Helms formed out the ashes of Sean and Tina’s previous band, the Television Set, which they started soon after they began dating in the mid ’90s. The two met in 1994 when they were neighbors in Allston and eventually struck up a relationship. He laughs, “At some point, I saw that she had a bass, and I said, ‘We should play music together. I think we’d make beautiful music together.’ ”
They started a band with Tina’s friend Corrine Kelly on drums, but then things with Corrine started getting “different” and less “secure” according to Sean. When they asked Sean’s younger brother Dan to record a couple of songs with them, all the pieces for Helms came together.
First they changed their name from the Television Set to the Swimmer, out of respect to Corrine and because, as Tina explains, “It sounded different.” Sean says that with Corrine, who played without a kick drum, like Low’s Mimi Parker, their music was “very sparse, open, slow. Dan’s a lot more technical. All of a sudden I could try whatever I wanted, anything I could think of. Things got a lot more fun and weird.” “And scary for me,” Tina adds. “It was like, ‘Oh my God, they know what they’re doing, and I’m trying to know what I’m doing.’ But it worked out really well. I learned a lot fast.”
As it turns out, a Swimmer in New York were already signed to Maverick, so Sean, Dan, and Tina opted for Helms, after Tina’s maiden name. “I think it came at a point that was fitting,” says Sean. “At that point we finally figured out what kind of songs we were supposed to write.” They had an entire album recorded that was to be the Swimmer’s debut but decided to scrap it. They began writing songs that were shorter and more focused.
The first two Helms albums, 2000’s The Swimmer and 2002’s McCarthy, were released by the local indie label Kimchee. They decided to release Secret Doors on their own Plants & Brains imprint not because they were unhappy with Kimchee but because it was something they had always wanted to try. “It just feels right for us as a band,” says Sean. “I feel like we’re the kind of band who should put out their own record.” The CD packaging is handmade and features Dan’s own screenprinted artwork.
The DIY approach and lack of pretension are as much what Helms are about as the spoken vocals and hypnotic rhythms. Are they looking to turn the band into a full-time money-making venture? Sean: “That’s tough because I think what we love to do musically isn’t for everybody. Not everyone’s going to warm up to what we do, and I think we know that. We’re not shooting for Grammys. I think we want to keep working the way we work and see what comes out of that.”
