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Listen to HELMET while you read.

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”off” custom_width_px=”1080px” custom_width_percent=”80%” use_custom_gutter=”off” gutter_width=”2″ custom_padding=”29px|0px|0px|394px” padding_mobile=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” make_equal=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”on” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”on” parallax_3=”off” parallax_method_3=”on” parallax_4=”off” parallax_method_4=”on” disabled=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_code admin_label=”Code” disabled=”off”]<iframe width=”200″ height=”25″ src=”https://embed.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify%3Aartist%3A0qB0cTENhSUc0feov5qbg0&size=basic&theme=dark” scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ style=”border:none; overflow:hidden;” allowtransparency=”true”></iframe>[/et_pb_code][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”off” custom_width_px=”1080px” custom_width_percent=”80%” use_custom_gutter=”off” gutter_width=”2″ custom_padding=”17px|0px|0px|0px” padding_mobile=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” make_equal=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”on” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”on” parallax_3=”off” parallax_method_3=”on” parallax_4=”off” parallax_method_4=”on” disabled=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_code admin_label=”Code” disabled=”off”]<iframe src=”https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify%3Aalbum%3A0zNKspwYikt32nqZ0FIIGF” width=”100%” height=”380″ frameborder=”0″ allowtransparency=”true”></iframe>[/et_pb_code][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” background_image=”https://digi.heavymag.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Helmet-Sand-dunes.jpg” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#161616″ allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” custom_padding=”329px|0px|1px|0px” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”off” custom_width_px=”1080px” custom_width_percent=”80%” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” disabled=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”off” custom_width_px=”1080px” custom_width_percent=”80%” use_custom_gutter=”off” gutter_width=”2″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|53px|0px” padding_mobile=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” make_equal=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”on” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”on” parallax_3=”off” parallax_method_3=”on” parallax_4=”off” parallax_method_4=”on” disabled=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”dark” text_orientation=”justified” text_font=”Abel|on|||” text_font_size=”17px” text_text_color=”#e8e8e8″ use_border_color=”off” border_style=”solid” disabled=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]

“Even though it’s the 23rd anniversary of its release we are gonna play the whole Betty album,” revealed guitarist/vocalist Page Hamilton about Helmet’s upcoming Australian tour. “We will do the album then we’ll do a set of material from the other seven albums. We did the Meantime album last time we were down there so now it’s Betty’s turn (laughs).”

Coming hot on the heels of the recently released Dead to the World album, Hamilton feels that the time is right for a resurgence in Helmet’s popularity.

“It’s been crazy,” he enthused of the response to the album. “I’m really surprised. There’s always gonna be a contingent of grumpy old man fans who say it doesn’t sound like this album, or this song or this line up but I just grin and bear that stuff. I’m pushing forward musically and I love my band more than ever. We just played Vienna and it was the best show of the tour! We were unplugged and our peddle boards were taken off stage and the crowd wouldn’t let us leave so we had to set up again and do a couple more songs and that’s fun for me. I think we’re really comfortable now. We’re playing seven songs off the new album and I feel really comfortable with six of them. By the time we get to Australia the goal is to have another two songs in there and it’s just really fun at the moment to play live and have the audience really get into it. I’m kind of surprised because usually people wait for the “hits”. They’re like ‘I wanna hear Meantime’ and I always say I’m happy to play it but if we do the shows over (laughs). That’s the last song. That’s our ‘Whole Lotta Love’. We play that and we’re done baby so if you want us to play it now we will and then I’m gonna go and enjoy some beer and pizza and relax. I have to say after all of these years of doing it the Helmet fans – the fans that are with us – are not fair weather fans. They’re fans who really appreciate what we do and they just wanna hear our music. That to me is what I’ve always wanted to do is be a musician and sing and play songs and write songs. It’s not about something that you recognize necessarily. I know if I go and see Motorhead of course I’m gonna wanna hear ‘Ace of Spades’ but I’m gonna dig the whole vibe and every time I saw Motorhead it was like fuck yeah this is cool. This dude is one of a kind. Killing Joke are the same for me. Do I wanna hear ‘Primitive’ and ‘Requiem’? Of course, but if I don’t hear them I’m not gonna be disappointed because they’re a fucken great band and that’s where I’m coming from.”

