Helmet Were Never Trying To Be Hitmakers, Just Musicians

Propelled by the rabid record label pursuit for the next Nirvana, alt-metallers Helmet somewhat inexplicably landed a lucrative deal with Interscope prior to second album, 1992's Meantime. This was despite their no-frills aesthetic and more minimalist approach hardly being easily marketable. Irrespective, vocalist/guitarist Page Hamilton recalls inking a deal for three records worth $1.3 million.

"The big thing about it was that it was guaranteed money. It was three firm, meaning that had never been done before in the music business. I said this many years ago, but we should send Nirvana a fruit basket, because they... An indie band had never been given a deal like that before, and Nirvana wasn't given that deal because nobody thought Nevermind would sell six million copies or whatever.

"Nirvana wasn't given that deal because nobody thought Nevermind would sell six million copies or whatever."

"We were buddies with Nirvana, had played together and Sub Pop was inspired by Amphetamine Reptile (Helmet's label). So I think everybody was thinking all these indie bands are going to sell millions of records. It's hilarious to me that people would ever call us grunge, or compare us to Nirvana. We were a New York City band, they were a Pacific Northwest band, completely different styles of music obviously." Despite any commercial expectations, Hamilton insists Helmet never kowtowed to external demands. "We weren't looking for a major label deal from day one, so it wasn't like I was coming up with the Unsung riff and thinking, 'This is going to be a huge hit.'"

After already performing Meantime in its entirety in Australia, 1994 follow-up Betty would go on to be afforded the same treatment. "When we put Betty out, someone said, 'I was kind of expecting another Unsung'. I'm like, 'No, that song's done. I'm not going to try and rewrite something just because it was successful.' I don't think it's healthy as a musician to recapture something just because there was some accidental success or whatever. I think you have to keep pushing forward... That said, I'm not buying houses with guitar-shaped pools.

"Betty is probably a little more 'fuck you' than Meantime, because there was something about the success of Meantime that, I don't mean to sound like a dick or whatever, but it kind of rubbed me the wrong way. We did (1990's) Strap It On, which is a really good record. Then we did Meantime which is a natural extension, but all of a sudden we had all these fans we didn't have before because there was an MTV buzz clip or whatever."

Although allowing devotees to embrace nostalgia via aforementioned heritage tours, Hamilton continues creating. Dead To The World was Helmet's first record in six years, while the main-man's additional endeavours include production gigs and composing film soundtracks. "I work on jazz music every single day when I wake up. I listen to a lot of orchestra music and jazz stuff. I don't want to jinx myself, but I think there's kind of an endless supply of inspiration if you don't get stuck in a musical rut. Helmet's never been a mainstream thing as far as I'm not trying to please anybody. To me it has to be a musical thing and come from a musical place."