{"id":653754,"date":"2026-08-24T12:03:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T12:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/653754\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T12:03:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T12:03:19","slug":"helmets-page-hamilton-talks-albany-show-new-solo-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/653754\/","title":{"rendered":"Helmet\u2019s Page Hamilton talks Albany show, new solo music"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Page<\/p>\n

Page Hamilton and Helmet will perform at Lark Hall in Albany on Aug. 28.<\/p>\n

Miikka Skaffari\/FilmMagic\"Dave<\/p>\n

Dave Case and Page Hamilton of Helmet perform on stage at\u00a0Sala Apolo on Oct. 9, 2014, in Barcelona, Spain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jordi Vidal\/Redferns via Getty Images\"Page<\/p>\n

Page Hamilton of Helmet performs on stage at\u00a0Sala 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.<\/p>\n

Jordi Vidal\/Redferns via Getty Images<\/p>\n

ALBANY \u2014 Singer-guitar\u00a0wiz 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\u2019t typically found in metal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As the band prepares for its August tour, which hits Lark Hall in Albany on Friday, Hamilton discussed his band\u2019s longevity, the Albany show and the batch of solo recordings he\u2019s working to release in the near future.<\/p>\n

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Helmet
with Spirit in the Room and Flatwounds<\/p>\n

When:<\/strong> 8\u00a0p.m., Friday, Aug. 28<\/p>\n

Where:<\/strong> Lark Hall, 351 Hudson Ave., Albany<\/p>\n

Tickets:<\/strong> $41.85 in advance, $47.63 day-of show<\/p>\n

More info:<\/strong> larkhallalbany.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI always joke that I can\u2019t sing like Bon Jovi, so I don\u2019t write like him,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cThere was a time when I wanted to make everything I write really inaccessible, but that was really stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the late \u201980s, Americana became a thing, and I remember thinking, \u2018F— you man, I\u2019ve been listening to these songs since I was born,\u2019\u201d he continued. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t what I wanted to do; I wanted to be the antisongwriter. For me, Helmet was a way to express things I couldn\u2019t come close to expressing in English \u2014 verbally or any other way.\u201d<\/p>\n

That approach paid off for Helmet in 1992, when the band\u2019s \u201cMeantime\u201d album \u2014 featuring the single \u201cIn the Meantime,\u201d with a video featuring footage from Albany music venue QE2 (now Fuze Box) \u2014 sold 2 million copies worldwide. Its crunchy riffs, staccato beats and Hamilton\u2019s vocal barks served as an inspiration for the nu-metal\u00a0subgenre. As a follow-up, Helmet took a detour with the album \u201cBetty.\u201d The record was heavy, but featured more jazz-inspired melodies and progressions.<\/p>\n

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At the time of its 1994 release, \u201cBetty\u201d received a mixed critical and commercial response. But it has since been reevaluated by fans and journalists alike, becoming a beloved piece of Helmet\u2019s oeuvre.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had so much success with the first album, our label would have loved it if we made it again,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cI understood that. I never thought, \u2018I\u2019m going to throw a curveball.\u2019 I just kind of felt like doing something different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamilton notes that he has \u201ca hard time controlling the emotional part of being an artist.\u201d 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 \u201cno narrative, just a collection of images.\u201d That has evolved over the years, most notably on the 2023 single \u201cGun Fluf.\u201d Featuring a riff evocative of the driving, heavy material on \u201cMeantime,\u201d an impassioned Hamilton takes on the gun control issue.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s about the nature of the debate and the never-ending bullsh– from the right wing, this \u2018f— you, we don\u2019t care,\u2019\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cI knew when I wrote it, it was going to have to be similar vocally to \u2018Beyond Belief\u2019 by Elvis Costello.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 a body of work that includes material for \u201cHeat,\u201d \u201cTitus\u201d and \u201cThe Crow\u201d \u2014 and release it on label Edel\/earMUSIC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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But as he started to assemble these tracks, Hamilton found \u201call this stuff I had forgotten about.\u201d So now he\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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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 \u201c25%, maybe a third\u201d of his mental real estate. But once it\u2019s time to hit the road with the band, he\u2019s locked in and ready to roll.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of refreshing (to return to Helmet activities),\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cI don\u2019t get tired of it. We\u2019re not a big \u2018hit\u2019 band, but there are staples we play. Our tip of the cap to Led Zeppelin closing with \u2018Whole Lotta Love\u2019 (most every show) is \u2018In the Meantime.\u2019 We might play \u2018Welcome to Algiers,\u2019 \u2018Red Scare,\u2019 \u2018Iron Head.\u2019 With the \u2018Betty\u2019 album, there\u2019s a lot of stuff that has these fun jazz, fake-blues breaks. I love playing these songs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Page Hamilton and Helmet will perform at Lark Hall in Albany on Aug. 28. Miikka Skaffari\/FilmMagic Dave Case…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[264],"tags":[192173,18,117,19,17,12,526,337],"class_list":["post-653754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-alco","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latestnews","tag-local","tag-music"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117150391834017093","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}