By their second release, Meantime, in 1992 Helmet had signed to Interscope Records with a deal that was the envy of not only other up and coming bands but also already established artists.

“We had complete creative control which was very important to me,” Hamilton recalled. “It was very rare and I have to thank Interscope for that. They would comment and they would give me their two cents but they never said you have to do this or you have to do that. Ever. If they made a suggestion and I agreed with it I would take their advice. It wasn’t like fuck you, you’re the record company at all but by the same token if I didn’t wanna do it I didn’t have to and that’s the way it should be. I guess a lot of bands just wanna make it but that was something we never had. We didn’t have a goal of getting signed and then making it. Those words didn’t once ever come out of my mouth or anybody’s in Helmet. Not once. It wasn’t… we just wanted to be a band playing music that we loved. We wanted to play that aggressive style of music mixed with funk that nobody was doing so we went with that. We never had a master plan..

At the time having a band with total control was almost unprecedented but Hamilton recalled that there was a few other things that went in Helmets favour around the same time.

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“Interscope was a new label back then,” he reflected. “They were yet to sign Nine Inch Nails. They had Primus and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch but we were the hot new band. After Nirvana broke everyone was trying to find the next new band. We were big with the kids and Interscope wanted us and they had the money and the ability. To their credit they liked the band for what it was and supported us for that. They knew we came up with that style of music and it was a whole new thing so they stayed out of it. I respect that.”

Although 28 years have passed since Helmet first formed, Hamilton sees a parallel between the Helmet of that era and the Helmet of today, despite a few problems along the way.

“We’re less naïve now and more of a brotherhood,” he shrugged. “We were pretty close early on – we worked hard and everybody had a role in the band – and then the money thing happened. We got the MTV shows and it kinda got weird. The relationships deteriorated unfortunately. I don’t know if we could have avoided that. I don’t know if I’m responsible or the other guys are responsible or we were victims of commercial success. Now the band is more back to when we started. We’re fortunate that we still get to tour the world and are still doing what we love and have never sold out. I think back then we were just surprised by the success. People were like ‘what the fuck is this?’ We weren’t nu wave, we weren’t noise rock and we didn’t look cool! We all wore shorts and had short hair and played super agro shit and it was just one of those things where the kids loved us. My friend David Sims from The Jesus Lizard saw us and he was like ‘god damn I wish I’d thought of that’ (laughs). We were just doing our thing and then this thing became absorbed into the rock world. A lot of bands adopted/adapted our minimalist riffs for their commercial purposes and a lot of shitty bands were spawned because of Helmet. Then we weren’t the new thing anymore but I never strayed from my path. I did it because I loved it and I still do it because I love it.”

Although the music world has changed drastically over the career of Helmet, Hamilton feels the same fundamental principles behind music are still evident, although people’s reasons for being in the industry may have changed.

“Obviously with the internet and self promotion kids have to go through different things now,” he said. “There’s no record sales to speak of and it’s about the live show and t-shirts and stuff but my advice to young musicians – I’ve been doing music clinics and going to a lot of schools – and my advice is to make it about the music. It’s not about being a rock star. It’s not about being rich. It’s not about being famous. If you genuinely love music the way I do and the way I was moved by America when I was 12 or by Led Zeppelin when I was 15; if you love it, then do it, but you have to do it whole heartedly. I listen to a lot of crap that I’ve heard before and it’s just regurgitated shit. The whole 70’s revival rock that started ten years ago is just played out for me. They’re not as good as ZZ Top or Cactus. I don’t know man, just come up with something new. I get disheartened when I hear young bands and they’re not original. I’m listening to everything from Beethoven to AC/DC to Foreigner to Mozart to Cold Train and I listen to a lot of different music and that’s important if you want to be a musician and if you want to do it for the long haul. If you want to be a pop star good luck. There is very few U2’s or Red Hot Chili Peppers that have thirty year rock star careers. Let’s face it, they’re doing middle of the road music and that doesn’t interest me. If you wanna do that maybe you’ll get lucky and have a long career as a pop star but when I fucken flipped out over ‘Black Dog’ by Led Zeppelin I wasn’t thinking I wanna be a pop star (laughs). I wasn’t thinking this is gonna make me rich. A lot of my friends who are rock stars and are millionaires are fucken miserable and hate what they do and that’s just sad for me.”

Written by Kris Peters

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