Helmet
Earth Tones Still Suit
2007-09-27
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At 47 years old, Page Hamilton cares little for beating around the bush. He speaks in the frank, honest nature that one might expect from a man of experience, but still knows how to laugh at himself. The bottom line is that Page Hamilton has been around. Originally a native of Medford, OR, Hamilton moved to the busy streets of New York City in the late ‘80s to study jazz guitar under avant-garde composer Glenn Branca. In 1988, he joined the NYC experimental rock group Band of Susans. Good god! Band of Susans? Hey Page, does that seem like a million years ago?
“When people show me photos from back then I’m like, ‘who is that dude with the floppy hair?’ It was kinda combed to the side…maybe it was pre-dating the emo craze,” said Hamilton. By 1989 Hamilton had formed his own group that included Henry Bogden (bass), Peter Mengede (guitar) and John Stanier (drums). With Hamilton playing lead axe and singing, the group was to be known as Helmet. Releasing their first EP through Amphetamine Reptile Records (1990’s Strap It On) Helmet found themselves gigging alongside the likes of Sonic Youth, Unsane and Killdozer to name a few, and quickly established themselves as heavyweights among the East Coast independent rock scene. Their sound at the time, and even still today, is in many ways rooted in post-hardcore; staying true to aspects of hardcore punk rock of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, but ultimately striving for more than a handful of simplistic chords and not shying away from melody. Yet above all else, Helmet can most assuredly be touted as pioneers during the zenith of alternative metal. Through Hamilton’s learned knowledge of guitar, the group was able to express their music in more than straightforward rhythms. Odd time signatures and advanced song structures were a large part of what separated Helmet from other ho-hum metal acts of the time.
With Northwest alternative music exploding into the mainstream, it wasn’t long before major labels were picking up bands cut of a similar jib from the East Coast. Hence, Helmet, with their voracious appetite for touring, was signed to Interscope Records. The band swiftly released what was to be their definitive album, 1992’s Meantime, which ranks as a bone crushing, 10-track romp of pure metal goodness. The popularity of Meantime packed shows across the globe and eventually hit gold in sales, rendering the group hot-to-trot. But despite the newfound success, all was not well internally.
Hamilton reflects, “That’s certainly the time where we sold the most records and probably played the biggest shows, but I wouldn’t call it the happiest time in my life.” Music aside, the personal relationships within the band left much to be desired. In 1994, Helmet put out their second full-length, Betty, and though the album was peppered with gems like “Wilma’s Rainbow” and “Milquetoast,” it simply did not live up to the high standards set by Meantime. Commercially the album was an enormous flop, and all the while in-house matters fell further from grace, culminating in the departure of second guitarist Peter Mengede at the conclusion of the album’s touring. Helmet trudged on as a three-piece, but only continued along a downward spiral through the release of 1997’s Aftertaste.
By late 1998 the trio had decided to call it quits. “Apparently the breakup of Helmet was extremely bitter, I wasn’t aware of this… It wasn’t bitter at all for me; basically two bandmates decided to leave and they’re men and I’m a man and it’s their prerogative,” explains Hamilton. “The unfortunate part of that band was though musically we, I think, had a lot in common, on a personal level we didn’t really hit it off, ever, for 10 years. We never really had a great conversation, you know, I can’t think of one… We had some bonding moments over alcohol I guess.”
Hamilton, however, does not claim to be the righteous member of a dysfunctional whole. “I contributed to the tension back then as much as the other guys did,” he admits. But things do change. With relocation to Los Angeles and renewed vigor, Hamilton reformed Helmet in 2003 with a fresh lineup and released a fourth offering, Size Matters. Just two years later, Helmet parted ways with Interscope and landed on indie label Warcon Enterprises, which released Helmet’s fifth full-length, Monochrome. To Hamilton’s dismay though, the Warcon episode was far from pleasant.
“My experience with Warcon was 1,000 times worse than my experience with Interscope. And that’s nothing against indie labels, because Amphetamine Reptile is great. But Warcon… they have completely fucked me over…it’s criminal. You know Ian MacKaye said it greatest like 10 or 15 years ago. He said, you know, ‘I have friends on major labels that get treated like shit and get paid, and I have friends on indie labels that get treated like shit and don’t get paid.’ The music business is hard on bands, period.”
Despite the troubles with Warcon, the Helmet name marches on devoid of label support. With a surrounding cast now consisting of Jimmy Thompson (guitar), Jon Fuller (bass) and Kyle Stevenson, (drums), Hamilton genuinely proclaims the live sound to be better than ever before. He’ll even quote Melvins frontman Buzz Osborne as saying, “Anybody that doesn’t like this lineup of Helmet doesn’t like your band.”
