Page Hamilton and Helmet will perform at Lark Hall in Albany on Aug. 28.
Miikka Skaffari/FilmMagic
Dave Case and Page Hamilton of Helmet perform on stage at Sala Apolo on Oct. 9, 2014, in Barcelona, Spain.
Jordi Vidal/Redferns via Getty Images
Page Hamilton of Helmet performs on stage at Sala Apolo on Oct. 9, 2014, in Barcelona, Spain. The influential alt-metal band will bring their tour to Albany’s Lark Hall on Aug. 28.
Jordi Vidal/Redferns via Getty Images
ALBANY — Singer-guitar wiz Page Hamilton founded alt-metal legends Helmet nearly 40 years ago. Over that time span, Hamilton has routinely subverted genre and fan expectations, incorporating chord structures and time signatures that aren’t typically found in metal.
As the band prepares for its August tour, which hits Lark Hall in Albany on Friday, Hamilton discussed his band’s longevity, the Albany show and the batch of solo recordings he’s working to release in the near future.
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Helmet
with Spirit in the Room and Flatwounds
When: 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 28
Where: Lark Hall, 351 Hudson Ave., Albany
Tickets: $41.85 in advance, $47.63 day-of show
More info: larkhallalbany.com
“I always joke that I can’t sing like Bon Jovi, so I don’t write like him,” Hamilton said. “There was a time when I wanted to make everything I write really inaccessible, but that was really stupid.”
“In the late ’80s, Americana became a thing, and I remember thinking, ‘F— you man, I’ve been listening to these songs since I was born,’” he continued. “It wasn’t what I wanted to do; I wanted to be the antisongwriter. For me, Helmet was a way to express things I couldn’t come close to expressing in English — verbally or any other way.”
That approach paid off for Helmet in 1992, when the band’s “Meantime” album — featuring the single “In the Meantime,” with a video featuring footage from Albany music venue QE2 (now Fuze Box) — sold 2 million copies worldwide. Its crunchy riffs, staccato beats and Hamilton’s vocal barks served as an inspiration for the nu-metal subgenre. As a follow-up, Helmet took a detour with the album “Betty.” The record was heavy, but featured more jazz-inspired melodies and progressions.
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At the time of its 1994 release, “Betty” received a mixed critical and commercial response. But it has since been reevaluated by fans and journalists alike, becoming a beloved piece of Helmet’s oeuvre.
“We had so much success with the first album, our label would have loved it if we made it again,” Hamilton said. “I understood that. I never thought, ‘I’m going to throw a curveball.’ I just kind of felt like doing something different.”
Hamilton notes that he has “a hard time controlling the emotional part of being an artist.” This desire to follow his own instincts has helped him evolve in several ways. For starters, his initial approach to lyrics could best be described as “no narrative, just a collection of images.” That has evolved over the years, most notably on the 2023 single “Gun Fluf.” Featuring a riff evocative of the driving, heavy material on “Meantime,” an impassioned Hamilton takes on the gun control issue.
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“It’s about the nature of the debate and the never-ending bullsh– from the right wing, this ‘f— you, we don’t care,’” Hamilton said. “I knew when I wrote it, it was going to have to be similar vocally to ‘Beyond Belief’ by Elvis Costello.”
Presently, Hamilton is testing his mettle as a writer and musician via solo albums. Originally, the plan was to collect songs he composed and performed for motion picture soundtracks — a body of work that includes material for “Heat,” “Titus” and “The Crow” — and release it on label Edel/earMUSIC.
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But as he started to assemble these tracks, Hamilton found “all this stuff I had forgotten about.” So now he’s working with a batch of collaborators that includes drummers John Tempesta (The Cult, White Zombie) and Matt Flynn (Maroon 5) and bassist Pancho Tomaselli (funk legends WAR) to put the finishing touches on a full-length, improvisation-heavy jazz album.
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Between these projects and offering guitar lessons to students (an endeavor he picked up during the COVID-19 pandemic), Hamilton says that Helmet takes up “25%, maybe a third” of his mental real estate. But once it’s time to hit the road with the band, he’s locked in and ready to roll.
“It’s kind of refreshing (to return to Helmet activities),” Hamilton said. “I don’t get tired of it. We’re not a big ‘hit’ band, but there are staples we play. Our tip of the cap to Led Zeppelin closing with ‘Whole Lotta Love’ (most every show) is ‘In the Meantime.’ We might play ‘Welcome to Algiers,’ ‘Red Scare,’ ‘Iron Head.’ With the ‘Betty’ album, there’s a lot of stuff that has these fun jazz, fake-blues breaks. I love playing these songs.”