Former HELMET Leader Addresses Reunion Rumors

Ex-HELMET and current GANDHI mainman Page Hamilton has sent a lengthy e-mail to the unofficial HELMET site HelmetBand.com clarifying a comment made during a GANDHI show last summer/fall in which he referred to his former bandmates as "assholes" and addressing the persistent rumors of a HELMET reunion at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Hamilton's statement reads as follows:

"First, I feel compelled to address a partial misquote of my retarded between-song banter from a GANDHI (more later) live show in Boston from last summer/fall that was forwarded to me by a friend. (normally I wouldn't give a shit but it has the potential to offend and alienate my former HELMET band mates so......)

"A guy in the audience (Jon) asked me about a HELMET reunion and I responded jokingly that HELMET was a band full of assholes and that I was the only asshole in THIS band (GANDHI). Jon left off the last bit ('I'm the only asshole in this band') in his review of the show. I listened to a CD recording of the show, done for my own musical edification, and heard the on-stage conversation AND was reminded of the joke by the guys sharing the stage with me that night. No disrespect was intended or implied as far as I'm concerned but not everyone shares my sense of humor. That's fine with me as long as my lame chatter is shared accurately.

"After 9 years, 3 world tours (1000, 1100, 1200 shows??),5 albums worth of music etc. with [drummer] John [Stanier] and [bassist] Henry [Bogdan] (portions of which were shared by [guitarist] Peter [Mengede], [guitarist] Rob [Echeverria] and [guitarist] Chris [Traynor]) I wouldn't want them believing that I had anything but respect for them as musicians and dedicated human beings.

"As to the rumors of a HELMET reunion I have never ruled out the possibility. We've been thinking about a HELMET 'live' album for a long time. It'd be great to do a few live shows around the release of a live record but it's nothing we've discussed.

"John is happy in TOMAHAWK (great band with Patton, Denison and Kevin from COWS/MELVINS) and Henry had his band THE MOONLIGHTERS up until recently (I haven't heard them). Henry is going to move to Hawaii to study lap steel (Henry plays bass, drums, guitar, lap steel etc. you name it) with the masters.

"As I mentioned above, I have a new band and for now I'm calling it GANDHI. The east coast version has been dissolved as I am spending more time on the west coast now. I'm playing with John Tempesta (WHITE/ROB ZOMBIE, TESTAMENT) and Rob Nicholson (ROB ZOMBIE/PRONG). Charlie Clouser (NINE INCH NAILS) has been involved in much of the writing, buttless chap fashion and sonic genius. We recently recorded 3 songs with Jay Baumgardner at his studio in Los Angeles and are looking for someone to put out an album this year. I met Jay through my friend Rene Mata (REACH 454 from New York) and had a blast working with him and his NRG family.

"We will start trying out guitar players in May here in LA and should be playing shows (I hope) by early summer. As for HELMET songs… I wrote HELMET songs, I like HELMET songs and I will play HELMET songs with my new band and I will continue to talk about HELMET when asked (or not)…"

(Thanks: HelmetBand.com)