Kung Fu Hippies Discuss Their History and Evolution and New Album, “North”

Kung Fu Hippies are celebrating 25 years with a new studio album. After five years of various setbacks including cancer battles, addiction rehab, motorcycle accidents, and a pandemic, Kung Fu Hippies are coming out the other side stronger than ever, and it shows in the music. Having four talented songwriters in the band makes for a unique set of tunes, each with their own personality that also sounds cohesive as a whole. The songs on ‘North’ captures perfectly the atmosphere of homegrown Minnesota rock that the six-piece combo has hashed out and fine-tuned since playing their first show in 2000.

Interview Contributed to by Krista Vilinskis of Elephants and Flowers Media

Kung Fu Hippies: History and Evolution

Kung Fu Hippies have been around for 25 years—how has your sound evolved since that first show in 2000?

When the band started playing in July of 2000, we mostly played covers by hippie jam bands like the Grateful Dead, Santana, etc..  We had a few originals at the start, but our setlists consisted of primarily covers.  When our vocalist & bassist Chad joined at the end of 2002, he brought a bunch of original tunes to throw in the pool with the other members, and at that point we started shifting towards playing more originals at our shows.  For the last 15 years or so, our setlists have always focused on more originals than covers.  With four fantastic songwriters in the band, there’s plenty of original KFH music to play to set us apart from other bands in town.

How did you come up with the name “Kung Fu Hippies”?

Like many things, the name was conceived from an episode of The Simpsons!  There is an episode where they add a dog named Poochie to the Itchy & Scratchy show.  At some point Poochie raps, during which he mentions a ‘Kung Fu Hippie.’  Our guitarist Frank thought that was a brilliant name for a band, and the rest is history.

You’ve been through a lot—cancer battles, addiction recovery, a motorcycle accident, and a pandemic. What kept the band going through those struggles?

I suppose the best answer would be the music!  Trying to record a new album during all of these struggles has been a challenge, but we feel that it actually made us more focused and determined to not let these things get in the way of the music.  We started strong, finishing two songs in the studio before the pandemic. (Northwoods Boy & Brutus.) Once things started opening up again, well that’s when all these other setbacks happened: two months in rehab, a few months recovering from the motorcycle accident, etc..  All these unfortunate events added up to a lot of time not spent working on the album.  We never got too frustrated though- we would keep reminding ourselves that we had no deadline, and to focus on getting everything just exactly perfect rather than rush to get it out.  In the end, we all agree that we made a damn fine album, and that persevering through all these setbacks made the album stronger, which we definitely hear in the music.  We are all extremely proud of this record.

Kung Fu Hippies: New Album “North”

You have four songwriters in the band. How do you balance different writing styles while keeping a cohesive sound?

Everyone in this band has such unique voices and playing styles that pretty much anything we play is going to sound like KFH.  This is what we believe gives us that longevity.  Nobody in town sounds like us.  Some songs brought to the band are very easy to work out and start playing live, and occasionally it takes some extra work to figure out exactly how to play and present a new song.  Ultimately, it always ends up sounding like KFH.

Each of you has lead vocal duties on different songs—how do you decide who sings what?

Most of the time, the person who writes the song will sing it.  There are three lead vocalists in the band and four songwriters, so one of us writes but doesn’t sing. (Buzz Chopper) Whenever he comes to us with a new tune, he usually has an idea which of us he hears singing it.  The album lead-off track Days Gone By is a good example: when he brought the song to us, he said from the start that Brad should sing it, and now that we’ve recorded it, we can’t imagine anyone else’s voice on it.  Chopper has always been gifted in that way.  Some members of the band write more songs than others, so occasionally one of us will ‘gift’ one of their songs to someone else to sing.

What was it like working with producer Jon Herchert? How did he help shape the final sound of North?

We all go back with Jon in various capacities for many years.  He’s built up a reputation over the years as a phenomenal producer with a unique sound, and since we all know him well and are comfortable hanging with him, he was the obvious choice.  He was great at keeping us focused and was fully responsible for fine-tuning the sound on the album into a cohesive whole.  Even though it took a long time to finish the record, we were always efficient in the studio, and Jon is the one responsible for that.  As far as influence, he was always coming up with creative ideas that elevated the songs in a way we maybe wouldn’t have thought of ourselves.  Some of the songs were changed to a higher key, to try and pull more emotion from the lead singer. (Days Gone By, Ely Town.)  He tweaked arrangements and added new sections to some of the songs. (It Seems To Me, Shelly Lee.)  The final track (Cameo) is probably the most experimental song on the record, and we spent a lot of time with Jon trying different things with the intention of making it weird.  The sound effects, drum intro, synth pads, and the outro were the result of that process, and we have Jon to thank for that.

If someone is hearing Kung Fu Hippies for the first time, which track from North should they start with and why?

It’s hard to pick one when you have so many songwriters, but Northwoods Boy is probably the place to start.  Everyone in the band is firing on all cylinders! It has solid three-part harmonies, and is overall a great representation of the KFH sound.  That being said, we feel that any song on the record would do!

Kung Fu Hippies: Songwriting & Musical Influences

How does the songwriting process work in Kung Fu Hippies? Is it collaborative, or does each songwriter bring in their own songs?

The songwriters generally write independently, then bring the song to the rest of the band.  Most of the time, the songs are presented about 75% finished, and the other band members might come up with an idea for a bridge, a riff, different feel, etc…  The songwriting aspect of this band has always been a very positive experience, and we’ve always supported each other.  Having so many songwriters often makes for some healthy competition to top each other, which we all embrace and understand makes the band stronger.

Who are some of your biggest musical influences? Any unexpected ones?

Undoubtedly the Grateful Dead.  You may not hear much of that influence in the album, but it’s true!  We will usually throw one or two Dead tunes into our live shows, but we really let loose once a year when we play our annual All-Dead All-Night tribute show at The Parkway Theater in Minneapolis.  Our fans love it.  As far as unexpected influences, we’ve noticed recently that a New Orleans vibe has started to infiltrate our sound.  We’re friends with many New Orleans bands and artists, and we often play shows with them when they come up to Minnesota… So we suppose it’s inevitable for that style to become a part of us.  We’re always mutating and evolving.

Kung Fu Hippies: Live Performances & Future Plans

Your last album was a double live record. How do your songs change when played live versus in the studio?

Our sound is a bit more varied and loose at our live shows.  We take chances.  We stretch out musically.  Songs like Days Gone By and Cameo are growing into jam vehicles for the band.  The feel on Northwoods Boy has been tweaked a bit to work better into a live setting.  Overall, the songs on the album aren’t too hard to replicate on stage.

If you could give advice to your younger selves, back when you first started, what would you say?

Don’t take yourselves too seriously!  Keep it fun.  Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.  Keep your ego in check.

After 25 years, what still excites you the most about making music together?

KFH has a sound that only this specific group of folks can make, and the feeling we get playing together is like no other.  That’s what keeps us coming back after all these years.