Episode 35: Hooked Like Helen plays live and kicks off the Summer Concert Series!

In a house in the woods about 40 miles west of Cleveland, Hooked Like Helen began as the musical brainstorms of husband-and-wife, Jon and Nikki Stipp. Experimental home recordings quickly developed into an alt-pop vision; within a year of the project's inception, Nikki and Jon had shaped a new sound that reflected their truth and their influences in a seamless blend of organic and electronic production. The band recently released a five song EP 'Tragedy Of Physics', co-produced by Nikki and long-time friend and collaborator, Grammy-winning lsha Erskine. The EP boasts several singles: The music video for the angsty-beautiful piano ballad 'Liar ' was premiered on Radio Disney and was released Oct 4th as part of the soundtrack for the movie High Strung: Free Dance starring Thomas Doherty (Disney's Descendants 2 and 3). 'Liar ' is featured prominently in a ballet dance sequence in the film, choreographed by Tyce Diorio (So You Think You Can Dance.) Track 2 from the Tragedy Of Physics EFI 'No Turning Back ' premiered on CLASH Magazine who praised it as "a soaring, vastly uplifting piece of bouncy, addictive alt-pop". The song was then used in the official movie trailer for High Strung: Free Dance, making it the 5th song in total that Nikki and Jon wrote or co-wrote to be included on the film's soundtrack. The band's single 'Fear This Place Apart ' premiered on the highly inHuentia UK-based I'he Line Of Best Fit ' and received rave reviews from the publication. Previously, the band had music placed on MTV's Unlocking The Truth and included in the shows ofhcial Spotify playlist. Hooked Like Helen is now preparing for a mini-tour this November, with Jeff Martin (Trevor Hall Band) joining them on drums. The band's kick-off show will be at The Study in Hollywood on the 22nd. Hooked Like Helen's sound embodies a unique vein of pop music; Nikki's haunting, layered harmonies and lush vocal arrangements create a surreal atmosphere of simultaneous melancholy and hope, dissonance and resolve. Dark lyrics and themes of existential pondering provide an eerie contrast to HLH's melodic sensibilities. Piano hooks, intricate, rhythmic bass lines, and epic, driving drums carry the songs of Hooked Like Helen through a slightly sad world view, always with a groove and a constant sense of Pop.