Happy Campers

Las Vegas performers have long faced the cliché of following in Wayne Newton’s footsteps, yet the local music community actually spans jazz, alternative rock, hip-hop, and urban contemporary styles. One act rooted in that environment is the Happy Campers, a trio blending emo, punk-pop, and alternative pop/rock in the spirit of Green Day. Lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist Isaac Irvine, also known as Isaac Campa and born November 25, 1975, in Ohio, started the group in 1996 while enrolled at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he trained to become an art teacher. Within several years the band had built a modest regional audience that consumed increasing amounts of his schedule, yet Irvine kept taking classes part-time and still planned to finish his degree. The ironic name Happy Campers reflects the fact that much of the material avoids upbeat themes; like many emo songwriters, Irvine prefers an introspective, confessional approach centered on romantic setbacks and troubled relationships, often leavened by humor, while occasionally touching on sociopolitical subjects such as U.S. foreign policy and deadbeat dads.

The trio’s earliest recording was the demo Crappy Pampers, followed by their first proper release, Campfire Songs, issued in 1997 on Irvine’s own Money Ass Records. Their second album, S’more Core, appeared on Monkey Ass in 2000. An asthmatic, Irvine endured a life-threatening episode in 2002 when a severe attack struck during a concert he attended with friends; at age twenty-six his lungs shut completely and he lost consciousness. After a night on life support and roughly a week in the hospital, he faced nearly fifty thousand dollars in medical costs because he lacked insurance. To help him avoid bankruptcy, the Happy Campers partnered with the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth to stage a benefit concert late that year; although the organization normally assists homeless adolescents, it made an exception, directing cash donations to Irvine while forwarding canned goods, clothing, and other contributions to the NPHY. Despite the financial strain, the group continued working and issued its self-titled third album on Monkey Ass in 2003. By then the lineup featured bassist Gene Boothe, also known as Gene Bean and born September 7, 1981, in Colorado, along with Jason Leigh Losey, also known as Master Jay and born December 15, 1981, in Westminster, California. Throughout the early 2000s Irvine balanced band duties with part-time work as a bartender and waiter while still pursuing his UNLV degree, coming close to completing it by 2003.