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Helen - Band Biography

If you ask a member of the trio, Helen, where they got their name, you will get a variety of ridiculous answers ranging from "Your Mom" to "Its my Girlfriend." In actuality, it was a name formed at 1:00am a week before their first show due to a tired drummer and bass player's lack of creativity.

Helen was formed during the summer of 2000 with Dan (bass), Jed (drums), and Travis (guitar). Jed and Travis are former members of the 98-99 punk band, 'After School Snack'. To this day, Dan is ridiculed (mostly by Jed) for the crappy cover bands that he played guitar in.

Helen would practice whenever it was convenient until fall of 2000. That is when they decided that if they ever wanted to go anywhere with the band, they would have to set aside one day a week to practice. They decided to practice every Monday. After a few months of weekly practices, they would practice Mondays and whenever they had spare time. Currently, they practice at least three days every week.

They started performing in January of 2001 at their high school's "Battle of the Bands" (in which they took 2nd-to-last place). After that terrible event, Helen started playing many shows at a small venue called Insurgo. Throughout the course of these Insurgo shows they developed a small following of fans. Soon, Helen was offered bigger and better shows at places like Warehouse 21 in Santa Fe and Launchpad in Albuquerque.

These kids have a sound ranging from such styles as fast, heavy punk with their songs "B.S.", "A/S/L?", and "She's Dumb" to sort of a Ska/Punk feel with "Eighteen" and their remake of Ben E. King's "Dance With Me" known to Helen fans as "Music Ends." They grew up listening to such bands as Rancid, The Vandals, MXPX, Operation Ivy, and Sublime. You can hear the influence those bands had on Helen through their music.

Helen, who once got 2nd-to-last place in the "Battle of the Bands", now has an average of one show every two-three weeks. They also just released their first CD 1,2,3...Not it! on Mud Fence Records, the label of such Albuquerque/Santa Fe bands as APH and My Empty Day. Due to Helen's diverse range of sound, I leave it to you to categorize them.