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HELMET

"substance rush, giving art a try"

(quote from "Turned Out")

When Page Hamilton, music student with a master degree in jazz guitar, decided to found a band in New York anno 1989, everyone involved knew that something new was happening. Everything that became standard for rock music during the 80s has been denied to develop an innovative sound and also a new way of appearance. Instead of having long hair or wearing make-up, Helmet just steps on stage in their everyday outfit, looking like the average neighbor guys. Bystanders who are not familiar with Helmet wouldn't expect what comes out of the speakers soon: repetitive, sludgy, and dissonant riffs, mostly played in dropped-d tuning, which has been something very new and unusual back in those days.

Other characteristics about Helmet's often imitated and never reached sound are the off-beat drummings and the complex feedback waves you can find in the choruses of almost every Helmet song.

Page Hamilton: "I love every aspect of music, and I find music itself is a form of intellectual stimulation. I like to listen to, like, the Jesus Lizard, and go, 'Wow, you know that's an interesting inversion of a Db7 flat-5 chord.' That's interesting to me."

The band members varied quite a lot during the years, especially in manner of the second guitarist. Hamilton, who collected the first band members through an ad in a New York paper, is the only original member left today. The first line-up was: Hamilton (vocals, lead guitar), Peter Mengede (second guitar), Henry Bogdan (bass), John Stanier (drums). Peter Mengede left in '93 and was replaced by Rob Echevierra, who left in '95. Chris Traynor then joined the band to play the second guitar live.

In 1998, after having 4 full albums and one EP released, Helmet splitted.

After trying out some new songs with a band called Ghandi, Hamilton decided to resurrect Helmet, which resulted in a new album called "Size Matters", released in fall 2004. Chris Traynor is now the fully employed second guitarist, while Frank Bello and John Tempesta are new on bass and drums.

After releasing "Monochrome" in 2006 there have been line-up changes again towards the end of the year and even Chris Traynor departed from Helmet. For the latest news and upcoming tours visit Helmetmusic.com .