Just seconds into the song “Art School” during Blvck Hippie’s first hometown show following a six-week tour in support of their album If You Feel Alone at Parties, singer/guitarist Josh Shaw’s mic stand dipped downward, seemingly of its own volition. As I watched the musician follow a rapidly descending microphone (while still singing into it) I thought to myself, “This is what Josh does — roll with the punches.”
But the latest Memphian musician to sing on the popular indie music platform Audiotree Live later described this mic stand snafu as simply “hilarious.”
“I was like ‘Oh god, I need to bend down,’” Shaw said. “And then ‘Oh god, my knees.’”
Making light of a moment like this illustrates something essential about the singer/guitarist: What has been accomplished with the band is other-worldly, but Shaw is still as endearing a person as ever.
Still, the band’s success is undeniable. Blvck Hippie sits at just over 30,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. On January 26th it was announced that Blvck Hippie will be joining the South by Southwest official festival lineup this year in Austin, Texas.
Admittedly, I have a history with Shaw that’s getting more and more difficult not to brag about. In 2017, I shared the bill with him in what was his first live performance fronting a band (then going by St.John). In 2018, we were tourmates, and 2019 saw us become roommates. I remember when he burst out of his room with an unplugged electric guitar and the opening riff to “Bunkbed” — “You gotta hear this thing I came up with today!”
All this to say that catching Blvck Hippie at Black Lodge was far from my first rodeo with Shaw, drummer Casey Rittinger, and their brand of self-proclaimed “sad-boy indie rock.”
Shaw says, if he had to guess, the band’s big sound comes from the group maturing, as well as an improvement in the way he writes his guitar parts. The current lineup is composed of “really great artists who have their own things to add.” Undoubtedly this includes the suave Celest Farmer, joining Shaw on guitar, and the talented bassist Tyrell Williams.
“During tour, we really came into our own as a band, and we really want to come out to every show punching people in the face with our sound,” Shaw says.
That description may not be far off from what listeners can expect from the next Blvck Hippie record. “We’re going to get angrier and more aggressive with our music,” Shaw says. “While on tour I saw Black people in a ton of different cities headbanging to my songs. That affirmed that what I’m doing matters and is reaching people. It gives me the confidence to be myself more and make the music I want to make.”
This confidence has enabled Shaw to elevate not just one voice, but to increase representation for POC in indie/alternative music in general. When it came time to fill the bill for Blvck Hippie’s first show of the year, Shaw made sure to provide a platform for Black out-of-town artists, the surfy Bluphoria and math-rock-inspired Rest Ashore.
“I’ve been a huge fan of Rest Ashore for two years so it was amazing to get to play with them,” Shaw says. “It’s important to me that when Black bands come to Memphis we give them a reason to want to come back. It’s important to put on a safe welcoming show for them.”
Shaw says that they felt the safest they’ve ever felt in a musical space during Blvck Hippie’s past tour at a Black-run DIY venue in Cleveland. While Josh cites Black bands like Bartees Strange and Enumclaw rising to mainstream prominence since summer of 2020, the singer says more Black-owned and Black-run venues are necessary to inspire representation in the scene.
“Through touring and the internet, especially TikTok, we’ve been able to reach new audiences and a lot of times we’ve been the first band people have seen that look like us,” Shaw says. “We get comments all the time from Black people that it’s nice to see people that look like them making indie rock, and this is amazing to hear.”
As for their own group’s recent success, Shaw says things have been “wild” since the Audiotree performance. The band hasn’t processed everything yet.
“It’s very humbling to be able to represent Memphis in all the places we’re getting to play,” Shaw says. “Playing shows in Memphis solidifies that for me — I wouldn’t want to be doing this for any other city.”
