HELMET Mainman Answers Fans' Questions

HELMET mainman Page Hamilton recently answered a number of fan questions via the HelmetMusic.com web site. A few excerpts from the question-and-answer session follow:

Q: Thinking about a follow-up to "Monochrome", do you see each successive album as an evolution of the original idea, or is it more a case of you writing for an established style and any evolution or refinement deriving from your own development as a musician?

Hamilton: Whether I'm writing for HELMET, working on orchestral music or writing a jazz tune it is about a theme and musical development. In Helmet that would be the riff, chord changes and lyrics and in orchestra and jazz writing it is melody and changes. Harmony, melody, rhythm, form and text are the basic elements that comprise musical composition and they never cease to challenge or interest me. One can express through music what is impossible to express with words alone. It is about the process or the path, not style.

Q: Do you listen back to the older albums much, and how do you feel about them? Is there anything you’re particularly proud of?

Hamilton: I listen to older albums or songs to re-learn them and perform them live. I like all the albums but I don't listen to them often as I am constantly working on new music and moving forward. I have noticed over 19 years that, with the exception of the first album "Strap It On", every album has been criticized for not being as good as the previous album(s). Haha! "Strap It On" and "Aftertaste" are my current favorites, while "Size Matters" and "Monochrome" are the most challenging to perform. I'm proud of the fact that regardless of what's going on around me (in the pop/rock world) I have never lost sight of why I play music. My love of music-making will always dictate where I will go creatively, not style, current trends or anyone's opinions about what I should or should not do.. I'm sure I've recited this quote from Bartok to you guys before, but here it is again: "where politics begin, art and science come to an end, equity and good faith cease to exist."

Q: Following on from that, what is the typical writing process for HELMET material?

Hamilton: This relates to the first question. I maintain way too many notebooks (I can count 25 from where I am sitting) that I fill with lines, words, short musical notations (rhythms and pitches). I have them next to my bed, in the living room, kitchen, car, rehearsal space, etc. Ever since I was walking home late one night in NYC and the intro riff for "Repetition" got lodged in my brain, I have been an advocate of paying attention to the music I hear away from the guitar. Those are the purest ideas as they are not influenced by technique or bad guitar habits. Any musical note on any given day will succumb to what one of my hero/mentors, Howard Roberts, called harmonic gravity. Play a note and it wants to go somewhere eventually. I listen and try to be patient, even if I have to fumble around to find the notes I am hearing. "Swallowing Everything" is an example of this. I was hearing this whole tone ascending line combined with a descending chromatic line and this weird rhythmic pattern for the first part of the guitar solo section. It was worth the time and energy it took to arrange just to see Chris Traynor's excitement when I taught him the song. Other days I pick up the instrument and work with what I hear until I find the portal key! That means a boring rhythm might only need to be displaced by an 1/8th note and a whole world opens up that is hypnotic and feels great. If I play the riff for 20 or 30 minutes without getting bored I can be pretty sure that it is worth working on and developing into a song. "Tic", "In the Meantime", "Swallowing Everything", "Blacktop", "Wilma's Rainbow" and "Surgery" come immediately to mind when I think of verse riffs that have that quality.

Q: Was it a conscious decision to move away from the oblique lyrical style of the earlier albums, and do those earlier lyrics hold much meaning for you personally?

Hamilton: It wasn't necessarily a conscious decision, but early on I was determined to avoid the singer songwriter vibe. I considered it a pompous club, people trying to prove how clever they were. I wanted to be the anti-song writer. I didn't want to write narrative and I didn't want to reveal anything about myself. I was using language for language sake and burying personal things under 2 and 3 layers of metaphor. I look back and still remember many of the observations I was making, whether the song was a character assassination song or about my own relationships. They are significant for me personally in that they represent what I was going through back then and what I was thinking about. As I became interested in writers like Elvis Costello, my approach slowly began to change and most of the songs from 1996 on are less vague and referential, though I am still not very interested in reciting from a diary!

Q: Do you feel that your artistic vision for the band’s music, and the concomitant limitations for other members of the band in terms of their opportunities for creative input, has contributed to the fairly quick turnover of band members?

Hamilton: No, it's all economics. If I were making a million bucks I'd be paying guys more and wouldn't lose players so frequently. Johnny Tempesta tells me every time we drink a few beers how much he misses playing with me and how he feels his playing improved immeasurably in the 3 years we spent together. Frankie Bello tells me every time I see him that he wants to make an album together. Chris Traynor has a daughter to support, but we are still in contact and talk music non-stop. I am so lucky to have had great people and great players in this band.

Q: It sounded like your relationship with Warcon Records turned sour. What effect has that had, and are you in any discussions with other labels?

Hamilton: A few different label folks have expressed interest in working with HELMET, but I am not sure what the best approach will be. I am absolutely gun-shy after the Warcon experience. I honored the contract we all signed, they did not. In fact, I would have more respect for Chiappardi and Collada if they had said "fuck you" to my face. Lyman tried to do the right thing and I respect him for that.

Q: How do you feel about the various Internet-based, DIY approaches to financing and releasing music and is it something you’d consider for your own work?

Hamilton: I think this approach has great potential and I am absolutely considering it. Unfortunately, I have no business acumen and no interest whatsoever in the music business.

Q: What are you plans for your post-Helmet career?

Hamilton: I don't have a plan really, but I will continue to make HELMET albums until I feel uninspired or beat down by the music business. There are those days when I question continuing. It is physically demanding and at times it seems people are more interested in what your wearing than what your playing or writing. When I pick up the guitar, whether I'm playing HELMET songs or working through "Solar", I forget about the difficulties the business of being a musician can present. I feel blessed and consider it an honor to be a musician. I have been working on orchestral writing off and on (not while I'm on the road) since I left NYC and have been fortunate to meet a few people in LA that are interested in what I'm writing and want to have me write for their films. I still have this fantasy about becoming a legit jazz player as well. HELMET isn't dead yet though.....

Read more at HelmetMusic.com.