Helmet

After forming in 1989 and quietly disintegrating nine years and five albums later, Helmet reformed in 2004, with singer and guitarist Page Hamilton as the only original member. Despite the fact that two albums and four years have passed since then, the controversy - whether implied or real - is still something of a sore point.

"They were the perfect musicians for the band," Hamilton says of former drummer John Stainier and former bassist Henry Bogden. "But when, after eight or nine years, they decided to leave I had no control over that. I can't force anyone to play with me. I had guilt for years after that, not knowing if I'd done things wrong."

Now, he notes, despite feeling like he shouldn't still be explaining himself, it's something he finds himself doing all too often. And, it seems, all too enthusiastically - Hamilton is just as animated talking about the subject of the reformation as he is the band's upcoming tour and current line-up. "I like to play rock music," he comments simply, "and I formed a band by myself and auditioned a few guys from my peer group. So I guess I put the band together, so I don't feel like I don't have a right to use the name. No one really questions Nine Inch Nails - whether Trent has the right to continue making music under that name."

The band came back together after Hamilton was approached by Interscope. He notes that he had been considering the idea already, even though he had, for many years, thought it to be a bad move. "Initially, I'd thought, 'No, it needs to be myself, John and Henry'," he says. "But I'd been sitting around, not getting those songs out there, and I'd gone through a couple of record deals, and nothing had happened. So I just decided it was time. We put out 'Size Matters' in 2004, and people could listen to the first song and know that it was recorded in a different studio and had all these differences, but it still sounded like Helmet. The sound of Helmet is - even though John had a really distinct drum sound - ultimately, it's the guy singing and writing and playing guitar, and that's what I've always done. I wrote a pretty complete set of arrangements for the studio, which is what was recorded."

Still, even if there are certain people out there who resent the idea of a reformation without Stainier and Bogden, the audiences who have seen Helmet over the past four years don't seem terribly bothered. "It's been great, The reaction from the people who come to our shows has been more than enthusiastic. I feel nothing but love for people that come and know that I'm not doing this out of some kind of desperation," Hamilton comments happily.

As for the current line-up, there's the possibility of a new album being recorded mid-year, though whether or not it happens depends on how the band's members are feeling following a fairly extensive couple of months of touring. Not that Hamilton would be sitting back doing nothing if a recording session didn't happen: there's his growing career as a producer, an orchestral piece he's working on, and "a few little pieces for a movie." And an instructional DVD, which should be of interest to fans, given Hamilton's reputation as an accomplished guitarist able to bring traces of multiple genres into what he does.

"Part of what I want to get into is how I've played for Helmet over the years, some of the chords and things like that. And the one thing that nobody ever seems to be able to figure out is how I play my retarded solos," he laughs, "so I want to get into that a bit too."

Even without a DVD floating around, though, Hamilton still hears traces of Helmet in other bands he listens to. "I guess I hear things, but I think the band's been well absorbed by now. I mean, it was formed 19 years ago now. The vocabulary has been absorbed. You can hear a Helmet riff in an Evanescence song. Bands that have no relationship to Helmet sonically - or spiritually, or whatever. But I know Daniel from Silverchair cited us as an early influence. I think he's gotten to be a better songwriter the further away from us he's gone."



Alistair Wallis

Helmet play at Fowler's Live on Sun 4 May