Hooked Like Helen vocalist Nikki Stipp turns scream therapy into alt. rock as her bass-playing husband looks on in the Power of Music class recently. Photo by Han Parker
Hooked Like Helen brings high-voltage healing to “Power of Music” class
The raw power of rock music met the raw emotion of childhood trauma on March 10 in Social Science Hall 100. Students in the “Power of Music” course (UPPP 50) were treated to an emotionally charged “Concert and Convo” with alternative rock band Hooked Like Helen.
The Cleveland-based quartet, led by singer Nikki Stipp and her bass-playing husband Jon Stipp, performed songs focused on emotional pain such as “Quote Unquote Life,” “Promise Me You’ll Run” and “Liar,” which is featured in the Netflix movie High Strung Free Dance. Each band set was punctuated by an audience Q&A led by Power of Music students Cassandra Jimenez and Sophia Phyllis.
The couple shared their journey from the erratic Los Angeles music scene to their current quiet life in Ohio. They revealed that while their name refers to the mutual friend who unwittingly “hooked” them up, they both were also hooked on drugs at the time. A pregnancy eventually forced them to get clean and relocate to escape a toxic environment.
During the pandemic, Nikki realized her past substance abuse was a symptom of childhood trauma—a theme that anchors her songwriting. The couple told the crowd their recovery was built on fitness, nutrition, and exposure therapy. They now live by Harvard professor Arthur C. Brooks’ “three macronutrients of happiness: enjoyment, satisfaction, and purpose.” Jon says presenting Concert and Convos on college campuses gives them purpose.
As the band packed up its gear, Professor Richard Matthew, a Power of Music instructor and executive director of the UC Irvine Alec Glasser Center for the Power of Music and Social Change, took the mic to say, “Attending a live music performance is one of the most powerful experiences you can have. It connects you to your inner self. It connects you to the people on the other side of the room, the musicians on stage, the past, the future. When musicians take the time to talk about what they are doing, why they are doing it, their motivations, it moves you. It inspires and is life changing.”
Heading toward the door a few moments later, Jimenez agreed with her instructor.
“Absolutely amazing,” Jimenez said of the experience. “I was completely going into this pretty blind. I did some research on Hooked Like Helen and their music. The second they started playing, I felt it, and some of those moments when Nikki was talking, I was like, ‘Ah, don’t cry.’ She was just so vulnerable. I was not expecting that level of rawness. The caliber of performance was something I would expect at a stadium. Amazing.”
– Matt Coker