And with all this, through the trials and tribulations, Page Hamilton is a happy man rummaging about his jam space just minutes before practice. On the other end of the phone he finds a live tape from Mexico City circa 1994. “Years of stuff piled up…” Truth be told, the future may be far from certain with no immediate album release in sight. But Helmet is back out on the road, playing for the sake of playing, doing what Helmet does best.
“When people show me photos from back then I’m like, ‘who is that dude with the floppy hair?’ It was kinda combed to the side…maybe it was pre-dating the emo craze,” said Hamilton. By 1989 Hamilton had formed his own group that included Henry Bogden (bass), Peter Mengede (guitar) and John Stanier (drums). With Hamilton playing lead axe and singing, the group was to be known as Helmet. Releasing their first EP through Amphetamine Reptile Records (1990’s Strap It On) Helmet found themselves gigging alongside the likes of Sonic Youth, Unsane and Killdozer to name a few, and quickly established themselves as heavyweights among the East Coast independent rock scene. Their sound at the time, and even still today, is in many ways rooted in post-hardcore; staying true to aspects of hardcore punk rock of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, but ultimately striving for more than a handful of simplistic chords and not shying away from melody. Yet above all else, Helmet can most assuredly be touted as pioneers during the zenith of alternative metal. Through Hamilton’s learned knowledge of guitar, the group was able to express their music in more than straightforward rhythms. Odd time signatures and advanced song structures were a large part of what separated Helmet from other ho-hum metal acts of the time.
With Northwest alternative music exploding into the mainstream, it wasn’t long before major labels were picking up bands cut of a similar jib from the East Coast. Hence, Helmet, with their voracious appetite for touring, was signed to Interscope Records. The band swiftly released what was to be their definitive album, 1992’s Meantime, which ranks as a bone crushing, 10-track romp of pure metal goodness. The popularity of Meantime packed shows across the globe and eventually hit gold in sales, rendering the group hot-to-trot. But despite the newfound success, all was not well internally.
Hamilton reflects, “That’s certainly the time where we sold the most records and probably played the biggest shows, but I wouldn’t call it the happiest time in my life.” Music aside, the personal relationships within the band left much to be desired. In 1994, Helmet put out their second full-length, Betty, and though the album was peppered with gems like “Wilma’s Rainbow” and “Milquetoast,” it simply did not live up to the high standards set by Meantime. Commercially the album was an enormous flop, and all the while in-house matters fell further from grace, culminating in the departure of second guitarist Peter Mengede at the conclusion of the album’s touring. Helmet trudged on as a three-piece, but only continued along a downward spiral through the release of 1997’s Aftertaste.
By late 1998 the trio had decided to call it quits. “Apparently the breakup of Helmet was extremely bitter, I wasn’t aware of this… It wasn’t bitter at all for me; basically two bandmates decided to leave and they’re men and I’m a man and it’s their prerogative,” explains Hamilton. “The unfortunate part of that band was though musically we, I think, had a lot in common, on a personal level we didn’t really hit it off, ever, for 10 years. We never really had a great conversation, you know, I can’t think of one… We had some bonding moments over alcohol I guess.”
Hamilton, however, does not claim to be the righteous member of a dysfunctional whole. “I contributed to the tension back then as much as the other guys did,” he admits. But things do change. With relocation to Los Angeles and renewed vigor, Hamilton reformed Helmet in 2003 with a fresh lineup and released a fourth offering, Size Matters. Just two years later, Helmet parted ways with Interscope and landed on indie label Warcon Enterprises, which released Helmet’s fifth full-length, Monochrome. To Hamilton’s dismay though, the Warcon episode was far from pleasant.
“My experience with Warcon was 1,000 times worse than my experience with Interscope. And that’s nothing against indie labels, because Amphetamine Reptile is great. But Warcon… they have completely fucked me over…it’s criminal. You know Ian MacKaye said it greatest like 10 or 15 years ago. He said, you know, ‘I have friends on major labels that get treated like shit and get paid, and I have friends on indie labels that get treated like shit and don’t get paid.’ The music business is hard on bands, period.”
Despite the troubles with Warcon, the Helmet name marches on devoid of label support. With a surrounding cast now consisting of Jimmy Thompson (guitar), Jon Fuller (bass) and Kyle Stevenson, (drums), Hamilton genuinely proclaims the live sound to be better than ever before. He’ll even quote Melvins frontman Buzz Osborne as saying, “Anybody that doesn’t like this lineup of Helmet doesn’t like your band.”
And with all this, through the trials and tribulations, Page Hamilton is a happy man rummaging about his jam space just minutes before practice. On the other end of the phone he finds a live tape from Mexico City circa 1994. “Years of stuff piled up…” Truth be told, the future may be far from certain with no immediate album release in sight. But Helmet is back out on the road, playing for the sake of playing, doing what Helmet does best.
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