves the repetition of the same few lines versus the singing of entire verses. This repetitive style allows for the duo to include build-ups and drops throughout songs.
Take Hippie Sabotage's famous remix of Tove Lo's stay high as an example. The repetition of the lines "Can't go home alone again, need someone to numb the pain" both reinforces the underlying despair of the singer and serves as a base to build a crescendo into the chorus and drop.
Though some of their songs might include repetitive layers, Hippie Sabotage's sound over the years is anything but the same. Their sound used to have more keyboard and synth but the duo's overall sound would vary from song to song. Their old sound jumps anywhere from indietronic to beach trance to experimental (take the difference between "What to Down", "Tunnel Vision", and "Warrants" on their first two albums).
Their current sound is more consistent, utilizing a mix of hip-hop layering, bass, and chillwave guitar parts. I think the changes in sound over the years seem to stem from the duo not establishing a clear sound for themselves yet. As a newly minted duo, Hippie Sabotage experimented with different beats and samples to find the right sound. Now that the group has found their sound, it has been fairly consistent throughout the last few albums.
Similar to how GRiZ incorporates jazz elements like the saxophone, trombone and retro keyboard hits into his songs (his top two songs on Spotify- "Good Times Roll" and "PS GFY"- are good examples of the jazz elements present in his music), Hippie Sabotage incorporates instruments in their tracks by using unique guitar riffs. Having instrumental layers to songs allows both GRiZ and Hippie Sabotage to produce unique live sets. Both artists perform these instrumental tracks live, which allows for a richer live sound than simply beats played through speakers. It makes one feel as though he/she is seeing both a band and DJ perform.
The video linked below, taken from Hippie Sabotage's 2018 Bonnaroo set, showcases how they elevate their concerts by performing live guitar parts from their songs. Skip to around the seven minute mark to get a good glimpse into this aspect of their shows.
Hippie Sabotage's music, like most artists, is better experienced live. I attended the set from the video linked above and can personally attest to the energy in the crowd at this show. When I saw this set, I could feel the bass deep in my chest. The duo used a mix of trippy moving patterns and chill mountain and lake shots on the stage screens to shape the crowd's energy.
During some of their slower songs, the duo would strip down their set and play solo guitar riffs. This was a refreshing change from what I previously haven't seen in other artists live, such as Louis the Child, Kaskade, and Bassnectar, who tend to just work beats from their computer the whole time.
Even with some slower, stripped down parts of their set, the duo never left room for the crowd to get bored. While Jeff would work the beats in the back, Kevin's job was to act as hype man and get the crowd moving. His tactics proved successful, seeing how multiple times throughout the set, Kevin would call for crowd surfers or a mosh pit and the crowd responded fervently. I had to move forward several times at risk of being swept away into the mosh pit.
At other times, I would look up to see up to six or seven crowd surfers at once. I remember being grateful for the security guard at the front of the crowd giving people water because the energy from the crowd, combined with the body heat from being pressed to hundreds of other strangers, dehydrated me pretty fast.
This article demonstrates some of my opinions on Hippie Sabotage's music. While the duo's music isn't completely innovative (except for their guitar parts that bring a little something unique to the table) and the lyrics aren't deep enough to make you ponder about life, I think their music can serve a solid purpose in one's playlists. I think that there are different types of music in one's life.
There's music that you listen to to sing, dance, and have a good time, and then there's music that touches your soul. For me, Hippie Sabotage falls into the former. I love their incorporation of guitars in their music, I think they bring a refreshing energy to their live performances, and I will probably be listening to them in the future.